Mariam Batsashvili

Still in her 20s, she has continued to display that mix of virtuosic brilliance and sensitive insight that defines her playing. The Observer, Fiona Maddocks, 6 August 2022

Mariam Batsashvili’s musicianship seems to connect directly with one’s heart, and her colours of sound, thoughtful interpretations and stupendous touch move and delight her audiences. She also gets a lot of attention for her exceptionally successful social media work, especially her video tutorials.

She gained international recognition at the 10th Franz Liszt Piano Competition in Utrecht 2014 and was nominated by the European Concert Hall Organisation (ECHO) as ‘Rising Star’ for the 2016/17 season. She made her acclaimed debut at the Philharmonie Berlin as part of the series “Debüt im Deutschlandfunk Kultur”. As BBC New Generation Artist, she made her debuts at the Cheltenham Festival, with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and with the Ulster Orchestra at the BBC Proms. The summer of 2019 saw the release of her first album for Warner Classics, her second album “Romantic Piano Masters” was released in August 2022.

A regular guest at London’s Wigmore Hall and Klavier-Festival Ruhr, Mariam Batsashvili has given recitals in more than 30 countries – among these China, South Korea, Indonesia, Brazil, South Africa, France, Spain, Norway, the Baltic countries, Benelux and Germany. She made her debut at the Wiener Konzerthaus in May 2021. She has been the guest of many international festivals, such as the Edinburgh International Festival, the Schumannfest Düsseldorf, the Beethovenfest Bonn, the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, the Piano City festival in Milan and the Piano aux Jacobins festival in Toulouse. She already gained experiences with leading symphony orchestras, including the Dutch Radio Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of James Gaffigan in the Concertgebouw Amsterdam (Liszt Piano Concerto No. 1), the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra under Rafael Payare (Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1) and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra under Alexander Shelley (Liszt Piano Concertos Nos. 1 and 2).

The 2023/24 season kicked off with Mariam Batsashvili’s concert in the Staatskapelle Berlin's chamber music cycle. Other highlights of the season include her recital debuts at de Singel Antwerp, Festival de Lisztomanias, in Stockholm, Tokyo and Seoul as well as her orchestral debut with the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra.

Born 1993 in Tbilisi, Georgia, Mariam Batsashvili first studied with Natalia Natsvlishvili at the E. Mikeladze Central Music School in her hometown, before continuing at the Hochschule für Musik Franz Liszt in Weimar with Professor Grigory Gruzman. In 2011 she won First Prize at the International Franz Liszt Competition for Young Pianists in Weimar, and received the prestigious Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli Award in 2015. Mariam Batsashvili is a scholarship holder of the Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben and is supported by The Keyboard Charitable Trust. She has been an official Yamaha Artist since 2017.

Season 2023/24

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Repertoire

L. v. Beethoven

Piano Concerto No. 3 C minor, Op. 37

Piano Concerto No. 5 E-flat major, Op. 73

Fantasy for piano, choir and orchestra C minor, Op. 80

Rondo for piano and orchestra B-flat major, WoO6

F. Chopin

Piano Concerto No. 2 F minor, Op. 21

F. Liszt

Piano Concerto No. 1 E-flat major, S. 124

Hungarian Fantasy for piano and orchestra, S. 123

Malédiction' for piano and string orchestra, S. 121

E. Lomdaridze

Piano Concerto "Imeruli"

W. A. Mozart

Piano Concerto No. 20 D minor, K.466

Piano Concerto No. 21 C major, K.467

Piano Concerto No. 23 A major, K.488

C. Saint-Saëns

Piano Concerto No. 2 G minor, Op. 22

C. Schumann

Piano Concerto A minor, Op. 7

R. Strauss

Parergon Sinfonia Domestica for Piano (Left Hand) & Orchestra, Op.73

P. Tschaikowski

Piano Concerto No. 1 B-flat minor, Op. 23

Piano Concerto No. 2 G major, Op. 44

X. Xian

Piano Concerto "Yellow River"

Programmes

J.S. Bach: Partita No. 2 C minor
F. Schubert: 4 Impromptus, Op. 90
F. Liszt: Hungarian Rhapsodies Nos. 11, 12, 13, 14

W.A. Mozart: Sonata No. 18 K.576
J. Brahms: Six Pieces for Piano, Op. 118
F. Schubert: 4 Impromptus, Op. 142

(for the season of 2024/25)

References

“[...] one thing is certain: through Batsashvili Liszt speaks to a new generation.”

Pianist UK, Peter Quantrill, Aug/Sept 2020

“Her technical prowess and ability to negotiate Liszt’s showy grandeur is a given, but her sense of his inner world, his wistful, nonchalant poetry – in the Grande études in A flat or the Consolations (Pensées poétiques) or the Polish Songs after Chopin – sets her apart as one to watch.”

The Observer, Fiona Maddocks, 18/09/2019

“Mariam Batsashvili began Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in B minor powerfully – but not with violence, rather with grandeur. […] The young pianist has a superbly clear attack, and technically speaking plays perfectly, without being interested in perfection or making a show of it. No, she is interested in something quite different: in maintaining intimate contact with the accompanying orchestra, for example, not only with her playing, but also physically, with looks and gestures. She understands music making as concert-giving in the best sense – together.”

Süddeutsche Zeitung, Egbert Tholl, 13/05/2017