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Strange times for concerts, a good time for a little reflection by Claire Huangci.
Claire Huangci: In the Studio with Rachmaninov
If looking for characteristics of Huangci’s piano playing, one finds them in her superior focus, imaginative abilities, and the resulting poetry of her interpretation. (Thomas Schacher, Neue Zürcher Zeitung)
The American pianist Claire Huangci, winner of the 2018 Geza Anda Competition, continuously captivates audiences with her “radiant virtuosity, artistic sensitivity, keen interactive sense and subtle auditory dramaturgy” (Salzburger Nachrichten). With an irrepressible curiosity and penchant for unusual repertoire, she proves her versatility with a wide range in repertoire spanning from Bach and Scarlatti, via German and Russian romanticism, to Bernstein, Gulda, and Corigliano.
In solo recitals and with international orchestras, Claire has appeared in some of the most prestigious halls such as Carnegie Hall, Suntory Hall Tokyo, NCPA Beijing, Paris Philharmonie, Munich Gasteig, Leipzig Gewandhaus, Hamburg Elbphilharmonie, Vienna Concerthouse, Salzburg Festspielhaus, and the Budapest Franz Liszt Akademie. She is a welcome guest in renowned festivals including Lucerne Festival, Verbier Festival, Rheingau Musik Festival, and Klavier Festival Ruhr. Her esteemed musical partners include the Mozarteumorchester Salzburg, Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra, Tonhalle-Orchester Zurich, ORF Radio Orchester Vienna, Vancouver Symphony, and China Philharmonic Orchestra, together with Sir Roger Norrington, Eva Ollikainen, Pietari Inkinen, Mario Venzago, Howard Griffiths, Cornelius Meister, and Elim Chan.
During the season 2021/22, Claire is again travelling all over the world, following invitations to the US, Japan, Colombia, and Russia next to her extensive work in Europe. In the start of 2022, she will present the complete cycle of the five piano concertos by Prokofiev in a major project with the Biel Solothurn Orchestra. Touring Beethoven’s piano concerto No.2 with Le Concert Olympique as a soloist, she will return to Berlin Philharmonie and Hamburg Elbphilharmonie, among others. Further orchestra appearances will be made with Wuerttemberg’s Staatsorchester Stuttgart, the Musikkollegium Winterthur, Munich Chamber Orchestra, Nordic Chamber Orchestra, and the Basel Chamber Orchestra.
Claire Huangci began her international career at the age of nine with concert performances and competition wins. After studying with Eleanor Sokoloff and Gary Graffman at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, she moved to Germany in 2007 for further studies with Arie Vardi at the Hannover Musikhochschule, graduating with honors in 2016. Early in her artistic career, she stood out as an expressive interpreter of Chopin, winning first prizes at the Chopin competitions in Darmstadt and Miami in 2009 and 2010. She was also the youngest participant to receive second prize at the International ARD Music Competition in 2011.
Releasing her new solo album with Bach Toccatas at the start of 2021/22, she is adding yet another recording to her already highly acclaimed discography. After recording her debut CD with solo works of Tchaikovsky and Prokofiev and her prizewinning double album of Scarlatti sonatas (German Record Critics’ Award and Gramophone Editor’s Choice), her solo albums included complete recordings of Chopin’s Nocturnes and Rachmaninoff’s Préludes, followed by her first chamber music album with Trio Machiavelli in 2020, whose interpretations of Ravel’s trio and Chausson’s piano quartet proved “a wholly exhilarating debut […] splendidly transparent, and always expressive.“ (BR Klassik). After recordings of Beethoven's violin concerto in the piano version and Schubert’s Fantasy for piano and orchestra (arranged by Kabalevsky) with the RSO Vienna, her first orchestral album with the Deutsche Radiophilharmonie Saarbrücken under Shiyeon Sung was released in Fall 2019 with concertos by Chopin and Paderewski.
This biography is to be reproduced without any changes, omissions or additions, unless expressly authorised by the artist management.
Programme I
Programme II
Programme III
Programme IV
Trio Machiavelli with Solenne Paidassi (violin) and Tristan Cornut (cello)
Piano duo with Alexei Volodin
Quintet with Aris Quartet
Quintets by C. Franck and D. Shostakovich
“A richly coloured fin-de-siècle show. There is not a shadow of doubt that the members of Trio Machiavelli are passionate about their music: from the first second to the last, they display a remarkable interpretative creativity, which shines out again and again into the farthest corners of the music.”
Rondo, Michael Wersin, 29 Aug 2020
“Dedicated and full of feeling with tremendous liveliness to the sound... a sensational debut of a young ensemble!”
Pianist, Mario-Felix Vogt, Oct 2020
“Elegant, graceful, and as such rather French. [...] The musicians of Trio Machiavelli have focused on a central feature of Ravel’s aesthetics for their interpretation, that of "clarté". This is evident in their extremely sensitive handling of the delicate sounds, which never feels forced and avoids pathos as a matter of principle. In this way, they succeed in capturing the magic of this music, rendering it audible.”
Fono Forum, Martin Demmler, Dec 2020
"A pianistic feast! Huangci has the special sort of technical control, that creates a remarkable sensation of safety for the auidence; on top of that, every note is crystal clear."
Kristianstadsbladet, 10 Feb 2020
"[Claire Huangci’s] piano skills are just as astoundingly sophisticated and deeply felt as her stylistic sensibilities."
Musik und Theater, Werner Pfister, Jan/Feb 2020, on Paderewski-Chopin (CD)
"In the rising cadenza [in the first movement of Schumann's Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 53], [Claire Huangci] brings the kind of depth of virtuosity that makes a good pianist outstanding."
Luzerner Zeitung, Roman Kühne, 4 Jan 2020
"Bringing equal measures of elegance and athleticism to the keyboard, Huangci proved herself every bit the “rock star” that Liszt himself was. […] Huangci’s strength, stamina, technique, and expressive power were absolutely jaw-dropping."
Masslive.com, Clifton Noble Jr., 24 Mar 2019
"Her performance of [Rachmaninoff] Préludes is brilliant, clear, and flowing, with a remarkable sense of polyphonic structures while at the same time poetic and dynamic in the tonal qualities."
Pianist, first edition 2019, Mario-Felix Vogt, 15 Mar 2019
If looking for characteristics of Huangci’s piano playing […] one finds them in her superior focus, imaginative abilities, and the resulting poetics of her interpretation.
NZZ, Thomas Schacher, 2 Mar 2019
"Numerous songs without words unfold here […]. Everything becomes part of a narrative flow that at the same time perfectly captures Rachmaninoff’s creative essence and intentions […]: absolutely worth a listen."
Piano News, Marco Frei, Jan 2019
"Huangci plays [Beethoven's Piano Concerto Op. 61a] with bell-clear precision [...]. The first movement comes along singing and sparkling, exquisitely delicate in certain moments, woven into the orchestra, and then returning with breathtaking virtuosity and incredibly precise trills at a nearly inconceivable tempo [...] free of pathos and affectation."
Bochumer Zeitung Online, 9 Dec 2018
"Her Schubert has lyrical grace and extroverted power, compelling effects and soft vocalism. […] Schubert has rarely been heard so thrilling, so modern, so replete with tension."
Badische Zeitung, Roswitha Frey, 27 Nov 2018
"Claire Huangci´s fine and delicate virtuosity, well-rounded emotionality, and elegant shaping let these gems of the piano repertoire shine with a harmonious lightness. Rachmaninov is seldom played so empathically and lucidly."
BR Klassik Online, Michael Schmidt, 13 Nov 2018
"Claire Huangci’s fanciful, highly intimate and refined playing [captures] the Shakespearean summer night magic and takes works by Beethoven, Scriabin and Chopin on a magical journey."
Süddeutsche Zeitung, Stephan Schwarz-Peters, 9 Jul 2018
"In [Huangci’s] interpretation, Beethoven's Opus 61a became the perfect addition to his "official" piano concertos."
Fono Forum, Thomas Schulz, Jul 2018
"Her Mozart Concerto was captivating, a flawless performance with lively, sparkling runs, and an abundance of musical ideas."
SRF, Moritz Weber, 13 Jun 2018
"A whirlwind at the keyboard with an immense enthusiasm for playing, the pianist has also developed a musicality and a colour-rich tone, which, along with her apparent technical ease, is merely a springboard for a wholly individual musical conception."
Rondo, Christoph Forsthoff, Feb 2018
"In Claire Huangci’s playing, the flow of the music does not run away with itself or become arbitrary, but rather remains intensely alert: her attack is delicate yet distinct. (…) Claire Huangci follows the poetry of the cycle sensitively, taking care to differentiate the polyphonic voices. Irresistible yet always considerate and alert, Claire Huangci lets herself become captured by the magic of [Chopin’s] music."
PianoNews, Hans-Dieter Grünefeld, Sep 2017
"She’s aware of the importance of Chopin’s Classical side and there are many instances where she favours restraint over cheap emoting, which is much to the good. There’s also a real range of interpretation, which makes the set consistently appealing. (…) One of the most impressive readings here is of the C minor Nocturne, Op 48 No 1, in which an innate solemnity grows to extraordinary depths in Huangci’s hands. (…). An impressive addition to the Chopin catalogue from a pianist from whom I’m sure we’ll be hearing much more."
Gramophone, Harriet Smith, Jul 2017, on Chopin (CD)
"Huangci plays Brahms’ Variations and Fugue on a theme by Handel op. 24 accurately, precisely, virtuosically, and from time to time shrewdly accentuated, with an expansive tone that is never applied too thickly."
Süddeutsche Zeitung, Andreas Pernpeintner, 9 Apr 2017
"Do we need another recording of Chopin’s Nocturnes? Not really! But when one hears this brand new double-CD from Claire Huangci, which comes out on 5th May, the answer is yes!"
Süddeutsche Zeitung, CD-Tipp, 6 Apr 2017
Bach: Toccatas (Official Album Trailer)
Brahms Hungarian Dance No. 1 – Claire Huangci | Elbphilharmonie Sessions
Beethoven, piano concerto No. 4 G Major op. 58 | Concours Géza Anda 2018
Mozart: piano concerto no. 24 in C minor, K. 491 | Concours Géza Anda 2018
Schubert, Schumann | Concours Géza Anda 2018
Claire Huangci - Paderewski & Chopin (Trailer)
Claire Huangci - Rachmaninov: Morceau de Fantaisie (Trailer)
Claire Huangci will perform Beethoven's second piano concerto on tour with Le Concert Olympique under the baton of Beethoven expert Jan Caeyers. Beethoven was only fifteen years old when he began sketching his Piano Concerto in B flat major, op. 19.
Claire Huangci | Trio Machiavelli, Berlin Classics, 2020
Claire Huangci, Berlin Classics, B07T4RYMLT, 2019
Claire Huangci, Berlin Classics, 0301075BC, 2018
The Complete Nocturnes, Berlin Classics, 0300905BC, 2017
Klaviersonaten, Berlin Classics, 885470006031, 2015
Werke von Peter Iljitsch Tschaikowski und Sergej Prokofjew, Berlin Classics, 885470005621, 2013