Alexandre Tharaud, piano

Despite a flourishing international career that includes performances at such legendary venues as Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, London’s Royal Festival Hall and the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in his native Paris, pianist Alexandre Tharaud only played in the U.S. for the first time in January 2015. Clearly, it was well worth the wait. NY Times critic Vivien Schweitzer hailed his debut performance at Carnegie Hall as full of both “articulation and wild exuberance.” As the son of a dance teacher at the Opéra de Paris and the grandson of a violinist, it should come as no surprise that Tharaud’s technical expertise, his “range of touch and colour, and his sheer enthusiasm, shine through every jewel-like piece” (The Guardian.) What is a bit strange, perhaps, is that Tharaud refuses to keep a piano at his own residence for fear that he will come to prefer improvisation and experimentation to rigorous practice. All the better for his audiences who continually delight in his “crisply articulated and vividly etched” (NY Times) renditions of Bach and others. The Schubert Club is proud to welcome Alexandre Tharaud to the Ordway Concert Hall stage for two dates in April 2017 for his International Artist Series debut.

Alexandre Tharaud

As a recitalist Alexandre Tharaud has performed across the world: Teatro Colón de Buenos Aires, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Opéra de Versailles, Cologne Philharmonie, Prague Rudofinum, Essen Philharmonie, Queen Elizabeth Hall Southbank Centre, Royal Albert Hall and Wigmore Hall, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, John F. Kennedy Centre Washington D.C., Vienna Musikverein, Bern Casino, Krakow Philharmonie, Hoam Art Hall and LG Arts Center Seoul, Hyogo Performing Arts Center, Oji Hall and the Suntory Hall in Tokyo. His festival appearances include the BBC Proms, Edinburgh International Festival, Gergiev Festival, Aix-en-Provence, La Roque d’Anthéron, Schleswig-Holstein, Rheingau, Ludwigsburg, Ruhr Piano Festival, Nuits de Décembre de Moscou, Rimini, Domaine Forget and Lanaudière.

As a soloist he has appeared with the main French orchestras (Orchestre National de France, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio-France, Orchestre National de Lille, Orchestre National de Bordeaux-Aquitaine, Ensemble Orchestral de Paris, Orchestre du Capitole de Toulouse, Orchestre National de Lyon) and elsewhere (London Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra, Munich Chamber Orchestra, Sinfonia Varsovia, Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich and Tokyo Metropolitan Orchestra, as well as the Bavarian, Saarbrücken and Frankfurt Radio, Estonian National, Toronto, Singapore, Taiwan, Sao Paulo, Umea and Hamburg Symphony Orchestras, and the Japan and Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestras) under the direction of Lionel Bringuier, Bernard Labadie, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Georges Prêtre, Marc Minkowski, Stéphane Denève, Leo Hussain, David Zinman, Yannik Nézet-Séguin and Claus Peter-Flor.

Dedicatee of numerous works, Alexandre Tharaud premiered Thierry Pécou’s cycle Outre-Mémoire which included two concertos; L’Oiseau Innumérable, with orchestra and Le Visage – Le Coeur, with the choir Les Eléments at La Roque d’Anthéron Festival under the direction of Joël Suhubiette. In 2012, he premiered Gérard Pesson’s concerto in Zurich, Frankfurt and Paris with the Tonhalle Orchester Zurich and RSO Frankfurt. Alexandre has also both commissioned and premiered three cycles: ‘Hommages à Rameau’, ‘Hommage à Couperin’ and ‘Pianosong’.

Alexandre Tharaud is represented by Opus 3 Artists.