Programme
Schubert - Hüttenbrenner Variations, D. 576
Schubert - 4 Impromptus, Op. 142, D. 935
Beethoven - Piano Sonata No. 29 in B flat major, Op. 106, "Hammerklavier"
FREE EVENT: "Steven Osborne Masterclass with HKAPA students"
“Steven Osborne’s performances up and down the country have confirmed his pre-eminence among British pianists. His un-showy brilliance, integrity, and very wide repertoire have long marked him out, but what now emerges most strongly is the unique magic of his sound combined with a profound musical intelligence”
RPS Instrumentalist of the Year May 2013
Some pianists attempt to cushion the impact of the Hammerklavier, to civilise it, to put some distance between their performance and the white heat of its invention. Osborne didn't. The way he plunged into the opening movement could have been reckless: things did seem a bit precarious when the music suddenly veered into a harmonic world that not even Beethoven would have contemplated, but the resulting edge-of-the-seat excitement was worth all the risks. Nothing was to be sensationalised, as Osborne's searching performance of the slow movement showed, and when the sense of pushing to extremes inevitably returned for the final fugue, with its teetering textures, starbursts of trills and cataclysmic chords, the whole sonata came together in an uncompromisingly radical way.
The Guardian, 3 July 2014
Formally recognised at the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Awards in 2013 as Instrumentalist of the Year, Steven Osborne is renowned for his idiomatic approach to a wide variety of repertoire from the mainstream classical works of Mozart, Beethoven and Brahms to the rarefied worlds of Messiaen, Tippett and Britten. His numerous prizes include the 2009 Gramophone Award for his recording of Britten’s works for piano and orchestra, as well as first prize at both the Naumburg International Competition (New York) and Clara Haskil Competition.
Concerto performances take Steven Osborne to orchestras all over the world including recent visits to the Deutsches Sinfonieorchester Berlin, Vienna Symphony, Salzburg Mozarteum, Oslo Philharmonic, Finnish Radio Symphony, Danish National Radio, Royal Flemish Philharmonic, Sydney Symphony, Australian Chamber Orchestra, London Philharmonic, BBC Symphony and BBC Philharmonic Orchestras.
He has performed in many of the world’s prestigious venues including the Konzerthaus Vienna, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Philharmonie Berlin, Palais des Beaux Arts Brussels, Suntory Hall Tokyo, Kennedy Center Washington, Carnegie Hall and Wigmore Hall. His concerts are frequently broadcast by the BBC and he performs every year at the Wigmore Hall. He has made eleven appearances at the Proms, most recently in August 2012 when he performed the Grieg Piano Concerto with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra under John Storgårds.
Steven Osborne has won many awards for his 19 recordings on Hyperion. In addition to the Gramophone Award in 2009 (Britten), his recording of Rachmaninov’s 24 Preludes was short-listed for a Gramophone Award and won a Schallplattenpreis whilst being chosen as “Editor’s Choice” in Gramophone, BBC Music Magazine, International Record Review, Musical Opinion and The Daily Telegraph.