Program:
Beethoven: Sonata in E minor, Op. 90
Liszt: Sonata in B minor
Szymanowski: Three Masks, Op. 34
Prokofiev: Sonata No. 7, Op. 83





Versatile pianist Garrick Ohlsson performs a solo recital as part of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association's Colburn Celebrity series on Friday, April 27, 2007, at 8 p.m., at Walt Disney Concert Hall. The concert's program features Beethoven's Sonata No. 27 in E Minor, Op. 90; Liszt's Sonata in B Minor; Szymanowski's Three Masks, Op. 34; and Prokofiev's Sonata No. 7, Op. 83.

Ohlsson has developed a reputation for his commanding performances of the works of Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert, as well as the Romantic repertoire. His repertoire is unusually wide and eclectic - ranging from Haydn and Mozart to works of the 21st century - and to date he has at his command some 80 concertos. A prolific recording artist, Ohlsson can be heard on the Arabesque, RCA Victor Red Seal, Angel, Bridge BMG, Delos, Hänssler, Nonesuch, Telarc and Virgin Classic labels.

The Colburn Celebrity series offers virtuoso performances by world-renowned artists. Remaining recitals this season include Chanticleer (May 3, 2007); and Hélène Grimaud, piano (June 17, 2007).

Since his triumph as winner of the 1970 Chopin International Piano Competition, pianist GARRICK OHLSSON has established himself worldwide as a musician of magisterial interpretive and technical prowess. Although he has long been regarded as one of the world's leading exponents of the music of Frédéric Chopin, Ohlsson commands an enormous repertoire, which ranges over the entire piano literature. A student of the late Claudio Arrau, Ohlsson has come to be noted for his masterly performances of the works of Mozart, Beethoven, and Schubert, as well as the Romantic repertoire. His concerto repertoire alone is unusually wide and eclectic - ranging from Haydn and Mozart to works of the 21st century - and to date he has at his command some 80 concertos.

Ohlsson opened the 2006/07 season with the Mostly Mozart Festival in New York in a live, nationally televised performance. He will also appear in North America and Canada with the symphony orchestras of Atlanta, Detroit, Milwaukee, Montreal, New Jersey, Oregon, Pittsburgh, San Diego, and Utah. A series of recitals in Anchorage, Boston, Cleveland, Florida, Los Angeles, Ottawa, and San Francisco will culminate in three recitals of Beethoven sonatas at Lincoln Center (New York), and a performance of Beethoven's "Emperor" Concerto at Carnegie Hall with the Orchestra of St. Luke's. In Europe, he will perform at the BBC Proms with the Budapest Festival Orchestra, at the Warsaw Chopin Festival, with the Czech Philharmonic, with the BBC Philharmonic, and in recital in Spain and Italy.

In the 2005/06 season, Ohlsson performed in North America with the symphony orchestras of Baltimore, Berkeley, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Houston, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Seattle, St. Louis, and Washington, DC; and the National Arts Centre, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, and the London Philharmonic at Lincoln Center. Special projects included a tour with the Takács Quartet and appearances at the Bonn Beethovenfest in Germany. In the summer of 2006, he presented the complete cycle of Beethoven piano sonatas in both the Ravinia and Tanglewood festivals, a cycle he performed for the first time in the summer of 2005 at Switzerland's Verbier Festival.

Ohlsson is an avid chamber musician and has collaborated with the Cleveland, Emerson, Takács, and Tokyo string quartets, among other ensembles. Together with violinist Jorja Fleezanis and cellist Michael Grebanier, he is a founding member of the San Francisco-based FOG Trio.

A prolific recording artist, Ohlsson can be heard on the Arabesque, RCA Victor Red Seal, Angel, Bridge, BMG, Delos, Hänssler, Nonesuch, Telarc, and Virgin Classics labels. For Arabesque he has recorded the complete solo works of Chopin and four volumes of Beethoven sonatas.

A native of White Plains, New York, Ohlsson began his piano studies at the age of 8. He attended the Westchester Conservatory of Music and at 13 entered the Juilliard School in New York City. His musical development has been influenced in completely different ways by a succession of distinguished teachers, most notably Claudio Arrau, Olga Barabini, Tom Lishman, Sascha Gorodnitzki, Rosina Lhévinne, and Irma Wolpe. Although he won First Prizes at the 1966 Busoni Competition in Italy and the 1968 Montréal Piano Competition, it was his 1970 triumph at the Chopin Competition in Warsaw, where he won the Gold Medal, that brought him worldwide recognition as one of the finest pianists of his generation. Since then he has made nearly a dozen tours of Poland, where he retains immense personal popularity. Ohlsson was awarded the Avery Fisher Prize in 1994 and received the 1998 University Musical Society Distinguished Artist Award in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He makes his home in San Francisco

i understand he owns a grotrian. will he be playing one at the concert?

I'll try to detect this but my seat sucks.

It is facing his face (though I can't see his face.) The lid is in the way.

Sound-wise it is a wonderful seat.

Gotta run.

quote:

Originally posted by piqué:
i understand he owns a grotrian. will he be playing one at the concert?

Really? How did you find out this tidbit of information? I'll have to check his web page.

I've liked him for years.

quote:

Originally posted by Piano*Dad:

quote:

Originally posted by piqué:
i understand he owns a grotrian. will he be playing one at the concert?

Really? How did you find out this tidbit of information? I'll have to check his web page.

I've liked him for years.

letter from him framed at the grotrian factory. talking to the dealer who sold it to him.

Astonishing, incredible.
At one point I actually caught myself weeping, catching my breath at another.

Ohlsson is perfect.

I'm basking in the afterglow.
I feel like I just had the best sex of my life.

More later.
Good night.

My tuner tuned the piano he used for his complete Chopin recordings. I'll ask what that was next time I see him.

I love Garrick Ohlsson. I'm glad you enjoyed it, Kenny.

I still remember hearing him in the late 1970s... he played a great concert, no "big" pieces, but many smaller ones. Brahms, Chopin, Scarlatti, all sorts of good stuff in the first half.

The second half was "Pix at an Exhibition." Incredible.

Three encores, all Chopin Waltzes. yummm

Guess who I met during intermission. My piano teacher.
He loves Ohlsson.
Now I see why.
He really finds the music within the music.
It never felt like he was just playing it.
It was like it was happening for the first time.

Don't pass up a chance to see this guy.
He's 59 now.

I met him right after he won the Chopin Competition. We spoke for an hour or so. He did (and does) a good job of keeping modest. What was funny was that when he won the Chopin competition, he had yet to earn his bachelors degree from Julliard. His missing requirement? A senior recital...

Not that this matters, because an artist like Garrick could make a lowly Kimball spinet sound beautiful - but from conversations with Garrick directly and later with a mutual friend:

He currently plays on his "everyday" piano - A beat up Bosie 200 (maple or some such light color?) that he bought used in or right after college. He also owns an Imperial (not in his home)

He has had a 7 ftish Grotrian. He quite likes those pianos. It is in an apartment that he either sold or leased with the piano, so he may or may not actally own this piano now. He wasn't clear - I did not push the issue - frankly it didn't matter to me anyway.

I hope that helps... a little.

I might be confusing Ohlsson with another artist, but doesn't he own an older Mason CC1 or CC2? I think I remember him saying his Beethoven Sonatas were recorded using it? I might be completely wrong about this, though.

Shoot Tav!!

A Mason (big one) WAS mentioned. I had forgotten. (I wish I had taken notes)

Sorry.

quote:

Originally posted by Tav D:
I might be confusing Ohlsson with another artist, but doesn't he own an older Mason CC1 or CC2? I think I remember him saying his Beethoven Sonatas were recorded using it? I might be completely wrong about this, though.

Sorry Tav, I don't know.

Hey, I can't find a review in the Los Angeles Times.
What's up?
Why not?

Coming late to this thread.

Kenny, I love Garrick Ohlsson. I didn't know he was from White Plains! Who knew? I also didn't know he studied with Claudio Arrau. I love Arrau too.

Interesting program. Do you have a subscription series?