Recognizing the world's only best modern pianist is an overwhelming task. For each critic and listener, various masters will be idols. And this is the strength of mankind: the world contains a considerable number of worthy and talented pianist musicians.
Agrerich Marta Archerich
One of the first who tops the list of the best modern pianists is Marta Argerich.
The pianist was born in the Argentine city of Buenos Aires in 1941. She sat down at the instrument at the age of three, and at the age of eight she made her public debut at which she performed a concert of Mozart himself.
The future virtuoso star studied with such teachers as Friedrich Gould, Arturo Ashkenazi and Stefan Michelangeli - one of the most outstanding pianists of the 20th century, performing classics.
Since 1957, Argerich began to participate in competitive activities and won the first big victories: 1st place in the piano competition in Geneva and the Busoni International Competition.
However, a real overwhelming success came to Marta at the moment when, at the age of 24, she was able to win the Chopin international competition in Warsaw.
In 2005, she became the winner of the highest Grammy Award for performing chamber compositions by composers Prokofiev and Ravel, and in 2006 for performing Beethoven’s work with the orchestra.
Also in 2005, the pianist was awarded the Imperial Japanese Prize.
Her passionate game and amazing technical data, with the help of which she masterfully performs the works of Russian composers Rakhmaninov and Prokofiev, can not leave anyone indifferent.
Kisin Evgeny Igorevich
One of the most famous modern pianists in Russia is the musician Kisin Evgeny Igorevich.
He was born on October 10, 1971 in Moscow, at the age of six he entered the Gnesins music school. Kantor Anna Pavlovna became the first and only teacher for life.
Since 1985, Kisin begins to demonstrate his talent abroad. In 1987 debuted in Western Europe.
After 3 years, he conquers the United States, where he performs the 1st and 2nd concerts of Chopin with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, and a week later he performs in solo format.
In 1992, Yevgeny Kisin took part in the Grammy ceremony, which was simply watched by an incredible number of spectators - 1,600,000,000 people.
In 1997, he participated in the Proms festival, where he introduced the piano evening for the first time in the history of this international event.
Interesting fact
Eugene never participated in competitive activities, but this did not stop him from receiving a huge number of awards for talent and hard work. The most honorable of them: 2 Grammy awards, the first of which was received for the best solo play by composers Scriabin, Stravinsky and Metner, and the second (in 2010) for performing Prokofiev’s work together with the orchestra .
Matsuev Denis Leonidovich
Another of the most outstanding modern Russian virtuoso pianists is the famous Denis Matsuev.
Denis was born in the city of Irkutsk in 1975 in a family of musicians. Parents from an early age accustomed the child to art. The boy’s first teacher was his grandmother Vera Rammul.
In 1993, Matsuev entered the Moscow State Conservatory, and after 2 years already became the leading soloist of the Moscow State Philharmonic.
He gained world fame after winning the Tchaikovsky International Competition in 1998, when he was only 23 years old.
He prefers to combine his innovative approach to playing with the traditions of the Russian piano school.
Since 2004, she has been conducting a series of concerts under the title "Soloist Denis Matsuev", inviting domestic and foreign leading orchestras to collaborate with him.
Christian Zimmerman
Christian Zimmerman (born 1956) is a famous modern pianist of Polish descent. In addition to the activities of an instrumentalist, he is also a conductor.
Initial music lessons were taught to him by his father - an amateur pianist. Then Christian continued his studies with the teacher Andrzej Jasinsky in a private format, and then moved to the conservatory of the city of Katowice.
He began to give his first concerts at the age of 6, and in 1975 he won the Chopin Piano Competition, thereby becoming the youngest winner in history. Over the next year, he honed his piano skills with the famous Polish pianist Arthur Rubinstein.
Christian Zimmerman is considered a brilliant performer of Chopin's work. His discography contains recordings of all the piano concerts of Ravel, Beethoven, Brahms and, of course, his main idol, Chopin, as well as sound recordings of the works of Liszt, Strauss and Respiha.
Since 1996, he has been teaching at the Basel Graduate School of Music. Received the Chigi and Leoni Sonning Academy Prizes.
In 1999 created the Polish Festival Orchestra.
Wang Yujia
Wang Yujia is a Chinese representative in piano art. She gained fame thanks to her virtuoso and incredibly fast game, for which she was awarded the pseudonym Flying Fingers.
The birthplace of the Chinese modern pianist is Beijing, where she spent her childhood in a family of musicians. At the age of 6, she began her tests on a keyboard instrument, and a year later she entered the Central Conservatory of the capital. At 11, she was enrolled in Canada and after 3 years, she finally moved to a foreign country for further studies.
In 1998, she received the prize of the International Competition for Young Pianists in the city of Ettlingen, and in 2001, in addition to the award described above, the judiciary gives Van an award awarded to pianists under 20 years old in the amount of 500,000 yen (in rubles - 300,000).
The pianist of Russian composers also plays successfully: she has Rakhmaninov’s Second and Third concerts, as well as Prokofiev’s Second Concerto.
Fazyl Say
Fazil Say is a Turkish contemporary pianist and composer born in 1970. He studied at the Conservatory of Ankara, and then in the cities of Germany - Berlin and Dusseldorf.
It is worth noting, in addition to the piano activity, and its compositional qualities: in 1987, the pianist's Black Hymns was performed in honor of the city’s 750th anniversary.
In many of his works, the author and pianist combines classics with the harmonies of jazz and Turkish folklore. This can be seen on the example of a variation on the theme of "Turkish Rondo" by Mozart, where Fazyl uses jazz elements.
In 2006, the city of Vienna premiered his ballet "Patara", written on the basis of the theme of Mozart, but the piano sonata.
Two composers occupy an important place in Sai's performing piano repertoire: musical titans Bach and Mozart. At concerts, he alternates classical compositions with his own.
In 2000, he made an unusual experiment, risking to record the ballet "Sacred Spring" by Igor Stravinsky for two pianos, performing both parts with his own hand.
In 2013, he fell under a criminal case for statements on a social network regarding the topic of Islam. The Istanbul court concluded that the musician’s words were directed against the Muslim faith and sentenced Fazyl Say to 10 years of probation.
In the same year, the composer filed a motion for reconsideration of the case, the sentence of which was again confirmed in September.
Other
In one article, there is simply no way to talk about all modern pianists. Therefore, we’ll also list those whose names are significant in the world of classical music:
- Daniel Barenboim from Israel;
- Yundi Lee from China;
- Grigory Sokolov from Russia;
- Murray Peraia of the United States of America;
- Mitsuko Uchida from Japan;
- Nikolai Lugansky from Russia and many other masters.