Cyprien Katsaris

Cyprien Katsaris (Κυπριανός Κατσαρής; born 5 May 1951) is a French-Cypriot virtuoso pianist, teacher and composer. Amongst his teachers were Monique de la Bruchollerie, a student of Emil von Sauer, who had been a pupil of Franz Liszt. He is known for his refined sound, extreme command of voicing, and virtually effortless physical mastery of technique.

Biography
Katsaris was born in Marseilles, France. Katsaris first began to play the piano when he was four, in Cameroon where he grew up. His first teacher was Marie-Gabrielle Louwerse.

He studied piano at the Paris Conservatoire with Aline van Barentzen (a pupil of Élie-Miriam Delaborde, son of Charles-Valentin Alkan), and Monique de la Bruchollerie (a pupil of Emil von Sauer, who was a pupil of Franz Liszt). Briefly, Katsaris studied under György Cziffra. In 1969, Katsaris won the piano First Prize at the Conservatoire. As well as piano, Katsaris studied chamber music with René Leroy and Jean Hubeau, and he won First Prize for this in 1970.

Katsaris gave his first public concert in Paris, at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées on 8 May 1966. He performed the Hungarian Fantasy by Liszt, with the Orchestre Symphonique d'Ile-de-France conducted by René-Pierre Chouteau. Since then he has gone on to perform with many orchestras and conductors fréquentes.

Katsaris was the second musician to record the complete Liszt transcriptions of Beethoven's nine symphonies, after İdil Biret – reissued by Warner Classics in 2006. He has also recorded the music of Mozart, Chopin, Grieg, and other composers, including the rare piano version of Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde with Brigitte Fassbaender and Thomas Moser.

In 2001 Katsaris created his own recording label, Piano 21. In 2011, he performed a concert with French baritone David Serero in Paris.

Awards

 * 1970: Albert Roussel Foundation Prize (Paris)
 * 1972: Prize-winner at the Queen Elisabeth International Music Competition of Belgium
 * 1972: Alex de Vries Foundation Prize (Antwerp)
 * 1974: First Prize in the International Cziffra Competition (Versailles)
 * 1977: International Young Interpreters Rostrum-UNESCO (Bratislava)
 * 1997: Artist of UNESCO for Peace
 * 2000: Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters (France)
 * 2001: Médaille Vermeil de la Ville de Paris
 * 2009: Commandeur de l’Ordre de Mérite du Grand-Duché de Luxembourg
 * 2011: Nemitsas Prize (Cyprus)

Discography
Comprehensive discography of recordings under the label Piano 21:
 * 1) KR 622 : Allegro. The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
 * 2) P21 001 : Beethoven • The Creatures of Prometheus, op. 43
 * 3) P21 003 • (2 CD) : In Memoriam Chopin 150th Anniversary • Live at Carnegie Hall, New York City
 * 4) P21 004 : Sergei Bortkiewicz • Piano Works
 * 5) P21 007 : Bach Recital • Vol. 1 • Original Works
 * 6) P21 009-N : The Complete Mozart Piano Concertos • Vol. 1
 * 7) P21 010-N : The Complete Mozart Piano Concertos • Vol. 2
 * 8) P21 011-N : Live at Festival International d’Echternach (Luxembourg) • 7 July 1979 • A Film by Claude Chabrol
 * 9) P21 012-N : Live at Carnegie Hall, New York City • In Memoriam Chopin • 17 October 1999
 * 10) P21 013 : Bach & Sons • 5 Piano Concertos
 * 11) P21 014-A : Beethoven • Concerto No. 3 op. 37 • Sonatas Nos. 31 & 12
 * 12) P21 015 : A Tribute to Cyprus
 * 13) P21 016-A : Schumann • Vol. 1 • Live Recordings
 * 14) P21 017-N : Bach • Vol. 2 • Transcriptions
 * 15) P21 018 : Mozart Transcriptions
 * 16) P21 019 : The Mozart Family
 * 17) P21 020-A • (2 CD) : Russian Music • Vol. 1
 * 18) P21 021-N : The Complete Mozart Piano Concertos • Vol. 3
 * 19) P21 022-A : Liszt • Vol. 10 Liszt I • The Philadelphia Orchestra, Eugene Ormandy
 * 20) P21 023-A • (2 CD) : Scriabin • Vol. 19 • The Complete Dances
 * 21) P21 024-A • (2 CD) : French Music • Vol. 2 • De Louis XIII à Boulez
 * 22) P21 025-N : The Complete Mozart Piano Concertos • Vol. 4
 * 23) P21 026-N : The Complete Mozart Piano Concertos • Vol. 5
 * 24) P21 027-A • (2 CD) : Mikis Theodorakis • Vol. 20 Theodorakis • Works for piano & orchestra
 * 25) P21 028-A : Grieg • Vol. 18 • Concerto & Piano Works
 * 26) P21 029-A : Live at International Tchaikovsky Competition • Vol. 21 • Moscow 1970
 * 27) P21 030-N : Piano Rarities • Vol. 1 • Transcriptions
 * 28) P21 031-N : The Complete Mozart Piano Concertos • Vol. 6
 * 29) P21 032-N : Album d’un Voyageur • Vol. 1 • EUROPE
 * 30) P21 033-N • (2 CD) : Viennese Connections • Beethoven • Schubert Hüttenbrenner • Diabelli • Liszt
 * 31) P21 034-N : Live in Shanghai • 4 October 2005 • The International Piano Festival of Shanghai Conservatory of Music
 * 32) P21 035-N : Live in Shanghai • 2 October 2007 • The International Piano Festival of Shanghai Conservatory of Music
 * 33) P21 036-A : Cyprien Katsaris Archives • Vol. 16 • Schumann II
 * 34) P21 037-N : Piano Rarities • Vol. 2 • Compositeurs français
 * 35) P21 038-N : Chopin, Concerto n° 2 en fa mineur, op. 21 | les 4 versions
 * 36) P21 039-N : The Complete Mozart Piano Concertos • Vol. 7
 * 37) P21 041-N : Katsaris plays Liszt • Vol. 1
 * 38) P21 042-A : Cyprien Katsaris Archives • Vol. 8 • Schubert
 * 39) P21 043-N : Katsaris plays Chopin • Live Recordings
 * 40) P21 044-N : Hélène Mercier/Cyprien Katsaris • Brahms : Sonata for 2 pianos • Schumann/Clara Schumann : Piano Quintet 4 hands