Francesco Piemontesi

Francesco Piemontesi rehearsing with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales at Royal Albert Hall, London

Francesco Piemontesi is a Swiss pianist.

Life

Born in 1983 in Locarno,^[1] he studied at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hannover with Arie Vardi^[2][3] before closely collaborating with Alfred Brendel.^[4] He rose to international prominence with prizes at several major competitions, including the 2007 Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels.^[5] In 2009 he was awarded the fellowship of the Borletti-Buitoni Trust.^[6] From 2009 to 2011 he was chosen as a BBC New Generation Artist.^[7] In 2012, Piemontesi was announced as Artistic Director of the Settimane Musicali music festival in Ascona,^[8] and received the BBC Music Magazine Newcomer Award for his Recital disc with works by Haendel, Brahms, Bach and Liszt.^[9] Since 2012 he records exclusively for the French label Naïve Classique.^[10] Since 2019 he records for the Pentatone label. He currently lives in Berlin.^[11]

Francesco Piemontesi has given concerts with major ensembles worldwide: Cleveland Orchestra,^[12]London Philharmonic Orchestra,^[13][14]Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra,^[15]City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra,^[16]NHK Symphony Orchestra,^[17]Gewandhausorchester Leipzig,^[18]Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France,^[19]RSB^[20] and DSO^[21] Berlin. He has performed with such conductors as Zubin Mehta,^[22]Roger Norrington,^[23]Charles Dutoit,^[24]Jiří Bělohlávek,^[25]Stanisław Skrowaczewski,^[26]Vladimir Ashkenazy,^[27]Ton Koopman^[28] and Marek Janowski,^[29] and has appeared in many international music festivals including the BBC Proms,^[30]Edinburgh International Festival,^[31]Aix-en-Provence Festival,^[32]Mostly Mozart Festival.^[33] and Athens Epidaurus Festival at the Herodes Atticus Ancient Theatre of Athens https://aefestival.gr/festival_events/chamber-orchestra-of-europe-konstantinos-karydis-francesco-piemontesi/

Discography

• Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 2 & Three Intermezzi Op. 117, PENTATONE, 2025^[34]
• Liszt Transcendental Etudes & Piano Sonata, PENTATONE, 2023^[35]
• Schoenberg, Messiaen & Ravel, PENTATONE, 2022
• Schubert: Last Piano Sonatas, PENTATONE, 2019
• Debussy: Preludes, Naïve Records, 2015^[36]
• Mozart: Piano works, Naïve Records, 2014^[37]
• Schumann | Dvorak: Piano concertos (BBC Symphony Orchestra, Jiří Bělohlávek), Naïve Records 2013^[38]
• Frank Martin: Intégrale des Oeuvres pour Flûte (Emmanuel Pahud, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Thierry Fischer), Musiques Suisses 2012^[39]
• Recital: Händel, Brahms, Bach, Liszt, Avanti classics 2010^[40]
• Schumann: Piano works, Claves records 2009^[41]

External links

• Official website
• Naïve Classique
• Colbert Artists Management, Inc. – North American Management
• Sergei Rachmaninov, Piano sonata No. 2 Op. 36
• Beethoven: 5. Klavierkonzert ∙ hr-Sinfonieorchester ∙ Francesco Piemontesi ∙ Alain Altinoglu on YouTube
• Thompson, Damian (19 June 2014). "I think I've found the new Alfred Brendel". The Spectator. Retrieved 1 February 2025.

References

1. http://en.chopin.nifc.pl/chopin/persons/detail/id/7725Archived 2017-12-01 at the Wayback MachineFryderyk Chopin Institute Warsaw. Retrieved April 12, 2015.
2. "genuin.de – CD-Katalog / Künstler-Info". www.genuin.de. Retrieved 2022-12-06.
3. Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover
4. http://www.colbertartists.com/ArtistBio.asp?ID=francesco-piemontesiArchived 2015-05-05 at the Wayback Machine Colbert artists. Retrieved April 12, 2015.
5. http://www.concours-reine-elisabeth.be/cgi?lg=en&pag=2112&tab=102&rec=1698&frm=0&par=secorig1992&par2=atvorig123Archived 2015-05-05 at the Wayback Machine Concours Reine Elisabeth, Retrieved April 9, 2015
6. Breckenfield, Nick. "Francesco Piemontesi". Borletti-Buitoni Trust. Retrieved 2022-12-06.
7. "BBC Radio 3 – New Generation Artists – New Generation Artists A to Z". BBC. Retrieved 2022-12-06.
8. http://www.settimane-musicali.ch/DE/Francesco-Piemontesi-27180b00 Music Festival Settimane Musicali Ascona. Retrieved April 12, 2015.
9. "BBC Music Magazine Awards 2012 winners announced!". Classical Music. Retrieved 2022-12-06.
10. "Francesco Piemontesi records debut album for Naïve Classics". Gramophone. Retrieved 2022-12-06.
11. Berzins, Christian (September 3, 2014) http://www.katrinschneider.org/uploads/2/4/0/8/24083038/kulturtipp_3.9.2014-new_tango_songbook.pdfArchived 2014-09-12 at the Wayback Machine Kultur-Tipp Magazine. Retrieved April 12, 2015.
12. ClevelandClassical.com, Special to (2014-07-22). "Review: Cleveland Orchestra at Blossom — Mitchell in for Skrowaczewski, with pianist Francesco Piemontesi (July 20)". Cleveland Classical. Retrieved 2022-12-06.
13. (August 26, 2011) http://www.eastbourneherald.co.uk/what-s-on/entertainments/london-philharmonic-orchestra-concert-season-1-3000451 The Eastbourne Herald. Retrieved April 12, 2015.
14. "Welkom bij TivoliVredenburg – Dé plek waar alle muziekgenres bij elkaar komen onder één dak". TivoliVredenburg (in Dutch). Retrieved 2022-12-06.
15. "Kulturkalender". kulturkurier (in German). Retrieved 2022-12-06.
16. "An electrifying debut in Birmingham". bachtrack.com (in German). Retrieved 2022-12-06.
17. "NHK Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo". www.nhkso.or.jp. Retrieved 2022-12-06.
18. "Deutschlandweite Klassik-Termine: Konzerte , Opern & Ballett". concerti.de (in German). Retrieved 2022-12-06.
19. "Bach, Mozart, Beethoven – Jeudi 12 mai 2016 – 20h00 Maison de la Radio et de la Musique – Auditorium". www.maisondelaradioetdelamusique.fr (in French). Retrieved 2022-12-06.
20. Stephan, Felix (2015-02-24). "Francesco Piemontesi lässt Mozart am Klavier sanft fließen". www.morgenpost.de (in German). Retrieved 2022-12-06.
21. Berlin, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester. "Konzertkalender – DSO Berlin". Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin (in German). Retrieved 2022-12-06.
22. Festa, Massimo (2011-11-03). "Zubin Mehta e Francesco Piemontesi al Maggio Musicale Fiorentino". GBOPERA (in Italian). Retrieved 2022-12-06.
23. Berzins, Christian (28 January 2015). "Zürcher Kammerorchester – Welchen Kopf braucht ein Kammerorchester?". bz Basel (in German). Retrieved 2022-12-06.
24. "ARTE Concert – Konzerte live und im Replay". ARTE (in German). Retrieved 2022-12-06.
25. "Album: Schumann/Dvorák, Piemontesi/ Belohlávek/BBC SO (Naive)". The Independent. 2013-06-22. Retrieved 2022-12-06.
26. L. v. Beethoven: Concierto para piano nº 1 (Mov. I) – S. Skrowaczewski – F. Piemontesi – OSG, retrieved 2022-12-06
27. (April 2015) http://m.diapasonmag.fr/agenda/france/provence-alpes-cote-d-azur/aix-en-provence/grand-teatre/francesco-piemontesi-vladimir-ashkenazyArchived 2016-03-05 at the Wayback MachineLe Diapason Magazine. Retrieved April 12, 2015.
28. "Bach, Mozart, Beethoven – Jeudi 12 mai 2016 – 20h00 Maison de la Radio et de la Musique – Auditorium". www.maisondelaradioetdelamusique.fr (in French). Retrieved 2022-12-06.
29. Stephan, Felix (2015-02-24). "Francesco Piemontesi lässt Mozart am Klavier sanft fließen". www.morgenpost.de (in German). Retrieved 2022-12-06.
30. "Prom 34: Piemontesi, BBCNOW, Søndergård". theartsdesk.com. 2014-08-12. Retrieved 2022-12-06.
31. bbc.co.uk BBC Radio 3. Retrieved April 12, 2015.
32. Hillériteau, Thierry (10 April 2015). "Le Festival de Pâques, fontaine de jouvence d'Aix-en-Provence". Le Figaro (in French). Retrieved 11 August 2024.
33. Rice, David (August 22, 2013) [1] The Classical Source. Retrieved April 12, 2015.
34. "Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 2 & Three Intermezzi Op. 117". Pentatone. Retrieved 2025-10-08.
35. "Liszt Transcendental Etudes & Piano Sonata (2-disc digipack)". Pentatone. Retrieved 2023-08-15.
36. "Francesco Piemontesi – naïve.fr, maison d'artistes". Archived from the original on 2016-08-09. Retrieved 2016-07-27. Naïve Classique. Retrieved April 12, 2015.
37. "Francesco Piemontesi – naïve.fr, maison d'artistes". Archived from the original on 2016-08-09. Retrieved 2016-07-27. Naïve Classique. Retrieved April 12, 2015.
38. "Francesco Piemontesi – naïve.fr, maison d'artistes". Archived from the original on 2016-08-09. Retrieved 2016-07-27. Naïve Classique. Retrieved April 12, 2015.
39. https://www.musiques-suisses.ch/fr/Frank-Martin/Integrale-des-oeuvres-pour-flute/id/474Archived 2015-05-05 at the Wayback Machine Musiques Suisses. Retrieved April 12, 2015.
40. Maddocks, Fiona (July 31, 2011) https://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jul/31/francesco-piemontesi-recital-review The Guardian. Retrieved April 12, 2015.
41. "Claves Records – Schumann: The Complete Works for Piano, Vol. 4". Archived from the original on 2015-09-05. Retrieved 2015-04-12. claves records. Retrieved April 12, 2015.