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The American pianist, Nicholas Angelich, began to study the piano with his mother at the age of 5. He gave his first concert at the age of 7, with a chamber orchestra in the USA, when he performed W.A. Mozart's piano concerto in C major, K.467. At the age of 13 he entered the Conservatoire National Superieur de Musique (CNSM) in Paris, where he studied with Aldo Ciccolini, Yvonne Loriod and Michel Béroff, taking first prizes for piano, for chamber music and for piano accompaniment. He subsequently studied with Marie-Françoise Bucquet, and attended master-classes with Leon Fleisher, Dmitri Bashkirov and Maria-João Pires. He was awarded 2nd prize at the Robert Casadesus International Piano Competition in Cleveland, Ohio in (1989), 5th prize at the Tokyo International Competition, 1st prize at the Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition (1994) and 2nd prize at the Umberto Micheli Competition (1997). In 2002 Leon Fleisher presented him with the Young Talent Award at the International Klavierfestival Ruhr. He has been a Laureat of the Credit National / Natexis Foundation since 1996 and, that same year, was invited to become resident pianist of the 'Fondation Internationale per il Pianoforte' in Cadennabia (Italy).
Nicholas Angelich is regularly invited to perform in recital and as a soloist, both in Europe and the USA. In Europe he has performed with the Orchestre National de France and Marc Minkowski, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France and Myung-Whun Chung, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France and Neeme Järvi, Orchestre National de Lyon and David Robertson, Orchestre National de Bordeaux and Yutako Sado, Orchestre National de Lille and Matthias Bamert, Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège and Alexandre Dimitriev, as well as recitals in Hannover, Geneva, Luxembourg, Rome, Lisbon, Brescia, Paris. He made his debut at Lincoln Center, New York in May 2003 with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra under Kurt Masur, and in 2004 toured Japan with Kurt Masur and the Orchestre National de France. His recital repertoire includes the Beethoven sonatas and Franz Liszt’s Années de Pélérinage, but his interests also extend from Béla Bartók to Pierre Boulez and Messiaen to Pierre Henry, who dedicated his Concerto for piano without orchestra to him.
His interest in chamber music has led Nicholas Angelich to work with such partners as Gérard Caussé, Gautier and Renaud Capuçon, Augustin Dumay, Anne Gastinel, Alexander Kniazev, Laurent Korcia, Dmitri Makhtin Alain Meunier, Paul Meyer, and the Ysaÿe and Prazak Quartets.
Nicholas Angelich has recorded for Harmonia Mundi, Lyrinx and Virgin Classics. His first recording for Virgin Classics, the Johannes Brahms trios with Gautier and Renaud Capuçon, won the Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik. In the summer of 2005 he furthered his collaboration with Virgin Classics and Renaud Capuçon, with a recording of J. Brahms’ Violin Sonatas; the disc was awarded a Diapason d’Or, CHOC du Monde de la Musique, and made Gramophone’s Editor’s Choice. In January 2006, again on Virgin Classics, with whom he has signed an exclusive recording contract, Angelich released a recital disc of J. Brahms’ Ballades, Rhapsodies and Paganini Variations, again highly praised by the press with a CHOC du Monde de la Musique, “10” de Classica Répertoire and singled out as a Gramophone Editor’s Choice. In July 2006, Gramophone singled him out as one of “Tomorrow’s Classical Superstars”. His second recital and latest release on Virgin Classics will further his J. Brahms discography with the composer’s demanding piano works Opp.116 to 119.
During his 2009-2010 tour, Nicholas Angelich gave recitals in Queen Elizabeth Hall (London), Teatro della Pergola (Florence), Milan Conservatory, The Hague, and Theatre du Chatelet (Paris). He was featured on the cover of the October 2009 issue of International Piano, whose feature article treats his recording of J. Brahms’ Opp.116 to 119 on the Virgin Classics label. He performed Ravel’s most dramatic work, the Concerto for the Left Hand at opening of the Royal Scottish National Orchestras 2010-2011 Season in Dundees' Caird Hall, Edinburghs' Usher Hall and Glasgow Royal Concert Hall between September 23-25 under conductor Stephane Deneve. |
