MARIA JOAO PIRES

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Maria João Pires


Maria João Pires (Portuguese: [mɐˈɾiɐ ʒwɐ̃ũ̯ ˈpiɾɨʃ]; born in Lisbon, Portugal, 23 July 1944) is a Portuguese pianist.

Her first recital was at the age of five, and at the age of seven she was already playing Mozart piano concertos publicly. Two years later she received Portugal's top prize for young musicians. In the following years, she studied with Campos Coelho at the Lisbon Conservatory, taking courses in composition, theory, and history of music. She continued her studies in Germany, first in the Musikakademie of Munich with Rosl Schmidt and then in Hanover with Karl Engel.

International fame came in 1970, when she won the Beethoven Bicentennial Competition in Brussels. She has since then regularly performed with major orchestras throughout the world, interpreting works by Bach, Beethoven, Schumann, Schubert, Mozart, Brahms, Chopin and many other classical and romantic composers. She appears regularly with major world orchestras in Europe, America, Canada, Israel and Japan.

Recordings
She appears as a solo artist and in chamber music: her many successful recordings include Moonlight, featuring Beethoven sonatas, Le Voyage Magnifique, the complete Impromptus of Schubert, Nocturnes and other works by Chopin, and Mozart Trios with Augustin Dumay (violin) and Jian Wang (cello).

She won the Pessoa Prize in 1989. She also founded the Belgais Centre for Study of the Arts.


Maria João Pires (2009)

Gramophone selected her recordings of the Chopin nocturnes as the best version available: "I have no hesitation in declaring Maria João Pires—a pianist without a trace of narcissism—among the most eloquent master-musicians of our time" (Bryce Morrison).

One of her acclaimed recordings is "Mozart: The Piano Sonatas". According to the Penguin Guide: "Maria João Pires is a stylist and a fine Mozartian. She is always refined yet never wanting in classical feeling, and she has a vital imagination. She strikes an ideal balance between poise and expressive sensibility, conveying a sense of spontaneity in everything she does".

Partial Discography
Beethoven: Piano Concertos 3 & 4 (2014, Onyx Classics)

Mozart: Piano Concertos 14, 17, 21, & 26 (2013, Deutsche Grammophon )

Schubert (2013, Deutsche Grammophon)

Chopin (2008, Deutsche Grammophon)

Beethoven: Piano Sonatas (2001, Erato )

Schumann: Piano Concerto, Piano Quintet (2000, Deutsche Grammophon)

Chopin: Piano Concertos 1 & 2 (1999, Erato)

Franck, Debussy: Violin Sonatas; Ravel: Berceuse; Habanera; Tzigane (1996, Deutsche Grammophon)

Mozart: Piano Sonatas K.281, K.282, K.533/K.494 (1993, Deutsche Grammophon)

Mozart: Piano Sonatas K.331 & 457; Fantasias K.397 & 475 (1990, Deutsche Grammophon)

Schubert: Sonata; 6 Moments Musicaux; 2 Scherzi (1989, Deutsche Grammophon)

Mozart: The Great Concertos for Piano (1978, Erato)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wt44_q73SGs&list=RDHCkFW5RYOAdPY
Move to Brazil
In 2006 she moved to Lauro de Freitas—a town near Salvador, Brazil—and continues performing. At the time of her move, she commented that she had suffered much in Portugal due to her Belgais Centre project.

References
Jump up ^ Gramophone Recommended Recordings
Jump up ^ Maria João Pires troca Belgais por nova vida no Brasil, article in Portuguese in Público

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