Tzimon Barto, Piano – Christoph Eschenbach, conductor – The NHK Symphony – January 17, 2020 – NHK-FM, Tokyo –
Over to Tokyo this week for a concert by the NHK Symphony, guest conducted by Christoph Eschenbach and featuring Tzimon Barto in a program of music by Brahms.
Opening the concert with a performance of the 2nd Piano Concerto and concluding with an Arnold Schoenberg Transcription of the Piano Quartet Number 1 in G Minor. It was recorded live on January 17, 2020 and broadcast in November of last year by NHK.
A few words about Tzimon Barto from his website:
As one of the foremost American pianists, Tzimon Barto performs on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean and in Asia. His international breakthrough occurred in the mid-1980’s when he performed at the Wiener Musikverein and the Salzburger Festspiele on invitation of Herbert von Karajan. Tzimon Barto has since played with every major international orchestra and is regularly invited to many festivals.
Born and raised in Central Florida, Tzimon Barto received his first piano lessons by his paternal grandmother at the age of five. He studied under the famous music-pedagogue and pianist Adele Marcus at the Juilliard School of Music in New York, where he won the Gina Bachauer Competition in two consecutive years.
Wolfgang Rihm dedicated his Second Piano Concerto to Tzimon Barto. The piece was premiered at the Salzburger Festspiele 2014 with the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester, followed by a tour in Germany and Italy. After the American premiere with the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, it will be and was presented to audiences in Munich, Stockholm, Amsterdam, Stuttgart and Freiburg. It has also been performed in 2016/17, as part of his residency with the SWR Symphonieorchester. Last season there was a great focus on the three piano concertos by Bartók and the two piano concertos by Brahms, which he performed throughout Europe and Germany.
Tzimon Barto is an avid student of literature and languages. He speaks five living languages fluently, and currently studies Mandarin. He reads Ancient Greek, Hebrew and Latin. His book “A Lady of Greek Origin” was published in 2001 and 2008 and a stage version was performed in Frankfurt and Vienna. In 2010, his novel “Harold Flanders” was published. His literary and poetic body of work is ever expanding.
And a few words about Christoph Eschenbach via Wikipedia:
As a pianist, Eschenbach has won numerous first-place piano competition prizes, including first prize in the Clara Haskil Competition in Vevey, Switzerland in 1965. In 1964, he made his first recording (of Mozart) for Deutsche Grammophon and signed a contract with the label. Eschenbach continued to study conducting with George Szell, with whom he worked for more than three years. In addition, he counted Herbert von Karajan as a mentor.
In 1981, Eschenbach became principal guest conductor of the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, and was chief conductor from 1982 to 1986. He was co-artistic director of the Pacific Music Festival from 1992 to 1998. He was chief conductor of the NDR Symphony Orchestra, Hamburg from 1998 to 2004. He was artistic director of the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival from 1999 until 2003. From 2000 to 2010, Eschenbach was Music Director of the Orchestre de Paris.
In the United States, Eschenbach was music director of the Houston Symphony Orchestra from 1988 to 1999. The orchestra toured Japan and Europe under his tenure as well made several recordings with Koch International Classics and RCA. In honour of his achievements and tenure with the Houston Symphony, the City of Houston placed a bronze commemorative star with his name in front of Jones Hall, the performance home of the Houston Symphony. He was music director of the Ravinia Festival from 1994 to 2005.
Eschenbach has made more than 80 recordings as piano soloist, conductor, or both, has appeared in several television documentaries, and has made many concert broadcasts for different European, Japanese and U.S. networks. Eschenbach is credited with helping and supporting talented young musicians in their career development, including soprano Renée Fleming, pianists Tzimon Barto and Lang Lang, cellists Claudio Bohórquez, and Daniel Müller-Schott, and soprano Marisol Montalvo.
Settle in and enjoy the show.