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Jan Lisiecki

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Jan Lisiecki
Lisiecki, 2019
Lisiecki, 2019
Background information
Birth nameJan Miłosz Lisiecki
Born (1995-03-23) March 23, 1995 (age 29)
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
GenresClassical
OccupationPianist
Years active2004–present
LabelsDeutsche Grammophon/Universal Classics
Websitewww.janlisiecki.com

Jan Lisiecki (/ˈjɑːn lɪˈʃɛtski/; born March 23, 1995) is a Canadian-born classical pianist of Polish ancestry He performs internationally with orchestras and conductors.[1] He has been a recording artist for Deutsche Grammophon since the age of 15.[1][2] At age 18, Lisiecki was the recipient of Gramophone’s Young Artist Award and the Leonard Bernstein Award.[1]

Early life and education

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Lisiecki was born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada; began piano lessons at the age of five; and made his orchestral debut at the age of nine.[3] At thirteen, Lisiecki was invited to the 2008 edition of the "Chopin and his Europe" festival in Warsaw, Poland, to perform Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 2, Op. 21 with Sinfonia Varsovia and Howard Shelley. Instantly hailed as the sensation of the festival, he returned in 2009 to perform Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 1, Op. 11 in the same constellation.[4]

He was brought to international attention the following year when the Fryderyk Chopin Institute released the two performances, marking Lisiecki's album debut.[5] The recording was awarded the Diapason d’Or Découverte[6] and met with enthusiastic international reviews, with BBC Music Magazine praising the "sensitively distilled" insights of his Chopin interpretations, and "mature musicality" of his playing, and noting that "even in a crowded CD catalogue, this refreshingly unhyped debut release is one to celebrate".[7] Following the Chopin release, Deutsche Grammophon signed an exclusive contract with Lisiecki that same year, when he was 15 years old.[8][9]

Lisiecki meeting Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada, in Ottawa in 2010

As part of the Canada Day celebrations in 2010, Lisiecki performed for Queen Elizabeth II and an audience of 100,000 people on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.[10]

Lisiecki was accelerated four grades upon the school board's recommendation and graduated in January 2011 from Western Canada High School in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.[11] He completed his undergraduate studies in Toronto at The Glenn Gould School of The Royal Conservatory of Music, where he was admitted on a full scholarship.[12]

Recordings and critical reception

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Lisiecki's first recording for Deutsche Grammophon, released in April 2012, features Mozart's Piano Concertos K 466, No. 20, in D minor and K 467, No. 21, in C Major with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and Christian Zacharias[13][14] and was nominated for 2013 Juno Award in the category Classical Album of the Year.[15] It was followed in spring 2013 by Chopin's Études Op. 10 and 25,[16][17] which Gramophone Magazine described as "played as pure music, given as naturally as breathing".[18]

Lisiecki with Claudio Abbado in 2013

In March 2013, Lisiecki substituted at short notice for Martha Argerich, performing Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 4, Op. 58 in Bologna with the Orchestra Mozart under Claudio Abbado.[19] He concluded the season with a performance of Schumann's Piano Concerto Op. 54 at the BBC Proms in Royal Albert Hall with the Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia under Antonio Pappano.[20]

The following year, Lisiecki made his debuts as soloist with world-class orchestras such as the Orchestra Filarmonica della Scala in Milan,[21] Tonhalle Orchester Zurich,[22] NHK Symphony Orchestra in Tokyo,[23] and the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin and performed three Mozart concertos in a week with the Philadelphia Orchestra.[24] The same season saw him perform recital debuts at Wigmore Hall, Rome's Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, and in San Francisco.[25]

In January 2016, Lisiecki played his debut in the Stern auditorium of New York's famed Carnegie Hall at the age of 20, with what the New York Times called an "uncommonly sensitive performance".[26] The same month, Deutsche Grammophon released Lisiecki's recording of Schumann's works for piano and orchestra with Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia and Antonio Pappano.[27] ClassicFM wrote, "he may be young but Jan Lisiecki plays Schumann like a legend".[28] Shortly after, he made subscription series debuts with the Cleveland Orchestra,[29] Boston,[30] Pittsburgh[31] and San Francisco Symphony,[32] London Philharmonic Orchestra,[33] Vienna Symphony[34] and Staatskapelle Dresden.[35]

Lisiecki at the 2017 Echo Klassik awards ceremony in Germany

Chopin's rarely performed works for piano and orchestra, recorded with NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester and Krzysztof Urbański and released in March 2017,[36] was awarded both the Echo Klassik[37] and the Juno Award,[38] respectively Germany's and Canada's most significant recognitions in the music industry.

In August 2018, Lisiecki led the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra from the piano in a performance of Mendelssohn's Piano Concertos No. 1, Op. 25 and No. 2, Op. 40 at the Teatr Wielki in Warsaw, ten years after his first performance and recording at the "Chopin and his Europe" festival.[39] The live recording was released by Deutsche Grammophon in February 2019[40] and nominated for an OPUS Klassik,[41] the successor award for the discontinued Echo Klassik,[42] and Orpheus and Lisiecki toured the concertos extensively throughout Europe and North America,[43] appearing in Carnegie Hall and Elbphilharmonie.

Lisiecki on stage in 2019

In 2018, Lisiecki presented a recital program with works by Chopin, Schumann, Ravel and Rachmaninoff.[44] Titled 'Night Music', it was hailed by reviewers as "intoxicating", "divine" and a "metaphysical sound experience".[45]

His sixth album for Deutsche Grammophon saw him leading the Academy of St Martin in the Fields from the piano for all five Beethoven concertos.[46] The September 2019 release was recorded live in three concerts from Konzerthaus Berlin over the course of five days. It was the first release within the label's celebration of the Beethoven Year 2020, and an audiovisual release followed in January 2020.[47] In March 2020, Deutsche Grammophon released a Beethoven Lieder recording with baritone Matthias Goerne.[48]

The season also saw him perform both a new solo recital programme as well as Lieder recitals with baritone Matthias Goerne in Paris,[49] London,[50] Hamburg,[51] Munich[52] and New York's Lincoln Center,[53] and a series of Beethoven concerto cycles with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe.[54][55]

Lisiecki has worked with the New York Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Chicago Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, Staatskapelle Dresden, Orchestre de Paris, Camerata Salzburg, Munich Philharmonic, BBC Symphony, London Symphony Orchestra, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, National Arts Centre Orchestra, Zürich Chamber Orchestra and Boston Symphony Orchestra, and conductors such as Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Daniel Harding, Michael Tilson Thomas, Manfred Honeck, Andris Nelsons, Tugan Sokhiev and Philippe Jordan.[56]

Media

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Radio and television networks worldwide frequently broadcast Lisiecki's performances,[57][58][59][60] and he has been subject to extensive global media coverage,[61][62][63][64] having been featured repeatedly on national television throughout Europe and North America.[65][66]

In 2009, he was the subject of the 2009 CBC National News documentary by Joe Schlesinger, The Reluctant Prodigy.[67] In 2019, Lisiecki was featured as a protagonist in SchumannVR, a virtual reality installation about the life of Robert and Clara Schumann, supported by the Tonhalle Düsseldorf.[68]

Activism and philanthropy

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Lisiecki is involved in charity work, donating time and performances to such organizations as the David Foster Foundation, the Polish Humanitarian Action and the Make-A-Wish Foundation.[69] He was appointed UNICEF Ambassador to Canada in 2012,[70] having been a National Youth Representative since 2008.[71]

Discography

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Title Album details Peak positions
US Classical
[72]
Chopin: Piano Concertos No. 1 and No. 2
Mozart: Piano Concertos K 466, No. 20, in D minor and K 467, No. 21, in C Major
Chopin: Études
Schumann: Piano Concerto and Concert Pieces Op. 92 & 134 19
Chopin: Works for Piano and Orchestra 13
Mendelssohn
Beethoven: Complete Piano Concertos
Beethoven: Lieder · Songs
Chopin: Complete Nocturnes
  • Participants: Jan Lisiecki
  • Release: 2021[85]

Awards

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References

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  1. ^ a b c "Jan Lisiecki". Deutsche Grammophon. 2024. Retrieved November 17, 2024.
  2. ^ "Deal puts pianist on path to classical stardom". Archived from the original on August 12, 2014. Retrieved February 11, 2013., Calgary Herald, September 30, 2010
  3. ^ [1] Ottawa Citizen, September 27, 2006
  4. ^ [2] Culture.pl, September 2, 2013
  5. ^ [3] Classical Music Sentinel, January 18, 2020
  6. ^ "CD reviews". Archived from the original on December 18, 2012. Retrieved June 11, 2013., Jan Lisiecki website June 10, 2013
  7. ^ [4] BBC Music Magazine review
  8. ^ [5][permanent dead link] Deutsche Grammophon announcement
  9. ^ "Deal puts pianist on path to classical stardom". Archived from the original on August 12, 2014. Retrieved February 11, 2013., Calgary Herald, September 30, 2010
  10. ^ [6] Star Phoenix March 4, 2016
  11. ^ [7] Last.fm January 18, 2020
  12. ^ [8] The Royal Conservatory of Music January 18, 2020
  13. ^ [9] Archived August 19, 2013, at the Wayback Machine Deutsche Grammophon, June 10, 2013
  14. ^ [10], New York Times, March 29, 2013
  15. ^ [11][permanent dead link] Calgary Herald, April 18, 2013
  16. ^ [12] Archived June 4, 2013, at the Wayback Machine Deutsche Grammophon, June 10, 2013
  17. ^ [13] Musical Toronto, April 23, 2013
  18. ^ [14] Gramophone Magazine, October 2013
  19. ^ [15], Slipped Disc March 14, 2013 Archived May 14, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
  20. ^ [16] The Proms, July 2013
  21. ^ [17] OperaClick, January 2014
  22. ^ [18] Tonhalle Orchester Zurich, Annual Report 2013/14
  23. ^ [19] Archived September 17, 2020, at the Wayback Machine NHK Symphony Orchestra, October 2014
  24. ^ [20] Philadelphia Orchestra, April 2014
  25. ^ [21] Seen and Heard International, September 2013
  26. ^ [22] New York Times, January 15, 2016
  27. ^ [23] Archived April 29, 2017, at the Wayback Machine Deutsche Grammophon catalogue
  28. ^ [24] Musical America, January 2017
  29. ^ [25] Ideastream, April 2016
  30. ^ [26] Boston Symphony Orchestra, April 2018
  31. ^ [27] Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, April 2018
  32. ^ [28] San Francisco Symphony, April 2018
  33. ^ [29] Archived September 17, 2020, at the Wayback Machine London Philharmonic Orchestra, December 2016
  34. ^ [30] Vienna Symphony, January 2017
  35. ^ [31] Staatskapelle Dresden pdf programme, July 2018
  36. ^ [32] Archived February 27, 2018, at the Wayback Machine Deutsche Grammophon catalogue
  37. ^ [33] Echo Klassik press release, July 27, 2017
  38. ^ "Junos 2018: the complete list of winners". CBC News, March 25, 2018
  39. ^ [34][permanent dead link] Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, August 2018
  40. ^ "MENDELSSOHN Lisiecki - 1 CD / Download - Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft". www.deutschegrammophon.com. Retrieved February 3, 2019.
  41. ^ [35] Opus Klassik social media, July 2019
  42. ^ [36] Billboard, April 2018
  43. ^ [37] Dorn Music, April 2019
  44. ^ [38] Archived August 8, 2020, at the Wayback Machine Toronto Concert Reviews, March 2019
  45. ^ [39] National Arts Centre, October 2019
  46. ^ "BEETHOVEN Piano Concertos / Lisiecki - 3 CDs / Download - Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft". www.deutschegrammophon.com. Archived from the original on December 3, 2019. Retrieved January 6, 2020.
  47. ^ [40] Archived July 16, 2019, at the Wayback Machine Deutsche Grammophon, October 2019
  48. ^ [41] Archived July 16, 2019, at the Wayback Machine Deutsche Grammophon, March 2020
  49. ^ [42][permanent dead link] Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, January 2020
  50. ^ [43][permanent dead link] Wigmore Hall, January 2020
  51. ^ [44][permanent dead link] Laeiszhalle, January 2020
  52. ^ [45] Archived September 17, 2020, at the Wayback Machine MünchenMusik, January 2020
  53. ^ [46] Lincoln Center, January 2020
  54. ^ [47] Konzerthaus Dortmund, January 2020
  55. ^ [48] EasyTicket, January 2020
  56. ^ [49] Archived September 29, 2020, at the Wayback Machine Dorn Music, January 2020
  57. ^ [50] BBC Radio 3, October 2015
  58. ^ [51] WRTI, March 2019
  59. ^ [52][permanent dead link] MagentaMusik, July 2019
  60. ^ [53] Medici.tv, January 2020
  61. ^ [54] Maclean's, April 12, 2013
  62. ^ [55][permanent dead link] Vogue Italia, October 2013
  63. ^ [56] New York Times, June 2017
  64. ^ [57] CityNews, March 2019
  65. ^ "Der Chopin von heute: Jan Lisiecki - ZDF heute journal - ZDFmediathek - ZDF Mediathek". Archived from the original on November 9, 2013. Retrieved June 11, 2013. Heute Journal, May 2013
  66. ^ [58] CBC Radio, June 05, 2019
  67. ^ [59] The Reluctant Prodigy, CBC Television, September 09, 2009
  68. ^ [60] KlassikAkzente Magazine, October 24, 2019
  69. ^ [61] Dallas Symphony Orchestra portfolio
  70. ^ [62][permanent dead link] UNICEF website
  71. ^ [63] Calgary Herald, November 3, 2008
  72. ^ "Chart Search". Billboard.
  73. ^ [64] Archived February 5, 2018, at the Wayback Machine Fryderyk Chopin Institute June 10, 2013
  74. ^ "Listy bestsellerów, wyróżnienia :: Związek Producentów Audio-Video". Archived from the original on July 21, 2011. Retrieved May 19, 2012., Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry June 10, 2013
  75. ^ [65] Archived August 19, 2013, at the Wayback Machine Deutsche Grammophon June 10, 2013
  76. ^ [66] Archived June 4, 2013, at the Wayback Machine Deutsche Grammophon June 10, 2013
  77. ^ [67] Musical Toronto, April 23, 2013
  78. ^ [68] Whole Note Magazine, June 2, 2013
  79. ^ [69], The Toronto Star April 22, 2013
  80. ^ [70] Archived April 29, 2017, at the Wayback Machine Deutsche Grammophon catalogue
  81. ^ [71] Archived February 27, 2018, at the Wayback Machine Deutsche Grammophon catalogue
  82. ^ "MENDELSSOHN Lisiecki - 1 CD / Download - Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft". www.deutschegrammophon.com. Retrieved February 3, 2019.
  83. ^ "BEETHOVEN Piano Concertos / Lisiecki - 3 CDs / Download - Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft". www.deutschegrammophon.com. Archived from the original on December 3, 2019. Retrieved January 6, 2020.
  84. ^ [72] Archived July 16, 2019, at the Wayback Machine Deutsche Grammophon, March 2020
  85. ^ "CHOPIN Complete Nocturnes". www.deutschegrammophon.com. Retrieved March 3, 2023.
  86. ^ [73] Archived September 26, 2020, at the Wayback Machine Canadian Music Competition website, January 18, 2020
  87. ^ Culture.pl September 2, 2013
  88. ^ [74], The Globe and Mail, January 13, 2010
  89. ^ "CD reviews". Archived from the original on December 18, 2012. Retrieved June 11, 2013., Jan Lisiecki website June 10, 2013
  90. ^ "Listy bestsellerów, wyróżnienia :: Związek Producentów Audio-Video". Archived from the original on July 21, 2011. Retrieved May 19, 2012., Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry June 10, 2013
  91. ^ [75] Radio Canada website, January 18, 2020
  92. ^ [76] Archived September 23, 2020, at the Wayback Machine Radio France website, January 18, 2020
  93. ^ [77] UNICEF portfolio, January 18, 2020
  94. ^ [78][permanent dead link], Calgary Herald April 18, 2013
  95. ^ [79] Gramophone Magazine October 2013
  96. ^ [80] The Globe and Mail, September 19, 2013
  97. ^ [81] Culture.pl, September 2, 2013
  98. ^ [82] Archived April 16, 2014, at the Wayback Machine Canadian Chopin Society, March 3, 2013
  99. ^ [83] Archived March 20, 2015, at the Wayback Machine Juno Awards 2014
  100. ^ [84]Echo Klassik press release, July 27, 2017
  101. ^ [85] Gramophone Magazine December 2017
  102. ^ [86] Juno Awards 2017
  103. ^ "Junos 2018: the complete list of winners". CBC News, · March 25, 2018
  104. ^ [87] Gramophone Magazine April 2019
  105. ^ [88] Opus Klassik social media, July 2019
  106. ^ [89] Juno Awards 2020
  107. ^ [90] Presto Music, July 2020
  108. ^ [91] Archived November 7, 2021, at the Wayback Machine Opus Klassik website, July 2020
  109. ^ [92] Archived November 5, 2021, at the Wayback Machine Opus Klassik website, July 2020
  110. ^ [93] Archived November 7, 2021, at the Wayback Machine Opus Klassik website, July 2020
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