Zoltán Fejérvári: neuer Professor für Klavier

Biografie

Complete biography (in English) below.

Als Gewinner des Concours Musical International de Montréal 2017 und Empfänger des Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship 2016 ist Zoltán Fejérvári in ganz Amerika und Europa aufgetreten, unter anderem in der Carnegie Hall, dem kanadischen Place des Arts, dem Gasteig in München, dem Lingotto in Turin, dem Palau de Música in Valencia, der Biblioteca Nacional de Buenos Aires und der Liszt Academy in Budapest. Er trat als Solist mit dem Budapest Festival Orchestra, dem Ungarischen Nationalorchester, dem Verbier Chamber Orchestra und Concerto Budapest auf und arbeitete mit Dirigenten wie Iván Fischer, Gábor Tákács-Nagy, Ken-Ichiro Kobayashi und Zoltán Kocsis zusammen. Fejérváris erstes Soloalbum Janáček, das im Januar 2019 erschien, erhielt begeisterte Kritiken als "die sensibelste und tiefgründigste Einspielung" des Werks dieses Komponisten (Gramophone). Seine neueste Schumann-Aufnahme erschien im Mai 2020 beim Label Atma Classique und wurde erneut von Gramophone gelobt.

Zoltán Fejérvári has emerged as one of the most intriguing pianists among the newest generation of Hungarian musicians. Winner of the 2017 Concours Musical International de Montréal and recipient of the prestigious Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship in 2016, Zoltán Fejérvári has appeared in recitals throughout the Americas and Europe, at prestigious venues including Carnegie Hall, Canada’s Place des Arts, Gasteig in Munich, Lingotto in Turin, Palau de Música in Valencia, Biblioteca Nacional de Buenos Aires, and Liszt Academy in Budapest.  He has performed as a soloist with the Budapest Festival Orchestra, Hungarian National Orchestra, Verbier Chamber Orchestra, and Concerto Budapest, and he has collaborated with such conductors as Iván Fischer, Gábor Tákács-Nagy, Ken-Ichiro Kobayashi, and Zoltán Kocsis. Fejérvári’s solo recording debut, Janáček, released in January 2019, earned rave reviews as “the most sensitive and deeply probative recording” of that composer’s work (Gramophone). His latest recording, Schumann, was released for the Atma Classique label in May 2020 and was again praised by Gramophone: "Fejérvári is a deeply communicative artist who combines an imperturbable yet magisterial command of his instrument with impeccable musicality. Those who have yet to hear him are in for a rare treat."

In the 2019-2020 season, Fejérvári continued to perform chamber music, recital, and orchestral repertoire spanning five centuries. He began the season at the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival with a recital of Bartók, Jörg Widmann, and Schumann followed by chamber music performances. Fejérvári made his Washington Performing Arts recital debut in November 2019, performing works by Janáček, Schubert, and Chopin. Additional recital debuts included Howland Chamber Music Circle in Beacon, NY; Frederic Chopin Society of Minnesota; Sanford-Hill Piano Series at Western Washington University; and the Norfolk & Norwich Music Society in the U.K.

Fejérvári’s orchestral collaborations last season included Bartók’s Concerto No. 3 with the San Antonio and Winnipeg Symphony Orchestras; D Minor and A Major concerti of J.S. Bach with the Czech Philharmonic; Variations on a Nursery Tune by Ernő Dohnányi with the Concerto Budapest Orchestra under the baton of András Keller; and Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 25 with Mátyás Antal at the Hungarian Symphony Orchestra Miskolc. As a chamber musician, Fejérvári performed with the Elias Quartet presented by the Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, and with violinist Diana Tishchenko in Aix-en-Provence and La Chaux-de-Fonds. He was also a guest at the Brooklyn Chamber Music Festival.

Past seasons’ recital highlights have included Classical Spree, the festival of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra; contemporary and Baroque concerti at Lucerne Festival at the request of Sir András Schiff, a longtime mentor to Fejérvári; Gilmore Keyboard Festival Rising Stars series; and Vancouver Recital Society in British Columbia. Schiff chose Fejérvári to participate in “Building Bridges,” a series established to highlight young pianists of unusual promise.  Under this aegis Fejérvári gave recitals during the 2017-2018 season in Berlin, Bochum, Brussels, Zurich, Ittingen, among other cities.

Orchestral highlights of Fejérvári’s 2018-2019 season included Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in C major, Op. 15, with the Budapest Festival Orchestra, which Iván Fischer led in Budapest and on tour to Warsaw.  At the Liszt Academy, Fejérvári performed J.S. Bach’s Concerto in F Minor, BWV 1056, and Shostakovich’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in C Minor, Op. 35.

Fejérvári has collaborated with the Keller and Kodály Quartets; violinists Joseph Lin and András Keller; cellists Gary Hoffman, Christoph Richter, Ivan Monighetti, Frans Helmerson, and Steven Isserlis; and horn player Radovan Vlatković. Fejérvári has appeared at Kronberg’s Chamber Music Connects the World program; Prussia Cove’s Open Chamber Music; Lisztomania at Châteauroux, France; the Tiszadob Piano Festival in Hungary; and Encuentro de Música in Santander, Spain.  At the invitation of artistic director Mitsuko Uchida, he participated in the Marlboro Music Festival in the summers of 2014 and 2016. Fejérvári also toured throughout the United States with Musicians from Marlboro in the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons.

Zoltán Fejérvári’s solo piano album debut, Janáček, was released on the Piano Classics label in 2019. It features performances of On an Overgrown Path, in the Mists, and Piano Sonata 1.X.1905. In 2013 his recording of Liszt’s Malédiction with the Budapest Chamber Symphony, for Hungaroton, was awarded the Grand Prix du Disque.  The recording was followed by a CD of four sonatas for piano and violin by Mozart with violinist Ernő Kállai, issued in 2014 by Hungaroton.