Igor Levit

Igor Levit (Russian: Игорь Левит; born 10 March 1987)[1] is a Russian-German pianist who focuses on the works of Bach, Beethoven, and Liszt. He is also a professor at the Musikhochschule Hannover.

Igor Levit
Igor Levit in 2013
Born	Russian: Игорь Левит 10 March 1987 Gorky
Education	Mozarteum Musikhochschule Hannover
Occupation	Classical pianist Academic teacher
Organization	Musikhochschule Hannover
Awards	Arthur Rubinstein Competition Beethoven Ring Gilmore Artist Award

Biography

Born in Gorky (now Nizhny Novgorod) to a Jewish family, Levit began playing piano at the age of three, and as a child he had his first successes on the concert stage in his hometown. His family moved to Hanover in 1995. From 1999 to 2000 he studied at the Mozarteum in Salzburg with Hans Leygraf and from 2000 to 2010 at the Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover with Karl-Heinz Kämmerling, Matti Raekallio and Bernd Goetzke.[2]

Levit has appeared in major concert halls and music festivals around the world. During his studies he won prizes in several international competitions, including second prize at the International Maria Callas Grand Prix in Athens (2004), first prize at the 9th Hamamatsu International Piano Academy Competition in Hamamatsu (2004),[3] the second prize at the piano competition Kissinger Klavierolymp (2004),[4] the silver medal and three other awards at the Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition in Tel Aviv (2005). In October 2011 he appeared in a 45-minute documentary aired on 3sat about his love for the music of Franz Liszt. He was a BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist from 2011 to 2013.

Levit was appointed to a professorship at the Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover (Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media) starting in the winter semester 2019/2020.[5] He lives in Berlin.[6]

Awards

• 2009 Luitpold Prize for young artists at the Festival Kissinger Sommer in Bad Kissingen[7][8]
• 2017 Beethoven Ring[9]
• 2018 Gilmore Artist Award[10][11]
• 1 October 2020 Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany[12]

Hauskonzerte

During the Coronavirus pandemic of 2020, Levit began streaming concerts from his home in Berlin Mitte.[6] He posted these to Twitter as a series of Hauskonzerte:[6][13]

• 12 March 2020: Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 21 in C major, Op. 53 ('Waldstein')
• 13 March 2020: Frederic Rzewski's The People United Will Never Be Defeated!
• 14 March 2020:[14] Bach's Chaconne in a transcription for left hand by Brahms[15]
• 15 March 2020: Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 23 in F minor, Op. 57 ('Appassionata')[16]
• 17 March 2020:[17] Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor "Quasi una fantasia" ('Moonlight')[18]
• 18 March 2020: Schubert's "Six moments musicaux"[19]
• 19 March 2020: Schubert's Piano Sonata in B-flat major, D. 960[20]
• 20 March 2020: Schubert's Piano Sonata in A major, D. 959[21]
• 21 March 2020: Schumann's Fantasie in C major, Op. 17[22]
• 22 March 2020: Shostakovich's Piano Sonata No. 2 in B minor, Op. 61[23]
• 23 March 2020: Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 31 in A-flat major, Op. 110[24]
• 24 March 2020: Arrangements of Bach's Nun komm' der heiden Heiland, BWV 659, and Ich ruf zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ, BWV 639; and Busoni's Berceuse, BV 252, and Fantasia nach Johann Sebastian Bach, BV 253[25]
• 25 March 2020: Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 17 in D minor, Op. 31/2 ('Tempest')[26]
• 28 March 2020:[27] Mozart's Piano Sonata No. 17 in B-flat major, K. 570[28]
• 29 March 2020: Transcriptions of Mahler's Adagietto, Billy Joel's "And So It Goes", Frederic Rzewski's "A Mensch", and Frederic Weatherly's "Danny Boy"[29]
• 30 March 2020: Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 18 in E-flat major, Op. 31/3[30]
• 31 March 2020: Liszt's Sonetto 123 del Petrarca in A-flat major; Brahms' Intermezzo in A major Op. 118/2; and Liszt's transcription of Wagner's "Isoldens Liebestod"[31]
• 1 April 2020: Schubert's Impromptu No. 3 in G-flat major and Allegretto in C minor, D. 915; Brahms' Ballade in B major, Op. 10/4[32]
• 2 April 2020: Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 21 in C major, Op. 53 ('Waldstein'), streamed from the Schloss Bellevue concert room[6][33]
• 3 April 2020: Two of Mendelssohn's "Songs Without Words"; Jobim's "Luiza"; Schumann's "Du bist wie eine Blume"; and Janis Ian's "Stars"[34]
• 4 April 2020: Solovyov-Sedoi & Matusovsky's "Moscow Nights"; Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue"[35]
• 5 April 2020: Tchaikovsky's "The Seasons" (except "September")[36]
• 6 April 2020: Tchaikovsky's "September" (from "The Seasons"); Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 8 in C minor, Op. 13 ('Pathétique')[37]
• 7 April 2020: Satie's Gnossienne No. 3 and Gymnopédie No. 1; Fred Hersch's "Valentine"; and Beethoven's "Rondo alla ingharese quasi un capriccio" in G major, Op. 129 ('Rage Over a Lost Penny')[38]
• 8 April 2020: Shostakovich's 24 Preludes Op. 34[39]
• 9 April 2020: Three of Scott Joplin's Rags;[40] Bolcom's "Graceful Ghost Rag"; Schubert's "Hungarian Melody"; and Curran's "For Cornelius"[41]
• 10 April 2020: Dessau's "Guernica"; Rzewski's "Which Side Are You On?"; and Cardew's Thälmann Variations[42]
• 11 April 2020: Liszt's "Il penseroso" in C-sharp minor and Dante Sonata in D minor[43]
• 12 April 2020: Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 32 in C minor, Op. 111[44]
• 13 April 2020: Beethoven's Diabelli Variations, Op. 120[45]
• 14 April 2020: Beethoven's 6 Variations in F major, Op. 34; and Piano Sonata No. 6 in F major, Op. 10/2[46]
• 15 April 2020: Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 26 in E-flat major, Op. 81a ('les Adieux')[47]
• 17 April 2020:[48] Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition"[49]
• 18 April 2020: Schumann's Arabeske in C major, Op. 18; transcription[50] of Mahler's Adagio from Symphony No. 10[51]
• 19 April 2020: Bach's "Contrapunctus I" from The Art of Fugue; Busoni's Fantasia contrappuntistica[52]
• 20 April 2020: Stevenson's Passacaglia on DSCH[53]
• 21 April 2020: Alkan's Prelude No. 8 in A-flat minor, Op. 31 ('The Song of the Madwoman on the Seashore'); Hindemith's "Suite 1922"[54]
• 22 April 2020: Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 23 in F minor, Op. 57 ('Appassionata')[55]
• 23 April 2020: Liszt's "Feierlicher Marsch zum heiligen Gral aus Parsifal", S. 450; Prokofiev's Piano Sonata No. 7 in B-flat major, Op. 83[56]
• 24 April 2020: Liszt's "O du mein holder Abendstern", S. 444; Prokofiev's Piano Sonata No. 4 in C minor, Op. 29[57]
• 25 April 2020: Liszt's paraphrase of "Valhalla" (from Wagner's Das Rheingold); Prokofiev's Piano Sonata No. 9 in C major, Op. 103[58]
• 26 April 2020: Schumann's Theme and Variations in E-flat major for piano ('Geistervariationen'); Feldman's "Palais de Mari"[59]
• 27 April 2020: Reger's "Variations and Fugue on a Theme by J.S. Bach", Op. 81[60]
• 28 April 2020: Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 2 in A major, Op. 2/2[61]
• 29 April 2020: Three of Mendelssohn's Songs Without Words; Debussy's Six épigraphes antiques; Second movement of Schubert's Piano Sonata in A major, D. 664[62]
• 30 April 2020: Beethoven's Ländler;[63] Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 30 in E major, Op. 109; Chopin's Scherzo No. 3 in C-sharp minor, Op. 39[64]
• 2 May 2020:[65] Bach's Goldberg Variations, BWV 988[66]
• 3 May 2020: Six of Brahms' Choral Preludes, Op. 122 (transcribed by Busoni)[67]
• 4 May 2020:[68] Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 16 in G Major, Op. 14/2; Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 27 in E minor, Op. 90[69]
• 24 May 2020:[70] Ten of Bach's Chorale Preludes (transcribed by Busoni (BV B 27))[71]

Separately from these concerts, on 30/31 May 2020 Levit gave a solo performance of Vexations by Erik Satie, from a studio in Berlin, over a period of over 15 hours.[72]

Discography

In 2007, when he was 20 years old, Levit released his debut album, a set of Beethoven's piano concertos, with the Cologne Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Helmut Muller-Bruhl on Naxos records. In 2013, he released a two-disc set of Ludwig van Beethoven's late piano sonatas (Nos. 28 to 32), on Sony Classical Records. His second Sony album, a recording of Johann Sebastian Bach's six keyboard partitas, was named Gramophone Magazine's recording of the month for October 2014.[73] His third Sony album, a 3-CD set of Bach's Goldberg Variations, Beethoven's Diabelli Variations, and The People United Will Never Be Defeated! by Frederic Rzewski, was released in October 2015.[74] His fourth album was a 2-CD set released in 2018 entitled Life, including works by Busoni, Bach, Schumann, Rzewski, Wagner, Liszt, and Bill Evans. It was Levit's response to the death of his best friend, German artist Hannes Malte Mahler, who died in a bicycle accident in 2016.[75][76]

His recordings of the complete Beethoven piano sonatas were released by Sony Classical on 13 September 2019.[77] Levit was named Gramophone's 2020 Artist of the Year.[78]

References

1. Swed, Mark (23 April 2015). "Review: Igor Levit, the best Russian pianist you haven't heard...yet". The Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
2. "Igor Levit". Deutsche-Stiftung-Musikleben. Retrieved 23 November 2011.
3. "Prizewinners of last Academies". Hamamatsu International Piano Academy. 2018. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
4. "The Kissinger Piano Olympics from 1st till 4th of October 2020". kissingersommer.de. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
5. Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover. "HMTM Hannover: Igor Levit wird Professor für Klavier". www.hmtm-hannover.de (in German). Retrieved 5 April 2019.
6. Ross, Alex (18 May 2020). "Igor Levit Is Like No Other Pianist". The New Yorker. New York City. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
7. "Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben". Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben (in German). 28 March 2007. Retrieved 24 September 2020.
8. "IFF Hannover: Levit, Igor". IFF Hannover (in German). Retrieved 24 September 2020.
9. "Pianist Igor Levit erhält Beethoven-Ring". Pizzicato (in German). Luxembourg. 18 December 2017. Retrieved 24 September 2020.
10. Cooper, Michael (3 January 2018). "The Pianist of the Resistance Captures a Surprise Award". The New York Times. New York City. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
11. Duke, David Gordon (1 November 2018). "Visit offers rare chance to see renowned performer". The Vancouver Sun. Vancouver. p. B5. Retrieved 23 May 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
12. SWR2 (22 September 2020). "Bundesverdienstkreuz für Bürger, Europäer und Pianist Igor Levit". swr.online (in German). Retrieved 24 September 2020.
13. Maddocks, Fiona (24 May 2020). "Igor Levit: 'These concerts were life-saving for me'". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
14. In Ross' article in The New Yorker (11 May 2020), Levit implied that he started posting Hauskonzerte on 12 March 2020. In the intro to the 2 May 2020 Hauskonzert, he made this explicit. Posts from 12 and 13 March are not accessible.
15. 14 March 2020 Hauskonzert. Igor Levit on Twitter. Retrieved 20 May 2020.
16. 15 March 2020 Hauskonzert. Igor Levit on Twitter. Retrieved 20 May 2020. Also performed in the 22 April Hauskonzert.
17. The 16 March 2020 Hauskonzert is not accessible.
18. 17 March 2020 Hauskonzert. Igor Levit on Twitter. Retrieved 20 May 2020.
19. 18 March 2020 Hauskonzert. Igor Levit on Twitter. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
20. 19 March 2020 Hauskonzert. Igor Levit on Twitter. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
21. 20 March 2020 Hauskonzert. Igor Levit on Twitter. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
22. 21 March 2020 Hauskonzert. Igor Levit on Twitter. Retrieved 24 May 2020.
23. 22 March 2020 Hauskonzert. Igor Levit on Twitter. Retrieved 24 May 2020.
24. 23 March 2020 Hauskonzert. Igor Levit on Twitter. Retrieved 24 May 2020.
25. 24 March 2020 Hauskonzert. Igor Levit on Twitter. Retrieved 24 May 2020.
26. 25 March 2020 Hauskonzert. Igor Levit on Twitter. Retrieved 24 May 2020.
27. The 26 and 27 March 2020 Hauskonzerte are not accessible.
28. 28 March 2020 Hauskonzert. Igor Levit on Twitter. Retrieved 24 May 2020.
29. 29 March 2020 Hauskonzert. Igor Levit on Twitter. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
30. 30 March 2020 Hauskonzert. Igor Levit on Twitter. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
31. 31 March 2020 Hauskonzert. Igor Levit on Twitter. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
32. 01 April 2020 Hauskonzert. Igor Levit on Twitter. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
33. 02 April 2020 Hauskonzert. Igor Levit on Twitter. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
34. 03 April 2020 Hauskonzert. Igor Levit on Twitter. Retrieved 27 May 2020.
35. 04 April 2020 Hauskonzert. Igor Levit on Twitter. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
36. 05 April 2020 Hauskonzert. Levit notes in the intro to this post that this is the twenty-fifth Hauskonzert. Igor Levit on Twitter. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
37. 06 April 2020 Hauskonzert. Igor Levit on Twitter. Retrieved 1 June 2020.
38. 07 April 2020 Hauskonzert. Igor Levit on Twitter. Retrieved 2 June 2020.
39. 08 April 2020 Hauskonzert. Igor Levit on Twitter. Retrieved 2 June 2020.
40. "Original Rags", "Maple Leaf Rag", and "Peacherine Rag".
41. 09 April 2020 Hauskonzert. Igor Levit on Twitter. Retrieved 2 June 2020.
42. 10 April 2020 Hauskonzert. Igor Levit on Twitter. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
43. 11 April 2020 Hauskonzert. Igor Levit on Twitter. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
44. 12 April 2020 Hauskonzert. Igor Levit on Twitter. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
45. 13 April 2020 Hauskonzert. Igor Levit on Twitter. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
46. 14 April 2020 Hauskonzert. Igor Levit on Twitter. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
47. 15 April 2020 Hauskonzert. Igor Levit on Twitter. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
48. Levit did not play a Hauskonzert on 16 April. He notes in the intro that this is Hauskonzert no. 36.
49. 17 April 2020 Hauskonzert. Igor Levit on Twitter. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
50. Transcription by Ronald Stevenson, per Levit.
51. 18 April 2020 Hauskonzert. Igor Levit on Twitter. Retrieved 5 June 2020.
52. 19 April 2020 Hauskonzert. Igor Levit on Twitter. Retrieved 5 June 2020.
53. 20 April 2020 Hauskonzert. Igor Levit on Twitter. Retrieved 5 June 2020. As of this Hauskonzert, Levit moved his piano across the room "because my bicycle needed space" (Guardian interview, 24 May 2020). The sun sets while he's playing this piece: the room starts in light at 19.00 CEZ and ends in darkness at 20.30 CEZ (the sun set that day at 20.14 CEZ in Berlin).
54. 21 April 2020 Hauskonzert. Igor Levit on Twitter. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
55. 22 April 2020 Hauskonzert. Igor Levit on Twitter. Retrieved 7 June 2020. Also performed in the 15 March Hauskonzert.
56. 23 April 2020 Hauskonzert. Igor Levit on Twitter. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
57. 24 April 2020 Hauskonzert. Igor Levit on Twitter. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
58. 25 April 2020 Hauskonzert. Igor Levit on Twitter. Retrieved 9 June 2020.
59. 26 April 2020 Hauskonzert. Igor Levit on Twitter. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
60. 27 April 2020 Hauskonzert. Igor Levit on Twitter. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
61. 28 April 2020 Hauskonzert. Igor Levit on Twitter. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
62. 29 April 2020 Hauskonzert. Igor Levit on Twitter. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
63. Levit says in the intro that this Beethoven Ländler of "about 16 bars" has "just [been] found". [Reference needed].
64. 30 April 2020 Hauskonzert. Igor Levit on Twitter. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
65. There was no Hauskonzert on 1 May 2020. Levit tweeted that he was in Hanover that day to help celebrate NDR Radiophilharmonie's 70th anniversary. He notes in the intro that this is Hauskonzert no. 50.
66. 02 May 2020 Hauskonzert. Igor Levit on Twitter. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
67. 03 May 2020 Hauskonzert. Igor Levit on Twitter. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
68. Levit tweeted, "To gather strength from silence, not just music. I've been looking for a reason to 'stop', but there's no other than this: pause. Refill. Learn – and start again. And this 'again' will come soon. Therefore, tonight's 52nd house concert will be the last."
69. 04 May 2020 Hauskonzert. Igor Levit on Twitter. Retrieved 18 July 2020.
70. Levit posted no Hauskonzerte to Twitter from 5 May through 23 May.
71. 24 May 2020 Hauskonzert. Igor Levit on Twitter. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
72. Barone, Joshua (31 May 2020). "'I Just Let Myself Go': Igor Levit on Surviving a Satie Marathon". The New York Times. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
73. "Igor Levit, Piano". Presto Classical. Retrieved 15 October 2014.
74. "Igor Levit, Piano". HMV Japan. Retrieved 4 September 2015.
75. Jeal, Erica (11 October 2018). "Igor Levit: Life review – pianist's transcendental meditation on grief". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
76. Blum, Ronald (17 March 2019). "Igor Levit not limited to the piano". The Desert Sun. Palm Springs, California. AP. p. C2. Retrieved 23 May 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
77. Beethoven: Complete Piano Sonatas review – at his best, Levit is outstanding, The Guardian, 5 September 2019
78. "Igor Levit named Gramophone's Artist of the Year". Pianist. 7 October 2020. Retrieved 27 October 2020.

Further reading

• Swed, Mark (23 April 2015). "He holds 88 keys to the future". The Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles. p. 23. Retrieved 23 May 2020 – via Newspapers.com. continued on page 24
• Weininger, David (14 August 2016). "Continuous variation". The Boston Globe. Boston. p. N3. Retrieved 23 May 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
• Duke, David Gordon (13 February 2016). "Emerging piano great takes his playlist personally". The Vancouver Sun. Vancouver. p. 65. Retrieved 23 May 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
• Rhein, John von (14 March 2017). "Pianist Igor Levit makes formidable Orchestra Hall debut". Chicago Tribune. Chicago. p. 4-2. Retrieved 23 May 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
• McIntosh, Fergus (20 November 2018). "Close At Hand with the Pianist Igor Levit". The New Yorker. New York City. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
• Welscher, Hartmut (19 February 2020). "Winner Takes All". VAN Magazine. Berlin. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
• Pirich, Carolin; Stuff, Britta (10 September 2020). "Rock bottom. Navigating the Corona Crisis with Pianist Extraordinaire Igor Levit". Spiegel International. Retrieved 15 October 2020.

External links

• Official website
• Igor Levit on Twitter
• Igor Levit – An interview with BBC New Generation Artist (2012) on YouTube
• Igor Levit: BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist plays Bach (Chaconne) on YouTube