Boris Berezovsky (Piano)

Boris Berezovsky has established a great reputation, both as the most powerful of virtuoso pianists and as a musician gifted with a unique insight and a great sensitivity.
Born in Moscow, Boris Berezovsky studied at the Moscow Conservatoire with Eliso Virsaladze and privately with Alexander Satz. Subsequent to his London debut at the Wigmore Hall in 1988, The Times described him as “an artist of exceptional promise, a player of dazzling virtuosity and formidable power”. Two years later, he won the Gold Medal at the 1990 International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow.

Boris Berezovsky is regularly invited by the most prominent orchestras including the Berliner Philharmoniker, the Mariinsky Orchestra, the Hungarian National Orchestra, the Staatskapelle Dresden, the Philharmonia of London, the Orchestra Santa Cecilia of Rome, the New York Philharmonic, NHK Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestre de Paris, the Munich Philharmonic, Russian National Orchestra, the Rotterdam Philharmonic, the Orchestre National de France, the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and Hong Kong Philharmonic.

Boris Berezovsky is frequently invited to the most prestigious international recital series including those of the Berliner Philharmoniker, the Concertgebouw (Amsterdam) and the Royal Festival Hall (London) as well as such acclaimed venues as the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées and Salle Pleyel in Paris, Royal Festival Hall in London, the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, the Konzerthaus in Vienna and the Megaron in Athens and famous international festivals in Verbier, Salzburg and La Roque-d’Anthéron.

He is frequently partnered in chamber music performances by Vadim Repin and the Borodin Quartet. In August 2004, the DVD of Tchaikovsky’s Pieces for Piano, Violin and Cello and Trio Élégiaque “À la Mémoire d’un grand artiste” recorded by the trio of Boris Berezovsky, Dmitri Makhtin and Alexander Kniazev received the Diapason d’Or. The DVD was broadcast on the TV channels ARTE and NHK in Japan. In October 2004, with Warner Classics International, Boris Berezovsky, Alexander Kniazev and Dmitri Makhtin recorded the Shostakovich Trio No 2 and Rachmaninoff Trio Élégiaque No 2, which were awarded the Choc de la musique prize in France, the Gramophone award in Great Britain and the Echo Klassik in Germany in 2005.

With Teldec, Boris Berezovsky has recorded works by Chopin, Schumann, Rachmaninoff, Musorgsky, Balakirev, Medtner, Ravel and the complete Liszt Transcendental Études. His recording of the Rachmaninoff sonatas was awarded the Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik while his Ravel disc was recommended by Le Monde de la musique, Diapason, BBC Music Magazine and the Sunday Independent. Boris Berezovsky also won the BBC Music Magazine Awards in March 2006 as “Best Instrumentalist”. His solo live recording (Chopin/Godowsky) has been highly praised.

With Mirare, Boris Berezovsky recorded the Rachmaninoff Preludes as well as the complete Rachmaninoff Piano Concertos with the Ural Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Dmitry Liss and another CD for two pianos dedicated to Rachmaninoff with Brigitte Engerer which received several prestigious awards. He recorded a CD devoted to Liszt live at the Royal Festival Hall in London and at La Grange de Meslay in Tours. Together with partners Brigitte Engerer and Henri Demarquette the musician recorded Saint-Saëns’ Carnaval des animaux (CHOC de l’année, 2010).

His next engagements include, among others, concerts with Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra in Roma and Doha, Montreal Symphonic Orchestra under Kent Nagano in Montreal and Kyoto, St Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra under Yuri Temirkanov in Paris, Philharmoniker Hamburg under Pinchas Steinberg, Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra under Hannu Lintu, Orchestre de Paris under Alexander Vedernikov. Boris Berezovsky will also be on tour with Vadim Repin in France and perform with Borodin Quartet in Istanbul, and will give recitals in the most world prestigious halls.

Boris Berezovsky has assumed a position formerly held by his friend Brigitte Engerer, becoming Artistic Director of the festival Pianoscope Beauvais.