Alexandre Tharaud

Piano

"You have to experience it! The sovereign mastery of this world-class pianist leaves you speechless."
Tagesspiegel, June 2023
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Contact Carolin Traute-Breidenbach

Biography

His extraordinary discography of over 25 solo albums, most of which received major awards from the music press, features repertoire ranging from Couperin, Bach and Scarlatti, through Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Chopin, Brahms, and Rachmaninov to the major 20th century French composers. The breadth of his artistic endeavours is also reflected in collaborations with theatre makers, dancers, choreographers, writers and film makers, as well as with singer-songwriters and musicians outside the realm of classical music.

Alexandre is a sought-after soloist, appearing with many of the world’s leading orchestras: upcoming highlights include concerto performances with Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, National Symphony Orchestra Taiwan, Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse & Hong Kong Sinfonietta. Recent concerto engagements include Aurora Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris, Les Violons du Roy, Sao Paulo State Symphony, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Royal Concertgebouworkest, Cleveland and Philadelphia Orchestras, Cincinnati Symphony, London Philharmonic and hr-Sinfonieorchester Frankfurt.

As a recitalist, Alexandre Tharaud is a regular guest at the world’s most prestigious venues. Highlights include recitals at the Philharmonie de Paris, Wigmore Hall, Frankfurt Alte Oper, Bayreuth, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Casa da Música Porto, Zankel Hall and extensive touring in Japan, China and Korea. Alexandre continues his long collaboration with the cellist Jean-Guihen Queyras for an extensive European tour.

Following the critically acclaimed production of "Unstill Life", a collaboration with the choreographer Benjamin Millepied in Paris, Lyon & Spoleto, Alexandre will bring this production to Walt Disney Hall in Los Angeles. He also continues his collaboration with the singer Angelique Kidjo. This season Alexandre will be Artist in Residence at Muziekgebouw Amsterdam where, alongside recitals and chamber music, he will bring a range of projects including an electronic project with the artist Para One, accompanying a silent film and a meditation on sleep entitled ‘Dodo Tharaud’.

Alexandre is an exclusive recording artist of Warner Classics. This season his highly anticipated recording of the two Ravel concerti with Orchestre National de France & Louis Langree, will be released to celebrate the Ravel anniversary. In October 2020, ‘Le Poète du Piano’ was released and features some of Alexandre’s best-known recordings on one album. His discography reflects an eclectic affinity to many musical styles, with recent recordings including Versailles, which pays tribute to composers associated with the courts of the French kings Louis XIV, XV and XVI, a tribute to singer-songwriter Barbara, a Brahms duo album with Jean-Guihen Queyras (a regular chamber music partner for 20 years), and Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 2. Over the course of his career he has made critically acclaimed recordings of Rameau, Scarlatti, Bach’s Goldberg Variations and Italian Concerto, Beethoven’s three final sonatas, Chopin’s 24 Preludes, and Ravel’s complete piano works.

In 2017, Alexandre published Montrez-moi vos mains, an introspective and engaging account of daily life as a pianist. He had previously co-authored Piano Intime, with journalist Nicolas Southon. He is the subject of a film directed by Swiss film maker Raphaëlle Aellig-Régnier: Alexandre Tharaud, Le Temps Dérobé, and appeared in the role of the pianist “Alexandre” in Michael Haneke’s celebrated 2012 film Amour.

In 2021, Alexandre won the Instrumental Soloist of the year award at the Victoires de la Musique Classique.
This biography is to be reproduced without any changes, omissions or additions, unless expressly authorized by artist management.
Contact: Carolin Traute-Breidenbach

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Programme

2025 / 2026

You’ll find the current programs in the IMPRESARIUM of the 25/26 season

Schedule

27/11/2024
19:00 h
Oji Hall
Tokyo, Japan
Jean-Guihen Queyras, Alexandre Tharaud
28/11/2024
Hyogo Performing Arts Center
Hyogo, Japan
Jean-Guihen Queyras, Alexandre Tharaud
28/11/2024
19:00 h
Hyogo Performing Arts Center
Hyogo, Japan
Jean-Guihen Queyras, Alexandre Tharaud
29/11/2024
19:00 h
Oji Hall
Tokyo, Japan
Jean-Guihen Queyras, Alexandre Tharaud
30/11/2024
Oji Hall
Tokyo, Japan
Jean-Guihen Queyras, Alexandre Tharaud
09/04/2025
20:00 h
Beethoven-Haus
Bonn, Germany
Alexandre Tharaud
27/06/2025
20:00 h
Alexandre Tharaud, Tetiana Miyus, Dirk Kaftan, Beethoven Orchester Bonn

Discography

Four Hands

Works for Piano Four Hands by Bach, Schubert, Tchaikovsky, Grieg, Fauré, Satie, Debussy, Ravel, Rachmaninov, Ravel, Piazzolla and Glass

Marin Marais
Marin Marais
Suite in A minor, Troisième Livre de Pièces de viole: Prélude • Gavotte
Suite in A minor, Quatrième Livre de Pièces de viole: Musette
Couplets des Folies d'Espagne, Second Livre de Pièces de viole
Suite d'un goût étranger, Quatrième Livre de Pièces de viole: La Rêveuse
Suite in A minor, Troisième Livre de Pièces de viole: Fantaisie · Grand Ballet • Sarabande
Suite in E minor, Cinquième Livre de Pièces de viole: Le Tableau de l'Opération de la Taille
Suite in A minor, Troisième Livre de Pièces de viole: Courante
Les Regrets (Anonymous, attributed to Marin Marais)
Suite in D minor, Deuxième Livre de Pièces de viole: Prélude • Sarabande grave
Sonate à la Marésienne: Très vivement • Gravement
Suite d'un goût étranger, Quatrième Livre de Pièces de viole: Le Badinage
Suite in A minor, Troisième Livre de Pièces de viole: Gigue • Double • Allemande

Jean-Guihen Queyras - Cello
Guillaume Gallienne - Speaker

Cinema

Alexandre Tharaud’s relationship with film music runs deep – it also ranges wide. On his double album Cinéma the French pianist delves into 50 celebrated film scores by composers from France, Italy, the USA, Japan, Poland, Romania and Lebanon – 19 in all. Among them are Michel Legrand, John Williams, Ennio Morricone, Francis Lai, Marvin Hamlisch, Nino Rota and Philip Glass. As Tharaud says: “This album pays tribute to them with a selection of pieces for piano and orchestra and for piano solo, most in their original versions, creating a sound-world every bit as thrilling without the motion picture.” The movie magic is reinforced by Tharaud’s starry partners on the album: Antonio Pappano conducts the Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, and making guest appearances are singers Vanessa Paradis, Camélia Jordana and Sabine Devieilhe, clarinettist Michel Portal and vioinist Nemanja Radulović.

Schubert
Franz Schubert
4 Impromptus, Op. 90, D. 899
Rosamunde, Op. 26, D. 797
Moments musicaux, Op. 94, D. 780

Chanson d’Amour

Works by Fauré, Poulenc, Ravel, Debussy

Sabine Devieilhe - Soprano

Contemporary Concertos
Hans Abrahamsen
'Left, alone', concerto for piano left hand and orchestra

Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra
Yannick Nézet-Séguin - Conductor

Gérard Pesson
'Future is a Faded Song', for piano and orchestra

hr-Sinfonieorchester
Tito Ceccheri - Conductor

Oscar Strasnoy
Kuleshov, concerto for piano and chamber orchestra

Les Violons du Roy
Matthieu Lussier - Conductor

Complices
Short pieces by
Liszt · Kreisler · De Falla · Fauré · Saint-Saëns · Poulenc · Coltrane · Imbert · Dutilleux · Haydn · Brahms · Von Vecsey · Popper · Tchaikovsky · Shchedrin · Chopin · Popper

Jean-Guihen Queyras - Cello

Versailles

Works by Rameau, Visée, Royer, Couperin, Lully, D'anglebert, Duphly

Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven
Piano Sonata No. 30 in E major, Op. 109
Piano Sonata No. 31 in A-Flat major, Op. 110
Piano Sonata No. 32 in C minor, Op. 111

Brahms: Cello Sonatas, Hungarian Dances
Johannes Brahms
Cello Sonata No. 1 in E minor, Op. 38
I. Allegro non troppo
II. Allegretto quasi Menuetto
III. Allegro

Cello Sonata No. 2 in F major, Op. 99
I. Allegro vivace
II. Adagio affettuoso
III. Allegro Passionato
IV. Allegro molto

21 Hungarian Dances, WoO 1, Book 1
No. 4 in G minor (Transc. for Cello and Piano)
No. 1 in G minor (Transc. for Cello and Piano)
No. 5 in F-sharp minor (Transc. for Cello and Piano)
No. 7 in A major (Transc. for Cello and Piano)
No. 14 in D minor (Transc. for Cello and Piano)
No. 11 in D minor (Transc. for Cello and Piano)

Jean-Guihen Queyras - Cello

Videos

Ravel: Piano Concerto
Les mots d'amour with Angélique Kidjo
Morricone: Cinema Paradiso
Unstill Life with Benjamin Millepied

Contact

Carolin Traute-Breidenbach
Senior Artist Manager
t: +49 (0)30 414 781 745
t: +33 (0)7 73 89 03 47