Denis Kozhukhin

Denis makes China tour debut with the BBC Scottish Symphony

Denis will perform in China for the first time in December when he is the soloist with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and conductor Martyn Brabbins on the orchestra’s New Year tour.

Denis will perform two concertos during the tour: Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 5 and Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No. 2.

Concerts include performances at Xinghai Concert Hall, Guangzhou (30 December), Shenzhen Concert Hall (31 December), Tianjin Concert Hall (2 January), National Centre for the Performing Arts, Beijing (pictured, 3 January) and Shanghai Grand Theatre (4 January).

Read a review of Denis’s previous performances of Rachmaninov Piano Concert No.2 with the BBC Scottish Symphony:

“There are not enough stars in the heavens to recognise adequately the calibre of the extraordinary musical experience slammed at its capacity audience on Thursday night by the BBC SSO, conductor Thomas Dausgaard and young Russian pianist Denis Kozhukhin… A glorious interpretation of Rachmaninov’s Second Piano Concerto by Kozhukhin that had everything…”
Herald (Scotland), October 2013

Debut performances at Berliner Staatsoper & with Mariinsky Orchestra

On 15 October, Denis gives his debut performance at the Schille Theatre at the Berliner Staatsoper for which he performs in Jörg Widmann’s Quintet for Oboe, Clarinet, Horn, Bassoon and Piano. Denis performs alongside the composer on clarinet, and was invited by Daniel Barenboim for the performance.

Following this, Denis travels to the US where he makes his debut with the Houston Symphony Orchestra, giving three performances of Prokofiev Piano Concerto No.2 with Jakub Hrusa on 17,18 and 19 October at Jones Hall, Houston.

October also sees Denis make his debut with the Mariinsky Orchestra under the baton of Valery Gergiev. He will give two performances of Prokofiev Piano Concerto No.2 with the orchestra, first at the Vienna Konzerthaus on 27 October and then at the Konzerthaus Dortmund on 30 October.

Denis Kozhukhin releases Haydn sonatas disc on ONYX Classics

September 2014 sees Denis release his second recital album, of four Haydn keyboard sonatas, on ONYX Classics. The disc, recorded at the legendary Teldex Studio in Berlin, features sonatas nos.38, 39, 47 and 59, music that has been unjustly neglected and yet contains some of Haydn’s most inventive and forward-looking music.

The new recording follows the success of Denis’s debut album of Prokofiev’s ‘War Sonatas’. “On the strength alone of these interpretations and realisations, it may well be that Denis Kozhukhin can be considered as the leader of the pack of Russian pianists currently under forty,”  was the verdict of Classical Source. “A stunning tour de force,” commented BBC Music Magazine. “I’ve never heard so much revelatory detail in Prokofiev’s triptych of dark and painful masterpieces. Kozhukhin has a way of bringing out the details of the inner parts, or even a usually inconsequential-seeming bass line, that highlights the drama instead of detracting from it…”

The new album is released on 29 September 2014. Click here for full details, including audio clips.

Denis Kozhukhin makes two US debuts

On 23 August, Denis makes his debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra, performing Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No.3 at the Saratoga Performing Arts Centre, with the orchestra’s Principal Guest Conductor Stéphane Denève.

Earlier the same week, Denis gives his debut performance at the Ravinia Festival, near Chicago in Illinois. On 19 August, he gives a recital at the Bennett Gordon Hall, which will include Haydn Keyboard Sonata in D major, Hob.XVI:24, Brahms 7 Fantasias Op.116, Schubert Four Impromptus Op.90 and Prokofiev Piano Sonata No.8.

Kozhukhin: Recital in Perth and return to Internationaal Kamermuziek Festival in Utrecht

Having already given his concerto debut at Perth Concert Hall with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra in 2011, Kozhukhin will give his solo recital debut at the venue on 15 June. His programme will include Haydn Sonata in F major, Hob.XVI:23, Brahms Piano Sonata No.1, Liszt Bénédiction de Dieu dans la solitude and a selection of Liszt’s Transcendental Etudes.

At the end of the month, Kozhukhin will return to Janine Jansen’s Internationaal Kamermuziek Festival in Utrecht. As part of the Festival, Kozhukhin will give five separate chamber music performances with musicians including Jansen, Vilde Frang, Nicolas Altstaedt and Lawrence Power and will perform works including Debussy Sonata for Cello and Piano, Ravel Piano Trio, Schubert Trout Quintet and Beethoven Ghost Trio.

Denis Kozhukhin makes debut with Philharmonia Orchestra at Royal Festival Hall

On Saturday 31 May, Denis Kozhukhin will make his concerto debut at London’s Royal Festival Hall, when he will perform Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Philharmonia Orchestra under the baton of Yuri Temirkanov. The concert will be broadcast live on BBC Radio 3 as part of their Live in Concert series.

Upcoming concerts with the Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra & the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra

Following his debut with the orchestra in June 2013, Kozhukhin returns to the Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra for two performances of Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No. 2 (with Vassily Sinaisky) on 10 May (Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre) and 12 May (Suntory Hall). Kozhukhin will also give a solo recital at Kioi Hall in Tokyo on 20 May, where he will perform works by Haydn, Franck, Schubert, Hindemith and Brahms.

Kozhukhin will also return this month to the St Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra, with whom he will perform Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 5 under the baton of Yuri Temirkanov on 14 May (Baku) and 16 May (Tchaikovsky Concert Hall, Moscow).

On 4 May 2014, Kozhukhin will give his debut performance at Birmingham Town Hall, when he will perform Brahms Piano Quintet with the Pavel Haas Quartet.