Maurizio Pollini
The name Maurizio Pollini evokes an extremely important career: the story of an
artist known all over the world, prized by audiences and critics across many latitudes
and several generations. As a performer for more than 40 years in all the major European,
American, and Japanese concert halls and festivals, Mr. Pollini has performed with
the most celebrated conductors and orchestras.
He has been awarded many international prizes: Vienna Philharmonic Ehrenring (1987),
Goldenes Ehrenzeichen (1995), Ernst von Siemens Music Prize (1996), "A Life for
Music-Arthur Rubinstein" Prize (1999), Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli Prize (2000), Praemium
Imperiale in Tokyo (2010), and Royal Philharmonic Society Music Award (2012).
In 1995, Mr. Pollini opened the Pierre Boulez Festival in Tokyo. That same year and in
1999, the Salzburger Festspiele invited him to create and present his own series of
concerts, which included works of different epochs and styles. He has since curated series
of concerts at Carnegie Hall; Cité de la musique; Auditorium Parco della Musica; Accademia
Nazionale di Santa Cecilia; Teatro alla Scala; the Lucerne Festival; as well as in Tokyo,
Berlin, and Vienna. In 2004, Mr. Pollini was the Artist Étoile at the Lucerne Festival,
where he performed a recital and concerts with orchestras conducted by Claudio Abbado and
Pierre Boulez.
Mr. Pollini's repertoire ranges from Bach to contemporary composers, including premiere
performances of works by Giacomo Manzoni, Luigi Nono, and Salvatore Sciarrino; as well as
the complete Beethoven sonatas, which he has performed in Berlin, Munich, Milan, New York,
London, Vienna, and Paris.
Mr. Pollini's recordings of Classical, Romantic, and contemporary repertoire have received
critical acclaim worldwide. His recordings of Schoenberg's complete works for piano, as
well as works by Berg, Webern, Manzoni, Nono, Boulez, and Stockhausen are a testament to
his great passion for music of the 20th century. Mr. Pollini's recent recording of Chopin
nocturnes received both a Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Soloist Performance and
the Disco d'Oro in 2007. In 2006, he was awarded an ECHO Klassik, Choc de la Musique,
Victoires de la Musique, and Diapason d'Or. Mr. Pollini has recorded multiple Mozart
concertos with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. His recording of Brahms's Piano Concerto
No. 1 with the Staatskapelle Dresden and Christian Thielemann was released as both a CD and
DVD in 2011.
Deutsche Grammophon recently released a three-CD box set dedicated to the art of Maurizio
Pollini, as well as a new CD in late 2012 that features Chopin preludes and other
pieces.