PIOTR ANDERSZEWSKI

BIOGRAPHY

Piotr Anderszewski is regarded as one of the outstanding musicians of his generation. He appears regularly in recital at many of the major concert venues around the world.
Throughout his career he has concentrated mostly on the classic German/Viennese repertoire encompassing Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Schumann and Webern. He is also drawn to 20th century central European music, particularly that of Szymanowski and Janácek. He chooses his repertoire carefully, only playing pieces to which he feels he can contribute in an original and personal way. .
Anderszewski has played with many of the world's great symphony orchestras, though in recent years he has placed special emphasis on playing and directing. With Mozart concertos in particular, he finds that conducting from the keyboard achieves a more conversational relationship in what he sees as essentially chamber works. To this end he has recorded Mozart with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and the Sinfonia Varsovia, as well as Beethoven's first piano concerto with the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen.
Piotr Anderszewski's discography has grown steadily over the last few decades. Since 2000 he has been an exclusive artist with Warner Classics (previously Virgin Classics). His first recording for the label was Beethoven's Diabelli Variations, which went on to receive a number of prizes. He has also recorded Grammy-nominated discs of Bach's Partitas 1, 3 and 6 and Szymanowski's solo piano works, the latter also receiving a Gramophone award in 2006. His recording devoted to works by Robert Schumann received the BBC Music Magazine's Recording of the Year award in 2012. Other Gramophone awards have followed in 2015 for Bach English Suites and in 2021 for his specially-selected set of 12 Preludes and Fugues from Bach's Well Tempered Clavier Book 2. A live performance of the Preludes and Fugues from Hamburg's Elbphilharmonie has since been released on DVD. His latest CD is dedicated to piano works by Janácek, Szymanowski and Bartók.
Anderszewski has collaborated with various instrumentalists, including Viktoria Mullova, Frank Peter Zimmermann, Nikolaj Znaider and the Belcea Quartet. He also performs with his sister, the violinist Dorota Anderszewska and has occasionally appeared with writers and actors in special projects. As a lieder partner he has worked with Matthias Goerne and is preparing future recitals with Ian Bostridge.
Anderszewski's artistic life has been the subject of several documentaries by the film maker Bruno Monsaingeon. 'Piotr Anderszewski plays Diabelli Variations' (2001) explores Anderszewski's particular relationship with Beethoven's iconic work. 'Unquiet Traveller' (2008) is an unusual artist portrait, capturing Anderszewski's reflections on music, the composers with whom he has a particular affinity and his Polish-Hungarian roots. In 2016 he found himself behind the camera directing "Warsaw is my name", a film dedicated to the city of his birth.
Anderszewski takes regular breaks from performing to learn new works and to recharge. He is currently writing a book reflecting on his experience as a musician and performer.