Masterclass with Pianist Cyprien Katsaris

Cyprien Katsaris, the French-Cypriot pianist and composer, was born in Marseille in 1951.

A graduate of the Paris Conservatoire, where he studied piano with Aline van Barentzen and Monique de la Bruchollerie, 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 Competition of Belgium.

His major international career includes performances with the world’s greatest orchestras: Berlin Philharmonic, Staatskapelle Dresden, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, The Cleveland Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam, Philharmonia (London), NHK Symphony Orchestra (Tokyo), Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra, Beijing Symphony Orchestra… He has collaborated with conductors such as Leonard Bernstein, Kurt Masur, Myung Whun Chung, Sir Neville Marriner, Sir Simon Rattle, Antal Doráti, Mstislav Rostropovich, Charles Dutoit, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Christoph von Dohnányi … Karl Münchinger, who, on the festive occasion of his farewell concert in 1986 with the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra, personally invited Mr. Katsaris to perform Haydn’s Piano Concerto in D major.

Mr. Katsaris has recorded extensively for Teldec (Grand Prix du Disque Frédéric Chopin, Warsaw 1985; Grand Prix du Disque Franz Liszt, Budapest 1984 and 1989; British Music Retailers Association’s Award 1986; Record of the Year 1984, Germany, for Beethoven/Liszt’s Symphony No. 9), Sony Classical, EMI, Warner Classics, Deutsche Grammophon, BMG/RCA, Decca, Pavane, and now on his own label, PIANO 21.

In addition to the standard repertoire, such as the complete concertos by Mozart, recorded live and performed in Salzburg and Vienna with Yoon K. Lee and Salzburger Kammerphilharmonie, he has revived long-lost works such as Liszt/Tchaikovsky’s Concerto in the Hungarian Style, which he has recorded with Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra.

In 1992, Japanese NHK TV produced a thirteen-programme series on Frédéric Chopin featuring Cyprien Katsaris, including masterclasses and his own performances. On 17 October 1999, New York concertgoers offered Mr. Katsaris a standing ovation in Carnegie Hall for his recital dedicated to Frédéric Chopin, performed on the day of the 150th anniversary of the composer’s death. On 27 January 2006, the day of the 250th anniversary of Mozart’s birth, he was the soloist at the inaugural concert of the Mozart Orchestra Mannheim, founded and conducted by Thomas Fey. In March 2006, Cyprien Katsaris was the first pianist ever to give masterclasses in Franz Liszt’s house in Weimar since Liszt himself taught there for the last time in 1886, the year of his death. In August 2008, he was invited to give two concerts on the occasion of the Beijing Olympic Games at the National Center for the Performing Arts. On 10 July 2014, Cyprien Katsaris performed in the first concert at the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris.

Cyprien Katsaris is “Artist of UNESCO for Peace” (1997), “Commandeur de l’Ordre de Mérite du Grand-Duché de Luxembourg” (2009) and “Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters” (France 2000). He also received the “Médaille Vermeil de la Ville de Paris” (2001) and the “Nemitsas Prize” (Cyprus, 2011).

In 2023, he received the Franz Liszt Honorary Award from the New Liszt Foundation together with Klassik Stiftung Weimar. The laudatio was given by Nike Wagner, great-great-granddaughter of Franz Liszt and great-granddaughter of Richard Wagner.

source: Konzertdirektion Hans Adler GmbH & Co. KG

photo © Jean Baptiste Millot