Murray Perahia

Murray Perahia (born April 19, 1947) is a distinguished American concert pianist of Sephardic origin. He is also a respected conductor.

Career

Early Career

Perahia was born in New York City, and began playing the piano at four (he claims he didn't start practising seriously until the age of 15). At the age of seventeen, he attended Mannes College, where he studied keyboard, conducting, and composition with his teacher and mentor Mieczysław Horszowski. During the summer, he also attended Marlboro, where he studied with Rudolf Serkin, and Pablo Casals, amongst others.

Related Topics:
New York City - Mannes College - Mieczysław Horszowski - Marlboro - Rudolf Serkin - Pablo Casals

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In 1972, he won the fourth Leeds Piano Competition, helping to cement its reputation for advancing the careers of young pianistic talent. Dr. Fanny Waterman recalls anecdotally (in Wendy Thompson's book Piano Competition: The Story of the Leeds) that Horszowski had phoned her prior to the competition, announcing that he would enter the winner. Other American contestants had apparently withdrawn their applications upon hearing that Perahia would be competing.

Related Topics:
1972 - Leeds Piano Competition - Fanny Waterman

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In 1973 he worked with Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears at the Aldeburgh Festival. He became co-artistic director in 1981, stepping down in 1989.

Related Topics:
1973 - Benjamin Britten - Peter Pears - Aldeburgh Festival - 1981 - 1989

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Perahia famously held a close acquaintance with an elder Vladimir Horowitz, who had a defining influence on his pianism.

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His first major recording project was the complete piano concertos by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, conducted from the keyboard with the English Chamber Orchestra. In the 1980s, he also recorded the complete Beethoven piano concertos, with Bernard Haitink and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra orchestra.

Related Topics:
Piano concerto - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - English Chamber Orchestra - Beethoven - Bernard Haitink - Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra

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Injury and later career

In 1992, his career was threatened by a bone abnormality in one of his hands that had to be operated on. A bone spur on his thumb was causing inflammation, and he had to spend several years away from the keyboard, enduring a series of operations. During that time, he reportedly listened to the music of Johann Sebastian Bach. After being given the all-clear, he produced in the late nineties a series of award-winning recordings of Bach's keyboard works, most notably a cornerstone rendition of the Goldberg variations. This has caused him to be regarded as a latter day Bach specialist.

Related Topics:
1992 - Johann Sebastian Bach - Goldberg variations

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He has since made critically acclaimed recordings of Frédéric Chopin's etudes, and of Franz Schubert's late piano sonatas. He is currently editing a new Urtext edition of Beethoven's piano sonatas. He is regarded as one of the finest (and certainly most popular) pianists on record today, treasured for his rare musical sensitivity.

Related Topics:
Frédéric Chopin - Etudes - Franz Schubert - Piano sonata - Urtext - Beethoven

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Besides his solo career, he is active in chamber music and appears regularly with the Guarneri and Budapest Quartets. He is also Principal Guest Conductor of the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields orchestra, with which he records and performs.

Related Topics:
Guarneri - Budapest Quartet - Academy of St. Martin in the Fields

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Today, he lives in London. On March 8, 2004, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth made him a Knight Commander of the British Empire.

Related Topics:
London - March 8 - 2004 - Queen Elizabeth - Knight Commander of the British Empire

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