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The English pianist, Colin Stone, first came to prominence in 1986 when he won the Royal Over-Seas League piano competition in London, his performance of Franz Liszt's Dante Sonata at the Queen Elizabeth Hall being a notable triumph. In the same year, success at the Busoni competition in Italy and a highly acclaimed Wigmore Hall debut, launched his career as a soloist.
Colin Stone enjoys the successful career predicted for him by Sir Charles Groves, as a solo pianist and as a member of the London Mozart Trio. Concerto engagements have included W.A. Mozart's K.271 in a tour of Italy with the London Soloists Chamber Orchestra, L.v. Beethoven's Emperor at the Sheldonian Theatre, the two Johannes Brahms’ Piano Concertos, Robert Schumann’s Piano Concerto at St.John Smith's Square, Tchaikovsky’ B flat minor Piano Concerto, Sergei Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No. 2, both Dmitri Shostakovich’s Piano Concertos and César Franck’s Piano Concerto with Grant Llewellyn and the National Centre for Orchestral Studies Orchestra. In 1989 he made his debut on BBC Radio 3 and, following the success of his live Concert Hall broadcast in 1990 and the subsequent Prokofiev series, he is regularly invited to record for BBC Radio 3. Hisbusy concert schedule includes both solo and chamber music with appearances at the Karajan Centre in Vienna, The Glinka Hall in St Petersburg and a live broadcast in Tel Aviv for the Anglo Israeli Piano Platform, as well as tours in the UK. Solo and chamber music.
A highlight of 1992 was a tour of Canada which included a recording of a live recital at Concordia University for CBC in Montreal. Later that year he began a series of recordings for Pickwick's IMP Masters label with the then recently formed London Mozart Trio. Their recordings of Trios by Schubert and Dvorak were enthusiastically received by Gramophone magazine and their recording of Schubert's Trio in B flat D.898 was the "overall first choice" from twenty recordings on BBC Radio 3's Building a Library; "the best since Casals, Cortot and Thibaud". Colin Stone's first solo CD, of transcriptions by Prokofiev of his own theatre music, was released in 1994 on the United label and has been followed by a CD for Olympia of the two piano sonatas by D. Shostakovich.
Colin Stone has a particular affinity with the music of D. Shostakovich, and during the 2006 centenary year, he performed at Cadogan Hall a single recital of all 24 Preludes and Fugues, Op. 87, a work that he has since recorded for Olympia. The review for Classic CD magazine considered the D. Shostakovich CD "an outstanding release" and commented on the "overwhelming mastery" of the performances. Gramophone magazine have included it in their Good CD Guide. With Rustem Hayroudinoff, he gave the first performance in the West of the two-piano version of the Fourth Symphony, Op. 43a. 'A revelatory performance of a spectacular 20th century masterwork. Hayroudinoff and Stone impress with their knowledge of the score, giving a well-prepared, gutsy performance' wrote Gramophone of this recording.
Other recordings include major works for solo piano by Schubert, Frédéric Chopin and Robert Schumann and Prokofiev (piano transcriptions of Prokofiev's own theatre music) as well as music by such contemporary composers as André Tchaikovsky, Malcolm Williamson and Robert Keeley. As part of the London Mozart Trio, Colin has recorded D. Shostakovich's two Piano Trios and the Piano Quintet. The quintet recording has been much praised by the prestigious American Fanfare Magazine, which described Colin's playing as 'challenging Richter'. In June 2008, Classic FM Magazine nominated the CD as instrumental and chamber CD of the month. He also recrded the the two Arensky Trios for ASV.
Colin Stone combines his busy career as a pianist with his work as a professor of piano at the Royal Academy of Music and Royal Northern College of Music, and as artistic director of the LMT Chamber Ensemble. Members of the Ensemble, which includes the London Mozart Trio, perform regularly at major London venues, notably Wigmore Hall. The Ensemble also gives concerts and recitals throughout the UK and abroad. |
