JOEY CALDERAZZO

PETRONEL MALAN

ALEXANDER PALEY

CLEMENS UNTERREINER

OVIDIO DE FERRARI

MIKHAIL PLETNEV

 

Born in 1978 in Vienna, the pianist and conductor Florian Krumpöck is designated General Music Director designate and Principal Conductor of the North German Philharmonic Orchestra and the municipal theatre in Rostock.

"Forget Lang Lang and Arcadi Volodos. There are highly virtuosic masters of the keyboard in Austria too." That was the considered opinion of the daily newspaper "die Presse" on the solo debut of this pianist at the Vienna Konzerthaus venue.

The son of a cellist and an art historian was taking piano lessons at an early age with some of the most celebrated pianists of the day, such as Rudolf Buchbinder, Gerhard Oppitz and Elisabeth Leonskaja. The great Daniel Barenboim, after hearing Florian Krumpöck play, declared him simply "a wonderful pianist" and was instrumental in launching his very promising international career.

Thanks to sensational reviews after his debut at the Tonhalle in Zurich with the RSO of Moscow under Vladimir Fedoseyev, he was invited to perform at various music venues in Europe, such as Vienna, Salzburg, Munich, Zurich and Moscow, as well as in Israel, the USA, China and South Korea. Highly acclaimed solo recitals at international events, such as the Salzburg Music and Salzburg Easter festivals, the Bregenz Festival, the Bad Kissingen Summer Music Festival, the Bachfest in Leipzig, the Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Music Festival and the Klangbogen Festival in Vienna have cemented his reputation since then.

Sir Peter Ustinov introduced the young musician to a wide audience. ?Since his childhood, Florian Krumpöck has built up a vast pianistic repertoire, including complete work cycles such as J.S. Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier and Beethoven's 32 piano sonatas and 5 piano concertos, plus numerous premieres and first performances of works by a range of composers (Korngold, Wellesz, Weigl and Schreker among them), as well as unusual works for piano like Reger's Bach Variations and Stravinsky's Trois mouvements de Petrouchka.

The German piano manufacturer Blüthner has provided him with his own concert grand for life, and the instrument accompanies him on tours and to recordings.

To date, Florian Krumpöck has released six CDs featuring solo performances of works by Mozart, Schubert, Liszt and Weber.

His mentor Daniel Barenboim has encouraged him to broaden his repertoire by adding numerous symphonic works and operas and to become involved in conducting.

He made a sensational debut and attracted international attention in 2006 when he stood in as conductor with the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra. After that performance, he was appointed Principal Conductor of the Sinfonietta Baden.

In 2007 he conducted a highly successful New Year concert at the Kennedy Center in Washington, which led to an engagement deputising for the new Principal Conductor of the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, Michael Boder, who has also become an important artistic advisor for him.

He gave a highly acclaimed solo debut at the Vienna Musikverein in 2008, playing two complete cycles of 32 piano sonatas by Ludwig van Beethoven for the first time.

In the past season, Florian Krumpöck made an acclaimed debut in a dual role as pianist and conductor with the renowned Gulbenkian Orchestra in Lisbon and conducted the Philharmonic Orchestra of Trier for the first time. In the current season, he has given a highly praised solo recital at Munich's famous Herkulessaal which was broadcast by Bavarian Radio, and he made his debut on the rostrum with the North German Philharmonic Orchestra, the Bremerhaven Municipal Orchestra , the Wonju Philharmonic Orchestra of South Korea and the Bucheon Philharmonic Orchestra.

In the forthcoming season he will be conducting the North German Philharmonic Orchestra from the podium in the premiere of Puccini's La Bohème, the revival of Verdi's Rigoletto, and several symphony concerts (including the beginning of a complete Mahler cycle), as well as special concert events. He will also be working for the first time with the Symphony Orchestra of Liechtenstein (as pianist and conductor) and with the Bavarian Chamber Orchestra, as well as taking charge for the fourth time of the artistic direction of the Blüthner cycle in Vienna.

Florian Krumpöck is releasing a double CD of piano music on the Solo Musica label (Munich) to mark the 200th anniversary of Franz Liszt's birthday featuring the first two volumes of the Années de pèlerinage, while his first CD as conductor, devoted entirely to works by Sergey Prokofiev, will be released with Sony Korea.

Historical Composers & Artists

"After my coffee and cigar we went to one of the recording rooms where they had a Blüthner piano Well, this Blüthner had the most beautiful singing tone I had ever found. I became quite enthusiastic and decided to play my beloved Barcarolle of Chopin. The piano inspired me. I don’t think I ever played better in my life.“

Arthur Rubinstein 

„My Many Years“ (page 281)

 

„In das Exil nach Amerika begleiteten mich nur zwei Wesen von Bedeutung: meine Frau Natalja und mein kostbarer Blüthner.“

“There are only two important things which I took with me on my way to America. My wife Natalia and my precious Blüthner.”

Sergei Rachmaninoff

 

 “Almost in the middle of the room, the black Blüthner grand stood, free of music, book or photographs. Debussy was proud of his grand piano, and before I played he showed me a new device invented by Blüthner: an extra string set on top of the others. Although not touched by the hammers, it caught the overtones, thus increasing the vibrations and enriching the sonority. This was a piano he had rented during a stay in Bournemouth, and liked so well that he had bought it and had it shipped to Paris.” “He played a number of passages and the tone he extracted from the Blüthner was the loveliest, the most elusive and ethereal I have ever heard”. 

letter from Maurice Dumesnil, friend

Claude Debussy

Debussy's Blüthner at the Musée Labenche