François-Frédéric Guy

Rigorous thought, precise ideas, a sense of buildup, mastering the richness of sound and the melody. (…) At this point, one realises that Francois-Frédéric Guy’s work, patience and love for Beethoven have resulted in one of the most convincing recordings of the last years. (Diapason)

François-Frédéric Guy is widely regarded first and foremost as a specialist of the German romantics and above all of Beethoven. In 2008 he embarked on a major Beethoven project that has included recording and performing in concert all of Beethoven’s sonatas and the five piano concertos. He is also a dedicated chamber musician and regularly performs Beethoven’s chamber music for strings and piano with the violinist Tedi Papavrami and the cellist Xavier Phillips. As part of the Beethoven project, he has performed the complete cycle of 32 piano sonatas in Washington, Paris, Rio de Janeiro, Monte Carlo and Metz among others, and recently at the Festival Berlioz in La Côte-Saint-André.

In October 2013 the box-set of the live recording of the complete sonatas was released on the French label Zig-Zag Territoires, which had already released François-Frédéric Guy’s highly acclaimed Liszt album containing the Harmonies poétiques et religieuses. Further recordings have been published with Naïve Classique. A duo album with pianist Jean-Efflam Bavouzet was released by Chandos in June 2015.

In addition to his admiration for Beethoven – whom he describes as “the Alpha and Omega of music” – François-Frédéric Guy has special affinities with the music of Bartók, Brahms, Liszt and Prokofiev and a strong commitment to contemporary music with close links to composers such as Ivan Fedele, Marc Monnet, Gérard Pesson, Bruno Mantovani and Hugues Dufourt who dedicated Erlkönig (2006), his masterpiece for piano solo, to him. He also performed the world premiere of Monnet’s En pièces (2007), and of Mantovani’s Double Concerto (2012) with the Orquestra Sinfónica do Porto, Orchestre du Capitole de Toulouse and the BBC Symphony Orchestra. In October 2013 he gave the Korean premiere of Le Désenchantement du monde by Tristan Murail with the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra.

François-Frédéric Guy is a regular guest with renowned orchestras such as the Philharmonia Orchestra, London Philharmonic, Munich Philharmonic, Orchestre de Paris, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, San Francisco Symphony and Tonhalle-Orchester Zurich. He has collaborated with world famous conductors including Esa-Pekka Salonen, Bernard Haitink, Kazushi Ono, Marc Albrecht, Philippe Jordan, Daniel Harding, Neeme Järvi, Paavo Berglund, Lionel Bringuier, Michael Tilson Thomas and Kent Nagano. In recital he has performed at the major concert halls in cities including London, Milan, Berlin, Munich, Moscow, Paris, Vienna and Washington (D.C.), and at festivals including the Piano Festival in La Roque d'Anthéron, Chopin Festival in Warsaw, Beethovenfest Bonn, Printemps des Arts de Monte-Carlo and Cheltenham Festival.

Since his successful debuts in the dual role of soloist and conductor with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Liège and Orchestre d'Avignon, François-Frédéric Guy frequently conducts the complete Beethoven concertos from the piano. He recently performed the entire cycle at the Festival de Radio France et Montpellier Languedoc-Roussillon with the Sinfonia Varsovia, with whom he tours with the same project in the 2015/16 season. In addition, he leads the Orchestre de Chambre de Paris this autumn. Furthermore, he will perform with the Moscow City Symphony, Orchestra del Teatro dell’Opera Roma, Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire and Staatstheater Kassel Orchestra in the current season. Solo recitals will take him to the Wigmore Hall, Flagey Brussels, Muziekgebouw Amsterdam and Salle Gaveau in Paris.

François-Frédéric Guy is Artist in Residence at Metz Arsenal Hall.

2015/16 season

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