Contact
Maike Charlotte Fuchsmf@karstenwitt.com+49 30 214 594-220
Victoria Monterovm@karstenwitt.com+49 30 214 594-237
General Management
On 3 June, Mariam Batsashvili was once again a guest at the Klavier Festival Ruhr. In a very personal interview with festival director Katrin Zagrosek in the run-up to the festival, she spoke about what composers such as Johann Sebastian Bach and Franz Liszt mean to her.
Newborns as music critics: With Liszt's Liebestraum No. 2, Mariam Batsashvili starts a series of recordings of "baby-friendly" works from the piano repertoire.
"Outstanding through and through": On 26 August, Miriam Batsashvili's second album was released on the Warner Classics label, centred on Liszt's piano transcriptions from the opera, lied, and organ repertoire.
Franz Liszt, Les préludes
Franz Liszt, Piano Concerto No. 1 E-flat major
Antonín Dvořák, Symphony No. 6 in D major, Op. 60
Shiyeon Sung, conductor
Antwerp Symphony Orchestra
Mariam Batsashvili, piano
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.
Season 2023/24
This biography is to be reproduced without any changes, omissions or additions, unless expressly authorised by the artist management.
J.S. Bach: Partita No. 2 C minorF. Schubert: 4 Impromptus, Op. 90F. Liszt: Hungarian Rhapsodies Nos. 11, 12, 13, 14W.A. Mozart: Sonata No. 18 K.576J. Brahms: Six Pieces for Piano, Op. 118F. Schubert: 4 Impromptus, Op. 142
(for the season of 2024/25)
“[...] 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
“With its extreme technical challenges, the work [Liszt’s Sonata in B minor] is not easily accessible for a wide audience. The night before last, however, these difficulties didn’t seem to be a hindrance, rather an incentive for the young star pianist from Georgia, who knew to emphasise to the full the expressive moments in the distinctive thundering ostinato passages.”
Heraldo de Aragón, Luis Alfonso Bes, 26/04/2017
“he competition can consider itself fortunate with a winner like Mariam Batsashvili. For her natural and poignant interpretations, charismatic appearance and a tone quality rarely heard among virtuosos.”
The Pianist UK
“Batsashvili is a brilliant and imaginative musician who infuses her playing with a suggestive tension.”
Eindhovens Dagblad (The Netherlands)
“One of the pianists that I am looking forward to hearing again. Her performance was very sensitive. It felt as if she could transmit her musical thoughts very well.”
Chopin magazine (Japan)
“She send out so many otherworldly aesthetic moments in her playing, and all come naturally. The spirit of Liszt gracefully immersed in her interpretation.”
Piano Artistry (China)
Mariam Batsashvili
Warner Classics, Aug 2019, 9222525