In the almost twenty years since his victory in the 2005 International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw, Rafał Blechacz has achieved a position as one of the preeminent pianists of our age. His outstanding talent has been appreciated by the audiences of Europe, America, and Asia, and he has regularly performed in the most prestigious concert halls, and - in concertos - with the some of the world’s finest orchestras and conductors. His concert venues include the Royal Festival Hall and Wigmore Hall in London, the Berliner Philharmonie, the Herkulessaal in Munich, the Alte Oper in Frankfurt-am-Main, Liederhalle in Stuttgart, Konzerthaus in Vienna, Tonhalle in Zurich, Victoria Hall in Geneva, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Salle Pleyel in Paris, Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, Avery Fisher Hall in New York, La Scala in Milan, and Suntory Hall in Tokyo, to name but a few. Conductors with hom he has played include Charles Dutoit, Valery Gergiev, Daniel Harding, Pavo Järvi, Fabio Luisi, Kent Nagano, Andris Nelsons, Trevor Pinnock, Mikhail Pletnev, Antoni Wit, and David Zinman.
Ever since he won the Grand Prix, the Gold Medal, and the Audience Award at the Chopin Competition in 2005, he has consolidated his reputation as an interpreter of Chopin’s works who combines seemingly effortless virtuosity with outstanding interpretative intelligence and vision. His repertory, however, is ever-growing, and in a series of recordings for Deutsche Grammophon (for whom he records exclusively) he has offered equally highly regarded interpretations of Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Liszt, Brahms, Debussy and Szymanowski. Among his numerous prizes and honours is the American Gilmore Artist Award, sometimes called the ‘Nobel Prize for the Piano’, which was bestowed on him in 2014.
more about Camerata Musica
Camerata Musica Cambridge takes its name from the celebrated Florentine Camerata — or Camerata Fiorentina — founded in Florence in 1573 by a group of scholars and musicians to promote a revival in what was then defined as Classical music or ‘musica antica’ — the music and poetry of antiquity — with a view to bringing a new generation into contact with its riches.
Cambridge’s Camerata Musica has a similar objective. It exists to bring new - and, in particular, student - audiences to classical music. It offers its audience the opportunity to hear some of the greatest masterpieces of the Western musical canon in performances by interpreters of international distinction. It is the only concert programme in the country that reserves more than half its seats for students and those under 25. These tickets are made available at generously subsidized prices.
