Denis Matsuev

Denis Matsuev has become a fast-rising star on the international concert stage after his triumphant victory at the 11th International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow and has quickly established himself as one of the most sought after pianists in his generation.

Mr. Matsuev has appeared in hundreds of recitals at prestigious concert halls throughout the world, including New York’s Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, Salle Gaveau and Théâtre de Champs Elysée in Paris, Mozarteum in Salzburg, Musikhalle in Hamburg, Musikverein in Vienna, Royal Festival Hall in London, Great Hall of the Conservatoire in Moscow, Great Hall of Philharmonie in St. Petersburg, La Scala in Milan, Suntory Hall in Tokyo, and the new Mariinsky Theatre Concert Hall in St. Petersburg.

He has given brilliant performances in numerous festivals including the “Russian Winter” Festival in Moscow, “Stars of White Nights” in St. Petersburg, Andrew Lloyd Webber Festival in London, Auvers-Sur-Oise Festival and La Cote-St-Andre (Berlioz) Festival in France, Chopin Festival in Dushniki, Poland, Klavier-Festival Ruhr in Essen, Germany, Shanghai International Arts Festival, and festivals in Brazil, China, Spain, and Turkey.

In addition to winning the 1998 International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow and laureate of the 1994 International Piano Competition in Johannesburg, South Africa, he has appeared with the most prestigious Russian orchestras and conductors, including the Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra (Kirov) and Valery Gergiev; Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra and Vladimir Fedoseyev; St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra and Yuri Temirkanov; Russian National Philharmonic Orchestra and Vladimir Spivakov; Russian National Orchestra and Mikhail Pletnev; Bolshoi Symphony Orchestra and Alexander Vedernikov; and the Svetlanov Symphony Orchestra and Mark Gorenstein.

Highlights of recent seasons included recitals and tours in South America, Europe and Asia, including appearances with the Beijing Philharmonic, followed by concerto appearances in Copenhagen, Vilnius, Rotterdam, Tokyo, Seoul, Warsaw, Zagreb as well as with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (Roberto Abbado), Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra (James DePriest), Budapest Festival Orchestra (Ivan Fischer), Bayerischer Rundfunk Orchestra (Mariss Jansons), and the Utah Symphony (Pavel Kogan).

He has received critical acclaim performing on a European tour with the St. Petersburg Philharmonic under Yuri Temirkanov in Paris, London, Birmingham, Manchester and Glasgow, and on tours of Germany and Austria with the Russian National Philharmonic under Vladimir Spivakov.

Highlights of 2006-2007 included return engagements to the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, concerts at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg under Mariss Jansons, his debut with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, concerts with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France and Vladimir Fedoseyev, a European tour with the Russian National Orchestra under Mikhail Pletnev, a tour in Israel with “Moscow Virtuosi” and Vladimir Spivakov, and performances in Teatro alla Scala with Lorin Maazel. He toured in Greece, Switzerland and Italy with St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra under Yuri Temirkanov, in Great Britain with Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra under Vladimir Fedoseyev, and made his recital debut at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C.

In a season 2007-2008 Mr. Matsuev will open the season of Houston Symphony Orchestra with Hans Graf, debut in Luxemburg with Liege Symphony Orchestra, in Chicago with Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Leonard Slatkin at the Ravinia Festival, and appear in London with the London Symphony Orchestra and Valery Gergiev. He will appear in recital in Isaac Stern Auditorium in Carnegie Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall in London, Ravinia Festival in Chicago and the Mariinsky Theatre concert Hall in St. Petersburg. The St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra has chosen Mr. Matsuev to be the only soloist in their tour in Asia.

In 2004, Denis Matsuev signed a contract with BMG Russia (SONY BMG Russia since 2005). His albums “Tribute to Horowitz” and the Tchaikovsky Seasons and "Three movements from Petrouchka" by Stravinsky won the most prestigious Russian music awards for two years in a row: RECORD 2005 and RECORD 2006 (best-selling classical album in Russia). In March 2007, the Tchaikovsky piano concerto ?1 and Shostakovich piano concerto ?1 with legendary St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra and Yuri Temirkanov were released. In December 2007, SONY BMG will release a disc on which Mr. Matsuev (chosen by the Rachmaninoff Foundation to record unknown Rachmaninoff pieces) performs Rachmaninoff pieces hitherto unreleased on the composer's piano at the Rachmaninoff house “Villa Senar” in Lucerne. The next solo album of Denis Matsuev recorded in November 2007 will be "Live from Carnegie Hall", which will be released in 2008/2009 internationally. All Matsuev’s albums are internationally released by RCA RED SEAL.

Mr. Matsuev is Artistic Director of two festivals in Russia: “Stars on Baikal” in Irkutsk and “Crescendo” in Moscow. These remarkable festivals present gifted Russian soloists from all over the World with best Russian orchestras and showed a new generation of the Russian music performance school. “Crescendo” festival had an incredible resonance in Russia and since then is being under the patronage of the President of the Russian Federation.

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