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Murray Perahia

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Murray Perahia is an American pianist and conductor, born on 19 April 1947 in the Bronx in New York, into a family of Sephardic Jewish descent from Thessaloniki. His first language was Ladino. He began piano lessons at the age of four, but only began practising seriously at fifteen. At seventeen he studied at Mannes College with Mieczysław Horszowski. In the summers he was at the Marlboro Music Festival, where he was taught by, among others, Rudolf Serkin, Alexander Schneider and Pablo Casals. Serkin made him his assistant at the Curtis Institute.

Music and breakthrough

In 1965 he won the Young Concert Artists International Auditions, and in 1972 he became the first North American to win the Leeds International Piano Competition. In 1973 he worked with Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears at the Aldeburgh Festival, of which he was co-artistic director from 1981 to 1989. In the 1980s Vladimir Horowitz, an admirer, asked him to collaborate.

Influence

Perahia is regarded as one of the greatest pianists of his time, above all as an interpreter of Bach, Handel, Scarlatti, Mozart, Beethoven and Schumann. His records include Mozart piano concertos, The Chopin Preludes and songs by Schumann. He received three Grammys and nine Gramophone Awards. His work shows how a pianist can keep the classical canon alive again and again, by listening carefully to what is in the score.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen to one of the Mozart piano concertos that he recorded, and notice how he lets the melody sing while he plays with the orchestra as a conversation partner.

Discography

Studio albums

Categories: Artists