Denis Matsuev

Denis Matsuev
Background information
Birth name Denis Leonidovich Matsuev
Born June 11, 1975
Origin Irkutsk, Soviet Union
Genres Classical music, jazz
Occupation(s) Pianist
Instruments Piano
Labels RCA Red Seal Records

Denis Leonidovich Matsuev (Russian: Дени́с Леони́дович Мацу́ев, born June 11, 1975) is a Russian classical pianist.

Born in Irkutsk, Russian Federation, Matsuev is the only child of two musicians, as his mother is a piano teacher and his father is a pianist and composer. He demonstrated a musical ear at age 3, when he reproduced on the piano at home a melody that he heard on television.[1] His father subsequently became his first piano teacher. Until age 15, Matsuev studied music in Irkutsk. In 1990, he won a prize at the New Names Charitable Foundation competition in Irkutsk and received a stipend, $1,000 a month, from the foundation to study music in Moscow.[1] With other young gifted musicians from Russia discovered by the foundation, Matsuev went on tour in Europe and the United States.[2]

In 1991, Matsuev moved with his parents to Moscow to continue his musical education. He studied at the Central Musical School at the Moscow Conservatory. In 1994, he took part at his first international piano competition in Johannesburg, South Africa where he was awarded the Grand Prix. In the same year he entered the Moscow Conservatory as a student of Aleksey Nasedkin. After 1997, he studied under Sergei Dorensky. Matsuev won the 11th International Tchaikovsky Competition in 1998 at age 23."[3]

At the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics, Matsuev was a torchbearer, and also performed in both the opening[4] and closing[5] ceremonies. Matsuev has publicly supported the actions of Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Crimea and Ukraine.[6][7]

A Concert Hall in Irkutsk named after Denis Matsuev. It serves as the headquarters of Stars on Baikal festival.

Matsuev is an artistic co-director of the international Annecy Classic Festival in France with Pascal Escande. He is also the organizer and artistic director of two international festivals in Russia, Stars on Baikal in his native city of Irkutsk and an annual music festival Crescendo.[1] Matsuev has also assisted with organisation of other regional festivals in the Urals in the cities of Perm, Orenburg and Cheliabinsk. He is also the current head of the New Names Charitable Foundation, which launched Matsuev's performing career and continues to support the musical education of gifted children in the Russian remote regions. In October 2008, Alexander Borisovich Rachmaninoff, the grandson of the composer Sergei Rachmaninoff, invited Denis Matsuev to become an artistic director of the Sergei Rachmaninoff Foundation. As a part of his collaboration with the Sergei Rachmaninoff Foundation, Denis Matsuev performed and recorded little known Rachmaninoff works on the composer's own, a Hamburg 'D' Steinway grand piano at the Rachmaninoff Villa Senar in Lucerne.

Matsuev also plays jazz music, and has cited Oscar Peterson as a key influence on his jazz playing. Matsuev was the first classical pianist to give a jazz concert at Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory.

Discography

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Alison Smale (2007-04-03). "Denis Matsuev: A Russian pianist's quest to make classical music relevant". New York Times. Retrieved 2007-04-03.
  2. ↑ Elena Ragozhina (2011-06-23). "From new names to Crescendo: Denis Matsuev". New Style.
  3. ↑ Anthony Tomasini (2010-02-26). "Two Young Pianists, Forging Connections". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-02-26.
  4. ↑ Faith Karimi and Michael Martinez (2014-02-07). "Sochi Winter Olympics opening ceremony: Denis Matsuev, Anna Netrebko, Tatu to perform". WPTV (West Palm Beach, Florida). Retrieved 2014-12-21.
  5. ↑ Alex Heigl (2014-02-23). "Meet Olympics Closing Ceremony Piano Virtuoso Denis Matsuev". People. Retrieved 2014-12-21.
  6. ↑ Jeremy Eichler (2014-06-14). "Russian musicians’ support for Putin not playing well". Boston Globe. Retrieved 2014-12-21.
  7. ↑ Patrick Rucker (2014-06-18). "Denis Matsuev delivers a sloppy piano recital at Strathmore". Washington Post. Retrieved 2014-12-21.
  8. ↑ Andrew Clements (2010-02-05). "Matsuev/Mariinsky O/Gergiev: Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No 3; Paganini Rhapsody". The Guardian. Retrieved 2014-12-21.

External links