Boris Bloch

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Boris Bloch ( Russian Борис Блох , born February 12, 1951 in Odessa , Ukrainian SSR ) is a Russian-Ukrainian pianist and conductor .

Life and education

Bloch was born in the Ukrainian metropolis of Odessa .

Bloch received his pianistic training at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory, there especially from the internationally known pianist and piano teacher Dmitri Alexandrowitsch Bashkirow , whose class he graduated in 1973.

In 1974 he left the Soviet Union and first emigrated to New York City . Bloch has lived in Germany since 1985, first in Essen and later in Düsseldorf .

Repertoire and concert activity

Bloch's repertoire includes the most important works of all classical piano music in the broader sense, as well as important chamber music and lied works. The music of Domenico Scarlatti (sonatas), Mozart (sonatas, piano concertos), Beethoven (sonatas, variations, all piano concertos), Chopin's (sonata in H minor, both piano concertos, all ballads, scherzi, waltzes and impromptus as well as Variationes Brillante, Op. 12, mazurkas, nocturnes, polonaises), Liszt (Années de Pelerinage, paraphrases, Grand Solo de concert, piano concertos, Totentanz, Spanish and many Hungarian Rhapsodies, all Paganini and concert etudes, six Transcendental Études, late Pieces, among others), Tchaikovsky (all piano concertos, piano pieces) and Rachmaninov (preludes, etudes-tableaux, all piano concertos); His programs also include works by Johann Sebastian Bach (well -tempered piano , partitas, concertos for piano solo based on the Baroque composers), Franz Schubert (Wanderer Fantasy), Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (Variations sérieuses), Robert Schumann ( Carnaval , Symphonic Etudes, Grande Sonate in F minor op. 14, etc.), Brahms (Handel Variations, piano pieces), Grieg (piano concerto), Scriabin (piano concerto), Busoni (piano concerto, Sonatina super Carmen, Sonatina brevis in signo joannis Sebastiani Magni, elegies ), Schönberg (piano pieces), Shostakovich (preludes), Prokofiev (piano concertos and sonatas) and other composers from the 18th to the 20th century.

His concert activities lead him mainly across Europe and to collaborations with many famous orchestras. He often appears at international music events, such as the Berliner Festwochen, the Meraner Musikwochen, the Rheingau Musik Festival, the Festival Pianistico Internazionale "Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli", the Chopin Festivals in Duszniki Zdrój in Poland and Marienbad in the Czech Republic and others. He is a regular guest at the Ruhr Piano Festival , the Carinthian Summer in Ossiach-Villach, the Rarities of Piano Music in Husum and the Varna Summer and Palaces of St. Petersburg festivals. With the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich he performed all of Rachmaninov's piano concertos and, under the baton of Christoph Eschenbach, the rarely played Busoni concerto, Tchaikovsky's piano concertos with the Berlin Staatskapelle and the piano concerto by Alexander Nikolayevich Scriabin with the Duisburg Philharmonic Orchestra .

In 1991 Bloch founded the "New Year's Eve Concert with Boris Bloch", a concert on New Year's Eve in the form of a pure piano recital, which has been taking place in the Philharmonie Essen since 2004 and - always sold out - has now achieved cult status among the Essen music audience.

Bloch has also made a name for himself as a conductor, especially during his time as musical director of the Odessa Opera between 1993 and 1995; most recently he conducted Nikolai Andrejewitsch Rimski-Korsakow's chamber opera Mozart and Salieri as part of the winter evenings he initiated at the Ruhr in Essen . His repertoire as a conductor also includes: B. Tchaikovsky's Virgin of Orleans and Mazeppa , Mussorgsky's Boris Godunow and Beethoven's Christ on the Mount of Olives .

Teaching activity; Jury work

Bloch has been professor of piano as a major at the Folkwang University (Duisburg location) since 1985 . His better-known students include Nikolaus Lahusen, Peter Josza and Evgeni Bozhanow. In 2007 he was awarded the Music Education Prize of the City of Duisburg for his outstanding music education activities. Bloch also regularly leads master classes at the International Summer Academy Mozarteum Salzburg and the summer courses at the Liszt School of Music in Weimar .

Bloch is also a popular jury member at international music competitions and played a key role in the concept of the 1st and 2nd (1994 and 1997) Concours Clara Schumann in Düsseldorf. In 2006 Bloch was the artistic director of the 1st International Karl Bechstein Piano Competition .

Competitive successes; Awards

After studying in Moscow, Bloch was a prizewinner at international piano competitions; Among other things, he won first place at the Young Concert Artists Auditions in New York in 1976, the silver medal at the Artur Rubinstein Piano Masters Competition in Tel Aviv in 1977 and one of the most important awards for pianists in 1978, namely first prize at the Ferruccio International Piano Competition Busoni in Bolzano .

Due to his special commitment to the piano works of Franz Liszt, Bloch was honored with the Golden Badge of Honor of the International Liszt Society Vienna and the Grand Prix du Disque Liszt of the Liszt Society Budapest.

Discography

Bloch has made some CD recordings that are of reference character, in particular his recordings of Liszt operatic paraphrases, which were awarded the Grand Prix International du Disque Liszt , the recording of Mussorgski's piano work, which received the Excellence Disque Prize, or Recordings of Mozart's “Coronation Concerto” and Tchaikovsky's Third Piano Concerto in its complete version (the latter two recordings have also been released on DVD together with Liszt-Busoni's Rhapsody Espagnol). Individual interpretations of Bloch can also be found on collective CDs (e.g. from different years of the Festival Rarities of Piano Music and on the accompanying CDs to Harenberg's piano music guide ). Bloch's audio recordings are now almost completely out of print. In some cases only available from specialist suppliers.

  • Liszt: 5 Paraphrases D´Opéras of Italy (Bellini - Donizetti - Verdi), Accord, 1988
  • International Pianist Competition Ferruccio Busoni Bozen - 30 Years of Piano History (Liszt's Rhapsodie Espagnole), Nuova Era 6719-DM, 1988
  • Boris Bloch Plays Liszt - Live Recordings 2002, Bohème, 2004
  • Rarities of piano music 1989, Danacord DACOCD 349, 1990
  • Rarities of piano music 1991, Danacord DACOCD 389, 1992
  • Rarities of piano music 2004, Danacord DACOCD 649, 2005
  • Harenberg piano music guide (Busonis Turandot's Frauengemach), Deutsche Grammophon, 1998
  • Robert Schumann: Phantasiestücke op.12 , Sonata in F minor op 14 Concert sans Orchester , Agorá Musica, 1999
  • Mussorgsky: Oeuvre intégrale pour piano (double CD), Accord, 1992
  • Busoni: Piano Concerto op.39 with the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich under Christoph Eschenbach, piano pieces (double LP), Aperto, 1985
  • Boris Bloch at the Great Hall of the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory (Mozart's Piano Concerto KV 537 Coronation Concerto, Tchaikovski's Piano Concerto No. 3 op. 75 and 79 with all three movements, Liszt's Spanish Rhapsody in the version with orchestra by Busoni, each with the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra under Mark Gorenstein) (DVD), Bohème, 2002
  • Live in Munich (Beethoven's Sonata op.10 No. 2, Liszt-Busoni's Figaro's wedding, works by Rachmaninov and Busoni), Deutsche Grammophon, 1979

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Bloch, Boris
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Блох, Борис (Russian)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Russian-Ukrainian pianist and conductor
DATE OF BIRTH February 12, 1951
PLACE OF BIRTH Odessa , Ukrainian SSR