Helmchen Plays Bach and Schumann

Pianist Martin Helmchen offers a unique and powerful recital featuring works by Bach, Schumann, Bartók and Brahms. Connect with the music which inspired Brahms, in all its magnificent splendor.

ARTIST

With his highly virtuosic yet unpretentious style, Martin Helmchen has taken his place among the great pianists of his generation. Born in Berlin, he has made a series of sensational U.S. orchestral debuts, beginning in 2011 at Tanglewood, performing the Schumann Concerto with the Boston Symphony Orchestra under Christoph von Dohnányi. Following this was his revelatory performance of the Dvorák Piano Concerto with the New York Philharmonic at Lincoln Center, his Symphony Hall Boston debut, performing Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto, and his debut with the Chicago Symphony, playing Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 2.

The 2021/2022 season includes return invitations to both the Boston and Chicago symphonies, as well as his debut with the Milwaukee Symphony under the baton of Ken-David Masur. Interrupted by the pandemic, Mr. Helmchen will now complete his project of performing all three Bartók concertos with three different German orchestras: the DSO Berlin, hrSymphony Orchestra/Frankfurt, and the Bielefeld Symphony. He will also continue his tour with violinist Frank Peter Zimmermann in venues throughout Europe, performing all ten Beethoven violin sonatas.

Other notable appearances in the U.S. include the symphonies of San Francisco, Saint Louis, Houston, Dallas, San Diego, and Oregon (Portland). Internationally, Mr. Helmchen has performed with the philharmonic orchestras of Berlin, Dresden, and Vienna, Leipzig Gewandhaus, the Danish National Symphony, Orchestre de Paris, Prague Symphony, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, Oslo Philharmonic, BBC London, NDR/Hamburg, SWR/Stuttgart, and the NHK Symphony in Japan, among many others.

In addition to recital engagements at The Frick Collection/New York, Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall (with cellist MarieElisabeth Hecker), San Francisco Performances, Wigmore Hall/London, and the Alte Oper in Frankfurt, he has appeared at literally every major festival in Europe. Now gaining momentum in North America, he has appeared several times at the Mostly Mozart Festival (Lincoln Center/New York), as well as the Blossom Festival with the Cleveland Orchestra and the Aspen Music Festival in Colorado. He will make his debut at the Chautauqua Festival in the summer of 2022. Martin Helmchen won the 2001 Clara Haskil International Piano Competition at the age of nineteen, and as winner of the 2006 Credit Suisse Young Artist Award, he made his debut with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra under Valery Gergiev at the Lucerne Festival. His principal teachers include Galina Iwanzowa, Arie Vardie, and William Grant Naboré.

REPERTOIRE

Coming Soon (French version only)