Ivo Pogorelich’s schooling
Ivo Pogorelich started studying the piano in Belgrade (Serbia) at the age of seven. He was born in Belgrade on October 20, 1958 to a Croatian father and a Serbian mother. Only five years later, when he was a young boy of twelve, he went to the Central Music School in Moscow. After graduating at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow he began studying intensively with the renowned Georgian pianist and highly praised teacher Aliza Kezeradze (1976). She passed on to her young pupil the tradition of the Liszt-Siloti school. In 1980, Pogorelich married his twenty-one-year senior teacher and stayed married to Kezeradze until her early death caused by liver cancer in 1996.
Pogorelich’s debuts and successes
In 1978, Pogorelich won the Casagrande Competition in Terni, Italy. Two years after that success, another followed when he won the Montreal International Music Competition.
His debut solo recital happened in New York's Carnegie Hall in 1981, followed by his London debut later that same year. Since then, his career as a recitalist and soloist flourished. He has played in all the great concert halls throughout the world: in Europe, USA, Canada, South Africa and Japan. He has played with some of the world's leading orchestras including the London Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic Orchestra, Wiener Philharmoniker, Berliner Philharmoniker, Orchestre de Paris, and many others. His playing is always marked by exceptional strength and accuracy. Pogorelich is known to be one of the most controversial and utterly unpredictable pianists, well known for his original, unorthodox and zestful interpretations.
Popularity in Croatian theatres
In the early eighties he performed at the Ivan Zajc Theatre, in the town of Rijeka (Croatia). The Theatre was filled to the last seat with young women who came not only to listen to such an extraordinary talented pianist, but to also just to see the man himself for he was the first classic music idol of my generation. Pogorelich is known for his exceptionally attractive looks and his extravagant style of dressing.
Successful and lasting relationship with the Deutche Grammophon
In 1982, he started recording for Deutche Grammophon and became one of their exclusive artists. With Deutche Grammophon he had made over 15 recordings, such as the Mozart Piano Sonatas, Bach Suites, Liszt and Scriabin Piano Sonatas and the Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No.1. In 2002, he released a CD of the Chopin Piano Sonata No.2, Ravel's Gaspard de la Nuit and the Prokofiev Piano Sonata No.6.
In 2006, Deutche Grammophon started publishing earlier recorded material on DVD, beginning with Bach, Scarlatti and Beethoven, and will continue publishing further material over the coming years.
Pogorelich – the Philanthropist
Pogorelich has also found ways to use his fame and wealth for humanitarian purposes and to assist young artists. Hence in 1986, he established a foundation in Croatia to further the careers of young performers.
Since 1989, the annual Ivo Pogorelich Festival in Bad Wörishofen has been a popular event. The aim of the festival is to support young musicians at the beginning of their careers. In December 1993, he founded the "International Solo Piano Competition" in conjunction with the Ambassador Foundation in Pasadena, California. The Foundation’s mission is to help young musicians develop their career. In 1994, the pianist set up a foundation in Sarajevo whose aim is to raise money to build a hospital and to provide medical support for the people of Sarajevo. Ivo Pogorelich also gives many charity concerts in support of the Red Cross, or to help fight against illnesses such as cancer and multiple sclerosis. He, himself, was no stranger to serious illnesses, suffering from chronic rheumatic fever and hepatitis during his youth.
Return to the classic scene
Following the death of his beloved wife Aliza, Pogorelich stopped performing for four years but returned to the concert stage in 2000.
Ivo Pogorelich lives between Switzerland and Lovran (Croatia).
Source used:
http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Bio/Pogorelich-Ivo.htm
Branka Cubrilo - Branka Cubrilo is a novelist, short story writer and a journalist. Her novels and short stories are published worldwide.
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