Chopin Khatia Buniatishvili

• Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849): Waltz in C-Sharp Minor, Op. 64/2
• 1 Tempo giusto 03:19
• Sonata No. 2 in B-flat Minor, Op. 35 'Funeral March'
• 2 I. Grave - Doppio movimento 06:03
• 3 II. Scherzo 06:47
• 4 III. Marche funèbre. Lento 08:28
• 5 IV. Finale: Presto 01:15
• Ballade No. 4 in F Minor, Op. 52
• 6 Andante con moto 10:26
• Piano Concerto No. 2 in F Minor, Op. 21
• 7 I. Maestoso 13:09
• 8 II. Larghetto 08:54
• 9 III. Allegro vivace 07:33
• Mazurka in A Minor, Op. 17/4
• 10 Lento ma non troppo 04:54
• Total Runtime 01:10:48

Info for Chopin

”Chopin´s music is like a breath of a young soul, with no time to be indifferent to love”, says Khatia Buniatishvili. The Georgian pianist, whom the London Evening Standard described as “a force of nature [with] a truly staggering technique to generate performances that leave you gasping” dedicates her second album to Frédéric Chopin. Buniatishvili presents her very personal approach to the composer with a programme encompassing five masterpieces, among them the Sonata No. 2 with the famous Funeral March as well as the Second Piano Concerto.

A Liszt recital on Sony Classical last year was Khatia Buniatishvili’s critically acclaimed debut as a recording artist. After the great recognition of this first album, she is now following this up with an album that encompasses five works by Frédéric Chopin. This album marks her debut concerto recording with orchestra.

Khatia Buniatishvili has been described by The Independent as “the young Georgian firebrand”. At the age of only 24 years, this Tblisi-born pianist has already achieved an exceptional maturity of interpretation and a distinctive artistic approach that make her playing unmistakable.

“the most completely successful item on her enjoyable new Chopin disc is the stormy B flat minor Sonata...The young Georgian musician shows a remarkable command of her instrument and a volatility that may remind some of Martha Argerich. Yet Buntiahsvili's is not an entirely coherent view of the first moment's structure. She grasps the more straightforward trajectories of the remaining movements, delivering a gripping performance.” (BBC Music Magazine)

“Speeds are flexible; the phrasing is fresh, the poetic touch constant...High technical finesse and strong structural control are other attributes...Even when Buniatishvili is at her most focused, her febrile approach to Chopin’s art may rub some listeners the wrong way.” (The Times, UK)

Khatia Buniatishvili, piano

Khatia Buniatishvili
Born on 21 June 1987 in Tbilisi, Georgian pianist Khatia Buniatishvili and her elder sister Gvantsa were introduced to the piano at an early age by their mother, an enthusiastic music lover. Playing four handed remains one of the sisters’ favourite activities.

Khatia’s extraordinary talent was recognized when she was very young. Aged six, she gave her début performance as soloist with an orchestra, and was subsequently invited to give guest performances in Switzerland, the Netherlands, France, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Austria, Russia, Israel and the USA.

Khatia prefers not to be regarded as a child prodigy: virtuosity for its own sake does not appeal to her. Above all, she embraces pianists from earlier generations such as Rachmaninoff, Richter and Gould. She admires her “favourite pianist”, Martha Argerich, for her uniqueness and, as a consequence, does not view Argerich as someone she should try to emulate. And since she regards herself as “wholly a person of the 20th century”, Khatia does not identify so much with pianists of today.

Khatia’s warm, sometimes sorrowful playing may reflect a close proximity to Georgian folk-music, which, she attests, has greatly influenced her musicality. Critics emphasize that her playing has an aura of elegant solitude and even melancholy, which she does not feel to be a negative attribute. “The piano is the blackest instrument,” she says, a “symbol of musical solitude”, which even a pianist must become accustomed to. “I have to be psychologically strong and forget the hall if I want to share it with the audience.”

During her studies at Tbilisi’s State Conservatoire, Khatia won a special prize at the Horowitz International Competition for Young Pianists in Kiev in 2003 as well as first prize at the Foundation to Assist Young Georgian Musicians competition set up by Elisabeth Leonskaya.

At the 2003 Piano Competition in Tbilisi, she became acquainted with Oleg Maisenberg, who persuaded her to transfer to Vienna’s University of Music and Performing Arts. Winner of the Bronze Medal at the 12th Arthur Rubinstein Piano Master Competition in 2008, she was also distinguished as the Best Performer of a Chopin piece and as Audience Favourite.

Khatia Buniatishvili has given critically acclaimed solo recitals and chamber music concerts at such renowned venues as London’s Wigmore Hall, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw and the Musikverein in Vienna. In 2008 she made her US concert début at Carnegie Hall (Zankel Hall), performing Chopin’s Second Piano Concerto.

In 2011 Khatia Buniatishvili made her recording debut with a Liszt recital on Sony Classical, following now with her first recording accompanied with orchestra for a Chopin album. Khatia Buniatishvili has been invited to play with, among other orchestras, the Orchestre de Paris under Paavo Järvi, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestre National de France under Daniele Gatti and the Philharmonia Orchestra in London. She can also often be heard in performances of chamber music: in a trio with Gidon Kremer, with Renaud Capuçon or also with her sister Gvantsa.

In 2010 Khatia received the Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award and was included in the BBC series on New Generation Artists. The Vienna Musikverein and Konzerthaus nominated her as Rising Star for the 2011–12 season. A great acclamation in 2012 was the selection of Khatia Buniatishvili as Best Newcomer of the Year in the Echo Klassik awards.

In 2013–14 Khatia is part of the breathtaking show Art on Ice. In addition to recitals in the Vienna Musikverein, Salle-Pleyel in Paris, the Philharmonie in Berlin and the Wigmore Hall in London, her highlights of 2014 will include tours in China and North America in spring, and concerts with the Munich Philharmonic and Lorin Maazel.

Booklet for Chopin