Till Fellner, pianist
1 November 2011 at 7:30 p.m.
Plymouth Church
Haydn: Piano Sonata in C major, Hob. XVI:50
Kit Armstrong: Half of One, Six Dozen of the Other (2010)
Schumann: Kinderszenen, Op. 15
Liszt: Années de pèlerinage: Deuxième année: Italie, S161
Pre-concert interview: Eric Kisch (6:30 p.m.)
Pianist Till Fellner plays with scrupulous musicianship, purity of style, and sparkling keyboard command – qualities that have earned him plaudits throughout Europe, and in the United States and Japan. His readings of the works of Bach and Beethoven in particular have already placed him among the elect in this repertoire, and the inspired ingenuity of his performances of such 20th century masters as György Kurtág and Elliott Carter have earned him many accolades.
In the 2011/12 season, Fellner plays Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 1 with Manfred Honeck and the Chicago Symphony; Beethoven No. 2 with Bramwell Tovey and the Vancouver Symphony, and with Kent Nagano and the Montreal Symphony (to be recorded for ECM); the Schumann Piano Concerto with Xian Zhang and the Indianapolis Symphony; and Mozart Piano Concerto in E flat Major, K. 482, with Bernard Haitink and the Boston Symphony Orchestra. He will be heard in recital in Cleveland, Washington, DC, Seattle, London and in France, and in chamber music venues with his trio partners Adrian Brendel and Lisa Batiashvili. In the fall of 2011, Fellner and the noted English tenor Mark Padmore continue their series of song recitals in Paris and Japan.
Last season saw the completion of Till Fellner’s critically acclaimed complete Beethoven piano sonata cycle; it was presented in New York at the Metropolitan Museum of Art; in Washington, DC as a co-presentation of the National Gallery, the Embassy Series and the Austrian Cultural Forum; as well at the Konzerthaus in Vienna; Wigmore Hall in London; the Salle Gaveau in Paris; and Toppan Hall in Tokyo. He also toured South America with Jonathan Nott and the Bamberg Symphony, Spain with the Munich Chamber Orchestra, and made solo appearances with major orchestras in Amsterdam, Paris and Berlin.
Other recent highlights include tours of Schubert’s Winterreise with Mark Padmore; performances at the Orford Festival International de Musique with Kent Nagano and the Montréal Symphony; with the Orchestre National de France with Kurt Masur; the Philharmonia Orchestra of London under Sir Charles Mackerras; and the Munich Philharmonic with Lothar Zagrosek at the podium.
In 1993 Till Fellner came to world attention by winning First Prize at the important Clara Haskil International Piano Competition at Vevey, Switzerland. Since that time, Fellner has appeared as guest soloist with many of the world's foremost orchestras, working with conductors such as Claudio Abbado, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Christoph von Dohnányi, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Kurt Masur, Leonard Slatkin, and Franz Welser-Möst, among many others. He has also performed as partner to cellist Heinrich Schiff and violinist Viviane Hagner, as well as Mr. Padmore, Ms. Batiashvili and Adrian Brendel.
Till Fellner has an impressive discography to his credit on the EMI, Claves, Erato, Philips, and ECM labels. His 2010 ECM recording of the Beethoven Piano Concertos Nos. 4 and 5, with Nagano and the Montreal Symphony, has been lauded for its clarity and impeccable beauty. He appears on an ECM album of new works by Thomas Larcher, and his recording of Bach’s Two- and Three-Part Inventions and French Suite No. V, has received widespread critical praise, in keeping with his acclaimed ECM recording of the first book of Bach’s monumental Well-Tempered Clavier. Fellner has also recorded Mozart’s Piano Concertos Nos. 19, 22, and 25; Beethoven’s Concertos Nos. 2 & 3; a selection of Beethoven piano sonatas; Beethoven’s works for cello and piano (with Heinrich Schiff), Schubert’s Sonata in A minor D.784 plus 6 Moments musicaux, 4 Impromptus and 12 waltzes; Schumann’s “Kreisleriana,” Op. 16 and Schönberg’s Suite for Piano, Op. 25.
Till Fellner was a student of Helene Sedo-Stadler and has studied privately with Alfred Brendel, Meira Farkas, Oleg Maisenberg, and Claus-Christian Schuster.
Web site: http://www.tillfellner.com