Mariam Batsashvili

“The sensitivity and accuracy with which she presents lyrical passages with airy lightness is breathtaking. In the Andante, one and the other's heart might even have skipped a beat as she sensitively let the melody, which then developed almost majestically, resound from the initial repeated notes. Her precise and very fine touch characterised the entire evening in the most exhilarating way, with sparkling runs and striking bass lines flowing from her fingers with such effortless ease that humour was always peeking around the corner.” Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung, 4/6/2024

Charisma, brilliance, and depth of expression are qualities with which Mariam Batsashvili captivates not only live audiences worldwide. The Georgian pianist has also long secured her place among the top ranks in the recording and streaming market since signing exclusively with the major label Warner in 2019: another highlight in a steep career that has taken her to over 30 countries and the world's most important concert halls to date. Besides major musical centers like Berlin, London, Paris, or Vienna, Mariam Batsashvili is a frequent guest at international festivals such as the Klavier-Festival Ruhr, where she debuted in 2019, the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, the Edinburgh International Festival, the Milan Festival Piano City, the Festival Piano aux Jacobins in Toulouse, or the Beethovenfest Bonn. Outside Europe as well, Mariam Batsashvili is among the most sought-after interpreters of the great piano literature from Bach to late Romanticism.

At least since her internationally acclaimed victories at the Franz Liszt Competitions in Weimar (2011) and Utrecht (2014), Mariam Batsashvili's career has been closely linked to the name of this central musical figure of the 19th century – who was also the focus of her Warner debut album Chopin Liszt in 2019. After her first encounter during lessons with Natalie Natsvlishvili in her native Tbilisi, Mariam Batsashvili was able to further expand her Liszt experiences as a student of Grigory Gruzman in Weimar and through inspiring exchanges with legendary Liszt interpreters like Leslie Howard. Besides her distinctive artistry of touch (Anschlagskunst), media such as the British Observer or the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” praise not least Batsashvili's feel for the "inner world" and the "nonchalant poetry" of Liszt's music, highlighting her soulful playing even in the most virtuoso passages.

Beyond Liszt's works, the pianist – who in the past decade was part of two of the world's most exclusive young talent programs as a "Rising Star" of the European Concert Hall Organisation (ECHO) and as a "BBC New Generation Artist" – earns enthusiastic reactions from audiences and the specialist press for her interpretations of the piano works of Schubert, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, and Brahms. Also in the current 2024/25 season, she will return to major concert halls such as the Hamburg Elbphilharmonie, London's Wigmore Hall, the Grosses Festspielhaus in Salzburg or the BBC Proms with this repertoire; a further album release is also planned for spring 2025. The fact that Mariam Batsashvili is also very successful in the social media sphere, with over 70,000 followers, is thanks to the illustrative short tutorials on technical and performance practice issues that she has regularly provided to professional and amateur pianists on Instagram for several years.

2024/25 season

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