Cyprien Katsaris Biography



Lorin Maazel and Cyprien Katsaris at the Echternach Festival in Luxembourg (above). Mr. Katsaris was appointed in Luxembourg in 1977 as Artistic Director of the International Festival of Echternach, and has held this position ever since. Known for his mastery of the standard répertoire, Cyprien Katsaris has also recorded, as world premières, long lost works such as the Liszt / Tchaikovsky Concerto in the Hungarian style with Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra. [Katsaris has] a performance style which was common in earlier generations… One is always hearing unfamiliar textures in the music. But none of this is an intellectual exercise. The playing is full of impulse and life; it also has richer textures than most Chopin interpreters provide. He inflects his tempos… But he doesn’t disrupt the flow of the music… Do hear this outstanding Chopin collection. [This review refers to the recording of In Memoriam Chopin live at Carnegie Hall. The image above was taken at this concert.] Andante	atsaris, the French-Cypriot pianist and composer, was born in Marseilles in 1951. He is a graduate of the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris. He won the International Young Interpreters Rostrum-Unesco (Bratislava 1977), the First Prize in the International Cziffra Competition (Versailles 1974) and he was the only western-European prize-winner at the 1972 Queen Elisabeth of Belgium International Competition. His major international career includes performances with the world's greatest orchestras: The Berlin Philharmonic, Staatskapelle Dresden, The Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam, The Philharmonia (London), The NHK Symphony Orchestra (Tokyo), Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra... He has collaborated with conductors such as Leonard Bernstein, Kurt Masur, Myung Whun Chung, Sir Simon Rattle, Mstslav Rostropovich, Charles Dutoit, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Christoph von Dohnanyi… and Karl Münchinger, who on the festive occasion of his farewell concert in 1986, with the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra, personally invited Mr. Katsaris to perform the Haydn D major Concerto. Mr. Katsaris has recorded extensively for Teldec (Grand Prix du Disque Frédéric Chopin, Warsaw; Grand Prix du Disque Franz Liszt, Budapest, twice; British Music Association's Award; Record of the Year, Germany, for the 9th Symphony of Beethoven/Liszt), Sony Classical, EMI, Deutsche Grammophon, BMG-RCA, Decca, Pavane, and now on the Piano 21 label. In addition to the standard répertoire, such as the complete Mozart piano concertos, recorded live and performed in Salzburg and Vienna with Yoon K. Lee and the Salzburger Kammerphilharmonie, Mr. Katsaris has rediscovered long lost works such as the Liszt/Tchaikovsky Concerto in the Hungarian Style which he recorded with Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra. Awards include Knight of Merit of Cameroon, Artist of Unesco for Peace, Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters (France). He also received the Vermeil Medal of the City of Paris. Mr. Katsaris was appointed in Luxembourg in 1977 as Artistic Director of the International Festival of Echternach, and has remained in that position ever since. Copyright © 2006 Bellevue International Corp. All Rights Reserved.