ARTISTS

 

Lars Vogt has rapidly established himself as one of the leading pianists of his generation. Born in the German town of Düren in 1970, he first came to public attention when he won second prize at the 1990 Leeds International Piano Competition and has enjoyed a varied career for over twenty years. His versatility as an artist ranges from the core classical repertoire of Mozart, Beethoven, Schumann and Brahms to the romantics Grieg, Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninov through to the dazzling Lutoslawski concerto. A keen chamber musician, Lars Vogt is now increasingly working with orchestras both as conductor and directing from the keyboard. 

 

Orchestral highlights of Lars Vogt’s 2013/14 season include performances in Amsterdam and London with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra under Mariss Jansons, a tour of China and concerts in Berlin and Vienna with Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin under Tugan Sokhiev, and an appearance with Dresden Staatskapelle under Christian Thielemann in the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Paris. In Switzerland he features as artist-in-residence with the Zurich Chamber Orchestra including a week of play/direct performances. Other concerto appearances include NDR Hamburg, Guerzenich Cologne, Munich Chamber Orchestra, Orchestre Philharmonique de France, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande and City of Birmingham Symphony with Andris Nelsons. Outside Europe he returns to the NHK Symphony in Tokyo with Roger Norrington and performs with the Boston and St Louis Symphony Orchestras. 

 

During 2013/14 Lars Vogt continues to develop his new role as conductor and director from the keyboard working with the Zurich Chamber Orchestra, Arte del Mondo, Cologne Chamber Orchestra and the Northern Sinfonia. He also undertakes several chamber projects including recitals with Ian Bostridge at the Edinburgh Festival and with Klaus Maria Brandauer in Vienna; as well as six concerts in North America with Christian Tetzlaff including Chicago, Boston, Montreal and Philadelphia and trios with Christian and Tanja Tetzlaff in Paris, Berlin, Salzburg and Zurich. 

 

During the 2012/13 season Lars Vogt made several appearances in North America, performing with orchestras in Cleveland, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Ottawa and in recital at the Y in New York. With the Cleveland Orchestra he also performed the Lutoslawski Concerto under Franz Welser-Moest at the Edinburgh Festival. Other highlights of the season were concerts with the Leipzig Gewandhaus under Riccardo Chailly, appearances in Paris with the Orchestre de Paris under Herbert Blomstedt and with the Orchestre National under Kurt Masur, and the conclusion of his residency with the Netherlands Philharmonic at the Concertgebouw Hall in Amsterdam. In London he performed with the London Philharmonic under Christoph Eschenbach and London Symphony under Daniel Harding. Recital appearances featured the International Piano Series in London and the Konzerthaus, Vienna. 

 

Lars Vogt’s special relationship with the Berlin Philharmonic has continued with regular collaborations following his appointment as their first ever “Pianist in Residence” in 2003/4. He has also worked with many other German orchestras including Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Bayerische Rundfunk, Frankfurt Radio, Dresden Staatskapelle, Leipzig Gewandhaus, Guerzenich Cologne and Deutscheskammerphilharmonie Bremen. Other highlights over recent seasons have included many appearances at the BBC Proms and a residency at the Mozartwoche in Salzburg with the Vienna Philharmonic/Christoph Eschenbach and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra/Daniel Harding; as well as appearances with the New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, Chicago Symphony, NHK Symphony, London Symphony, Philharmonia, Royal Concertgebouw, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Swedish Radio, Finnish Radio and the Orchestre de Paris. 

 

Lars Vogt enjoys a high profile as a chamber musician and recent appearances have included London, Paris, Munich, Vienna, Madrid, Rome and New York. In June 1998 he founded his own festival in Heimbach, Germany. Known as “Spannungen”, its huge success has been marked by the release of ten live recordings on EMI. He enjoys regular partnerships with colleagues such as Christian Tetzlaff and Thomas Quasthoff and collaborates occasionally with actor Klaus-Maria Brandauer and comedian Konrad Beikircher. In 2005 he founded “Rhapsody in School” which has become a high profile education project across Germany. Lars Vogt is also an accomplished and enthusiastic teacher and was recently appointed Professor of Piano at the Hannover Conservatory of Music, succeeding Karl-Heinz Kämmerling, his former teacher and close friend who died in June 2012. 

 

As an EMI recording artist, Lars Vogt made fifteen discs for the label, including the Hindemith Kammermusik No 2 with the Berlin Philharmonic/Claudio Abbado, the Schumann, Grieg and the first two Beethoven Concertos with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra/Sir Simon Rattle, who has described him as "one of the most extraordinary musicians of any age group that I have had the fortune to be associated with". Recent recordings include solo Schubert for CAvi-music and Mozart Concerti with the Salzburg Mozarteum Orchestra for Oehms, a solo Liszt and Schumann disc on the Berlin Classics label and Mozart Sonatas with Christian Tetzlaff for Ondine.