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Xenia Groh-Huxh@karstenwitt.com+49 30 214 594 -224
Estefanía Montes Menéndezes@karstenwitt.com+49 30 214 594 -228
General Management
Anton Gerzenberg is the first awardee of the new Martha Argerich Steinway Prize.
Arnold Schönberg, Five pieces for orchestra op. 16
Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, Piano concerto No. 1 g minor op. 25
Edward Elgar, Enigma Variations on an Original Theme for Orchestra op. 36
Anton Gerzenberg, piano
Vassilis Christopoulos, conductor
Grazer Philharmonisches Orchester
This rich concert experience, profound musicality and brilliant piano technique have benefited his multifaceted interpretations of Liszt as much as his interpretations of Brahms, Ravel and Bartók in recital.
Julia Spinola, Neue Zürcher Zeitung
Since winning the First Prize at the Concours Géza Anda in Zurich in 2021, pianist Anton Gerzenberg, born in 1996, has made a name for himself in the music world: with a broad repertoire spanning from Sweelinck to Lachenmann, he captivates audiences with his virtuoso yet sensitive playing in sophisticated programmes.
In the second year of his residency as "Great Talent" at the Wiener Konzerthaus, Anton Gerzenberg can be heard there again in 2023/24 as a soloist as well as with chamber music and interdisciplinary performances. Having recently conducted the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra from the piano, Anton Gerzenberg kicked off the new season with a play-conduct project with the Orchestre de chambre de Paris, leading Beethoven’s piano concerto No. 1. Further orchestra debuts as a soloist include the Oulu Sympony Orchestra, the Tyrolean Symphony Orchestra, and the Arthur Rubinstein Philharmonic, among others. This season also sees his first solo appearances at the Heidelberger Frühling, at BASF Ludwigshafen, at Musikverein Vienna and Seoul Arts Center. Following his successful recital tour with the complete Ligeti Etudes for the celebration of Ligeti’s 100th birthday in Germany and Austria, he will present works by Marco Stroppa, Unsuk Chin, Chaya Czernowin and Luigi Nono in a solo recital at the 2023 Wien Modern festival. He will also appear in concerts in Vienna, Munich and Elmau together with Martha Argerich, Lilya Zilberstein, and his brother Daniel Gerzenberg.
Anton Gerzenberg has performed on numerous important stages worldwide such as the Tonhalle Zurich, the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, the KKL Lucerne, the Konzerthaus Berlin, the Victoria Concert Hall in Singapore and the National Concert Hall of Taiwan, as well as at festivals such as the Klavierfestival Ruhr, the tAccademia Chigiana, the Rheingau Musikfestival, the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, and the Martha Argerich Festivals in Lugano and Hamburg. He has worked with leading orchestras including the Tonhalle Orchestra Zürich, the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra, the Wiener Symphoniker and the Musikkollegium Winterthur among others. Frequent musical partners include Martha Argerich, Ilya Gringolts, Julia Hagen, and Dora Schwarzberg, as well as conductors such as Paavo Järvi, Stefan Blunier, Jonathan Stockhammer and Nil Vendetti.
Anton Gerzenberg’s interest in new music was particularly supported by his studies with French pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard and has led him to work with numerous important composers of our time, among them Helmut LachenmannUnsuk Chin and Marco Stroppa. In 2019, he was one of the co-founders of the ÉRMA Ensemble, an ensemble specialized in Contemporary Music. His studies led him also to Julia Suslin and Julija Botchkovskaia in Hamburg as well as Jan Jiracek von Arnim in Vienna; important mentors were Robert Levin, Alfred Brendel, and Bella Davidovich.
2023/24 season
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Ravel & Inspirations
M. Ravel: Valses nobles et sentimentales L. Godowsky: Symphonic metamorphoses of Johann Strauss themes: Artistic life - Die Fledermaus - Wine, women and song M. Ravel: Jeux d'eauF. Liszt: Jeux d'eau de Villa d'Este (Années de pèlerinage III)M. Ravel: Gaspard de la nuitM. Balakirev: Islamey
Schubert - Brahms - Liszt
F. Schubert: Sonata in A major D 664J. Brahms: Four Ballads op. 10F. Liszt: Années de pèlerinage I "Suisse"
HOMMAGE
W. A. Mozart: Rondo A Minor, KV 511R. Schumann: Kreisleriana, Op. 16 (dedicated to Frédéric Chopin)---Interval---F. Chopin:Ballade No. 1 in G minor, Op. 23Ballade No. 2 in F major, Op. 38 (dedicated to Robert Schumann)Ballade No. 3 in A-Flat major, Op. 47Ballade No. 4 in F minor, Op. 54
SUGGESTION DIABOLIQUE
C. Tausig: Das Geisterschiff, Op. 1cG. Ligeti: “Der Zauberlehrling“ / Etude No. 10S. Prokofiev: Toccata in D minor, Op. 11G. Ligeti: „L‘escalier du diable“ / Etude No. 13S. Prokofiev: Suggestion diabolique, Op. 4 / 4G. Ligeti: “Vertige“ / Etude No. 9F. Liszt: Mephisto Waltz Nro. 1, S. 514---Interval---S. Rachmaninoff: “Le petit chaperon rouge“ / Etude Tableau A minor, Op. 39 / 6G. Ligeti: “En suspens“ / Etude No. 11S. Rachmaninoff: Etude Tableau in E-flat minor, Op. 33 / 3G. Ligeti: “Automne à Varsovie“ / Etude No. 6S. Rachmaninoff: Piano Sonata No. 2 in B minor, Op. 36 (First Version)
"Piano soloist Anton Gerzenberg gracefully navigates through this grand work with elegant touch. The richness of colors he draws from the piano is radiant."
Markus Schramek, Tiroler Tageszeitung, 21.04.2024
"His {Anton Gerzenberg's} technical control is brilliant. So is his emphasis. "I wanted to be a volcanologist one day," he says later. Nothing came of it. But he channels the lava flow of Brahms' tones excellently."
Hans-Günter Fischer, Mannheimer Morgen, 10.4.24
"Prokofiev's extremely virtuosic and almost acrobatic way of writing for the piano requires a player with a steel finger and sometimes even iron fists.Gerzenberg, who played with unobtrusive ease, was perfectly up to the task and managed to bring some personal touches to a much-played concerto. Particularly admirable was the agility with which Gerzenberg moved from pearly bright fingerwork to steely strong chords and octaves."
Hannu Hirvelä, Tilaajille, 10/11/2023
"...with power and brilliant technique. It allows Gerzenberg many colours and valeurs of expression to let Ligeti's infinite notes buzz, hammer, flow, sparkle - or even swing and flatter. A rousing and enriching concert experience far from the "talent" category, which one would like to see more often in "regular" concerts in such form and quality."
Stefan Musil, Die Presse, 06/06/2023
"...extravagant virtuosity ... Here [Liszt's "Années de Pélerinage: Suisse] the piano sound suddenly breaks into a hundred colours ... Despite appropriate thunder, the piece sounds thoroughly differentiated."
Peter Uehling, Berliner Zeitung, 16/05/2023
"Gerzenberg was in a league of his own. He seemed in total control, armed with uncommon self-assuredness for a pianist of his age. [...] He looks every bit a potential leading light of his generation.“
James Imam, Musical America Worldwide, 16/06/21
"This rich concert experience, profound musicality and brilliant piano technique have benefited his multifaceted interpretations of Liszt as much as his interpretations of Brahms, Ravel and Bartók in recital."
Julia Spinola, Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ), 06/06/21
"Suddenly there was a pianist on the stage who appeared as a background to the music and acted in such a way as to recognise the text of the notes in its subtlety. [...] He showed immense musicality, convincing in every nuance."
Carsten Dürer, Piano News 05/21