Christian Zacharias

The qualities that have made Christian Zacharias into one of the world’s most celebrated pianists have also led to his further recognition as a conductor, musical thinker, writer and broadcaster:  his highly individual blend of musical integrity and deep musical insight, along with his unique abilities as a poetic and charismatic communicator and an engaging stage presence.   Zacharias maintains an active career as an internationally acclaimed concert pianist, with recital and concerto performances around the world. He appears with the world’s leading conductors and himself conducts the most renowned orchestras; and many of his recordings have been awarded international prizes.   His conducting career reflects his desire to build long-lasting collaborations with like-minded musical partners.  During his time as Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne, he has made many critically acclaimed recordings with the orchestra. Of note is his complete cycle of Mozart piano concertos, which won the Diapason d’Or, Choc du Monde and ECHO Klassik awards.  The most recent recordings are of the four Schumann symphonies and C.P.E. Bach’s Berlin symphonies.   Zacharias has been an Artistic Partner of the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra since the 2009/10 season. He also maintains close ties with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, the Het Residentie Orkest Den Haag and the Bamberger Symphoniker. Lately he has turned his attention to opera, leading productions of Mozart’s opera seria La Clemenza di Tito as well as his opera buffa Le Nozze di Figaro and Offenbach’s La Belle Hélène. In 2015 he will also be conducting Otto Nicolai’s The Merry Wives of Windsor at the Opéra Royal de Wallonie in Liège.   He has appeared in several films since 1990: Domenico Scarlatti in Sevilla, Robert Schumann – der Dichter spricht (INA, Paris), Zwischen Bühne und Künstlerzimmer (WDR-Arte), De B comme Beethoven à Z comme Zacharias (RTS, Switzerland) as well as the recording of all the Beethoven piano concertos (SSR-arte).   Zacharias is the recipient of numerous awards and prizes, including the 2007 Midem Classical Award “Artist of the Year.” He was awarded for his contributions to culture in Romania in 2009. Furthermore the French government honoured him as an “Officier dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.”   In his role as Artist in Residence at the Menuhin Festival Gstaad, Christian Zacharias started the 2014/15 season with concerts as pianist, chamber musician and conductor. This season he will also be on tour with the Kammerorchester Basel twice and performs pieces by Mozart and Bruckner at several concerts with the Stuttgarter Philharmoniker. Additionally he will be conducting the Boston and San Francisco Symphonies as well as the Orchestre de Paris. He is invited as conductor to Moscow as well as with a recital at the Pushkin Museum. Also he will be travelling Europe for concerts with his duo partner Frank Peter Zimmermann as well as with the Leipzig String Quartet.   Christian Zacharias has been Professor for Orchestral Performance at the Academy of Music and Drama Gothenburg since 2011.   Season 2014/2015