Benjamin Grosvenor
Pianist
Tuesday 14 October 2008
Programme
Studies Nikolai Kapustin (b.1937)
Sonata No. 3 in B minor Fryderyk
Chopin (1810 - 1849)
Ondine (Gaspard de la Nuit) Maurice
Ravel (1875 - 1937)
La Valse Maurice Ravel (1875 - 1937)
Venezia e Napoli Franz Liszt (1811 -
1886)
Benjamin Grosvenor
“Grosvenor’s performance was so alluring, so alive to the music’s poetry, and so colourfully detailed.”
The Daily Telegraph
Widely regarded, at age 15, as one of the most gifted young pianists in the world, Benjamin first came to prominence as the outstanding winner age 11 of the Keyboard Final of the 2004 BBC Young Musician Competition. Enthusiastically received recital debuts at Wigmore Hall and St George’s, Bristol followed, with the Bristol Evening Post remarking that his Chopin D flat Nocturne “was given a rendition of such maturity that one was sometimes thinking of Rubinstein in his prime”. His concerto debuts at London’s Barbican Hall and the Royal Concert Hall in Glasgow (in Mozart’s Concerto K.415) also drew great acclaim, with the Daily Telegraph writing that his Mozart “was a colourist’s dream, with rich dark hues and sparkling fanciful figurations”. The 2005 season culminated in his debut in the Chopin 2nd Concerto at the Royal Albert Hall in London, in a concert celebrating the 60th anniversary of the United Nations.
Benjamin made his Carnegie Hall debut in 2006, performing Ravel’s G major concerto to acclaim, while further international debuts followed in Brazil and the Czech Republic in the Chopin 2nd Concerto, with the latter performance drawing the headline “Genius sets a very high benchmark”, the review commenting that “all present knowledgeable of music knew they were hearing a kind of miracle”.
Engagements in 2006-07 included his debut in the Grieg Concerto and return recitals at several venues including Wigmore Hall, in which the Daily Telegraph lauded Benjamin’s “exceptional gifts” in playing that “revealed an imagination of touch, tonal shading, phrasing and dynamics”. The 2007 season ended with concerts featuring the Chopin 1st Concerto in North Carolina (one performance drawing three standing ovations), Germany and in a UK tour with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra.
Born in July 1992, the youngest of five brothers, Benjamin began piano studies age 6 with his mother, before later receiving lessons with Hilary Coates and Christopher Elton, with whom he now studies at the Royal Academy of Music, on a rarely-granted affiliated scholarship. Also a keen mathematician, Benjamin took his GCSE in this subject (usually taken at age 16) at 10, achieving the highest grade. He has signed an innovative development agreement with EMI, under which he will gain studio experience prior to a debut recording. Benjamin has been featured in two BBC television documentaries, while his performances have been broadcast in the UK, Europe and the USA.
Future engagements include his Scandinavian debut, tours with the Philharmonia and Bournemouth Symphony Orchestras, a German recital tour and his Royal Festival Hall debut. He will be making his Wigmore Hall chamber music debut in 2009 with members of the ECO.
Full details of all his forthcoming appearances can be found on his official web site
More Information
Biography - Wikipedia