András Schiff

András Schiff is among the most prominent members of a generation of Hungarian pianists born in the years following World War II, along with such artists as <a href="spotify:artist:5Gi9bw3svtZMwonzcQG2wm">Zoltán Kocsis</a>, Dezso Ránki, and <a href="spotify:artist:5Kb0Qf13EyYtVJvzCdI9M7">Jenö Jandó</a>. Of this remarkable group, Schiff has achieved the strongest international reputation, due not only to his decision to pursue his career outside of Hungary but also to his finely shaded sense of touch and his energetic yet clear treatment of contrapuntal textures.

Schiff was born in Budapest on December 21, 1953. He studied with composers <a href="spotify:artist:3fS5EOROyeQiWaLwoCzOEv">Pál Kadosa</a> and Ferenc Rados (saying of the latter that he had benefited from his overwhelmingly critical attitude), as well as harpsichordist <a href="spotify:artist:5ccyh1kIfmtUfJf4d5wchx">George Malcolm</a>. Schiff made his debut in Budapest at age 19 and was soon making concert appearances throughout Europe and the U.S., despite Iron Curtain-era restrictions. He took the top prize at the 1974 Moscow competition and the 1975 Leeds Festival. A major early mentor was violinist and conductor Sándor Végh, with whom Schiff recorded the complete piano concertos of Mozart and much violin-and-piano chamber music. In 1989, he founded his own Mondsee Musiktage festival near Salzburg (where he had first encountered Végh). Schiff also formed his own ensemble, Cappella Andrea Barca, in 1999, and with it, recorded a complete cycle of <a href="spotify:artist:4NJhFmfw43RLBLjQvxDuRS">Mozart</a>'s piano concertos.

Schiff's energy and clarity in contrapuntal music has made him a top <a href="spotify:artist:5aIqB5nVVvmFsvSdExz408">Bach</a> interpreter; he has recorded <a href="spotify:artist:5aIqB5nVVvmFsvSdExz408">Bach</a>'s complete keyboard music. Later, he recorded a complete Beethoven sonata cycle on the boutique label <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22ECM%22">ECM</a>, completing it in 2009. He has also recorded a large amount of music by <a href="spotify:artist:2p0UyoPfYfI76PCStuXfOP">Schubert</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:2UqjDAXnDxejEyE0CzfUrZ">Schumann</a>, receiving a prize in 2011 from the city of Zwickau, Germany, for his interpretations of the latter. Eastern European music by the likes of <a href="spotify:artist:5zyNXVd952fWOjkdGHCvPd">Béla Bartók</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:46xXzoOdtD7SL2PTRq5irp">Leos Janácek</a> have also appeared prominently in his repertory. He left Hungary in 1979 and spoke out forcefully against developments there, stating that he would never again set foot in his homeland, alluding to physical dangers he would face if he did. He renounced his Austrian citizenship, which he had taken in 1987, also for political reasons, and is now a British citizen.

In the 2000s, he often revisited <a href="spotify:artist:5aIqB5nVVvmFsvSdExz408">Bach</a> repertory that he had previously recorded. Schiff has held several prestigious residencies: from 2004 to 2007, he was Artist-in-Residence of the Kunstfest Weimar; in the 2007-2008 season, he was Pianist-in-Residence of the <a href="spotify:artist:6uRJnvQ3f8whVnmeoecv5Z">Berlin Philharmonic</a>; and in 2011-2012, he was a Perspectives Artist of Carnegie Hall in New York. Schiff is married to violinist Yuuko Shiokawa, with whom he has recorded violin-and-piano repertory for <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22ECM%22">ECM</a>. In addition to <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22ECM%22">ECM</a>, Schiff's large discography includes albums on the <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Decca%22">Decca</a>, <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22London%22">London</a>, and <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Teldec%22">Teldec</a> labels as well as others. In the 2010s, despite earlier skepticism about the trend, he began to perform and record on the fortepiano, often using a Viennese instrument of 1820 built by the lesser-known maker Franz Brodmann. On that instrument, he released an album of Schubert Impromptus and the Piano Sonata in C minor, D. 958, in 2019. He returned on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22ECM%22">ECM</a> with an album of Brahms piano concertos in 2021 and with J.S. Bach: Clavichord in 2023. By that time, Schiff's recording catalog comprised well over 150 items. ~ James Manheim, Rovi