Mitsuko Uchida
Encyclopedia
, born 20 December 1948, is a Japanese
naturalized British
classical
pianist
.
, a seaside town close to Tokyo
, Japan
, Uchida moved to Vienna
, Austria
, with her diplomat
parents when she was twelve years old, after her father was named the Japanese ambassador to Austria. She enrolled at the Vienna Academy of Music to study with Richard Hauser, and later Wilhelm Kempff
and Stefan Askenase
, and remained in Vienna to study when her father was transferred back to Japan after five years. She gave her first Viennese recital at the age of 14 at the Vienna Musikverein. She also studied with Maria Curcio
, the last and favourite pupil of Artur Schnabel
.
In 1969 she won the first prize in the Beethoven Competition in Vienna and in 1970 the second prize in the International Frédéric Chopin Piano Competition. Then, in 1975, she won second prize in the Leeds Piano Competition
.
She is an acclaimed interpreter of the works of Mozart
, Beethoven
, Schubert
, Chopin
, Debussy
and Schoenberg
. She has recorded all of Mozart's piano sonata
s (a project that won the Gramophone Award
), and concerti
, the latter with the English Chamber Orchestra
, conducted by Jeffrey Tate
. She is further noted for her recordings of Beethoven's complete piano concerti with Kurt Sanderling
conducting, Beethoven's late piano sonatas, and a Schubert piano cycle. Her recording of the Debussy Études
won another Gramophone Award, and so did her recording of the Schoenberg Piano Concerto
. She is distinguished as an interpreter of the works of the Second Viennese School
.
From 2002 to 2007 she served as artist-in-residence for the Cleveland Orchestra
, where she led performances of all of Mozart's solo piano concertos
. She has also conducted the English Chamber Orchestra
, among others, from the keyboard. In 2010, she is artist-in-residence for the Berlin Philharmonic. She is an Artistic Director of the Marlboro Music School and Festival
, along with fellow pianist Richard Goode
. She is also a trustee of the Borletti-Buitoni Trust
, an organization established to help young artists develop and sustain international careers.
Uchida currently resides in London
. Her long-standing partner, Robert Cooper, currently works for the European Union
in Brussels
.
.
Mitsuko Uchida was appointed Honorary Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2001 New Year Honours
. At the time, the award was honorary because she was not yet a citizen of the United Kingdom.
In April 2008, BBC Music Magazine presented her its Instrumentalist of the Year and Disc of the Year awards.
She was promoted to Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2009 Queen's Birthday Honours
. On this occasion, the award was substantive as she is now a British citizen.
In June 2009 she was awarded an honorary Doctor of Music
(DMus) degree by the University of Oxford
during Encaenia
2009.
In 2011, her recording of Mozart's Piano Concerti no. 23 K. 488 and no. 24 K. 491 with the Cleveland Orchestra
(which she conducted from the piano) won a Grammy award for Best Instrumental Soloist(s) Performance (with orchestra).
Japanese people
The are an ethnic group originating in the Japanese archipelago and are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries...
naturalized British
British people
The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...
classical
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
pianist
Pianist
A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...
.
Career
Born in AtamiAtami, Shizuoka
is a city located in the eastern end of Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. As of February 2010, the city has an estimated population of 39,755 and a population density of 645 people per km². The total area is 61.56 km².-Geography:...
, a seaside town close to Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, Uchida moved to Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
, with her diplomat
Diplomat
A diplomat is a person appointed by a state to conduct diplomacy with another state or international organization. The main functions of diplomats revolve around the representation and protection of the interests and nationals of the sending state, as well as the promotion of information and...
parents when she was twelve years old, after her father was named the Japanese ambassador to Austria. She enrolled at the Vienna Academy of Music to study with Richard Hauser, and later Wilhelm Kempff
Wilhelm Kempff
Wilhelm Walter Friedrich Kempff was a German pianist and composer. Although his repertory included Bach, Liszt, Chopin, Schumann, and Brahms, Kempff was particularly well-known for his interpretations of the music of Ludwig van Beethoven and Franz Schubert, both of whose complete sonatas he also...
and Stefan Askenase
Stefan Askenase
Stefan Askenase was a Polish-born Belgian classical pianist and pedagogue.-Biography:Askenase was born in Lemberg. He studied with Theodor Pollak, a professor and director of the Ludwik Marek School of Music in Lemberg. Then with Emil von Sauer, a pupil of Liszt, at the Vienna Academy of Music...
, and remained in Vienna to study when her father was transferred back to Japan after five years. She gave her first Viennese recital at the age of 14 at the Vienna Musikverein. She also studied with Maria Curcio
Maria Curcio
Maria Curcio was an Italian classical pianist who became renowned as a greatly influential and sought-after teacher. Her students included Martha Argerich, Radu Lupu, Dame Mitsuko Uchida, Leon Fleisher and Geoffrey Tozer...
, the last and favourite pupil of Artur Schnabel
Artur Schnabel
Artur Schnabel was an Austrian classical pianist, who also composed and taught. Schnabel was known for his intellectual seriousness as a musician, avoiding pure technical bravura...
.
In 1969 she won the first prize in the Beethoven Competition in Vienna and in 1970 the second prize in the International Frédéric Chopin Piano Competition. Then, in 1975, she won second prize in the Leeds Piano Competition
Leeds International Pianoforte Competition
The Leeds International Piano Competition informally known as The Leeds takes place every three years in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was founded in 1961 by Marion, Countess of Harewood and Fanny Waterman, who is today its Chairman and Artistic Director. The competition was first held in 1963...
.
She is an acclaimed interpreter of the works of Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
, Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of...
, Schubert
Franz Schubert
Franz Peter Schubert was an Austrian composer.Although he died at an early age, Schubert was tremendously prolific. He wrote some 600 Lieder, nine symphonies , liturgical music, operas, some incidental music, and a large body of chamber and solo piano music...
, Chopin
Frédéric Chopin
Frédéric François Chopin was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist. He is considered one of the great masters of Romantic music and has been called "the poet of the piano"....
, Debussy
Claude Debussy
Claude-Achille Debussy was a French composer. Along with Maurice Ravel, he was one of the most prominent figures working within the field of impressionist music, though he himself intensely disliked the term when applied to his compositions...
and Schoenberg
Arnold Schoenberg
Arnold Schoenberg was an Austrian composer, associated with the expressionist movement in German poetry and art, and leader of the Second Viennese School...
. She has recorded all of Mozart's piano sonata
Piano sonata
A piano sonata is a sonata written for a solo piano. Piano sonatas are usually written in three or four movements, although some piano sonatas have been written with a single movement , two movements , five or even more movements...
s (a project that won the Gramophone Award
Gramophone Award
The Gramophone Awards are one of the most significant honours bestowed on recordings in the classical record industry, often referred to as the Oscars for classical music. The winners are selected annually by critics for the Gramophone magazine and various members of the industry, including...
), and concerti
Piano concerto
A piano concerto is a concerto written for piano and orchestra.See also harpsichord concerto; some of these works are occasionally played on piano...
, the latter with the English Chamber Orchestra
English Chamber Orchestra
The English Chamber Orchestra is a British chamber orchestra based in London. The full orchestra regularly plays concerts at Cadogan Hall, and the ECO Ensemble performs at Wigmore Hall...
, conducted by Jeffrey Tate
Jeffrey Tate
Dr Jeffrey Tate CBE is an English conductor.Tate was born with spina bifida, and also has kyphosis. His family moved to Farnham, Surrey when he was young and he attended Farnham Grammar School between 1954 and 1961 gaining a State Scholarship to Cambridge University, where he directed theatre...
. She is further noted for her recordings of Beethoven's complete piano concerti with Kurt Sanderling
Kurt Sanderling
Kurt Sanderling, CBE was a German conductor.-Biography:Kurt Sanderling was born in Arys, Kingdom of Prussia, German Empire to Jewish parents. After early work at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, he left for the Soviet Union in 1936, where he worked with the Moscow Radio Symphony Orchestra...
conducting, Beethoven's late piano sonatas, and a Schubert piano cycle. Her recording of the Debussy Études
Études (Debussy)
Claude Debussy's Études are a set of 12 piano etudes composed in 1915. The pieces are extremely difficult to play, as Debussy himself admitted, describing them as "a warning to pianists not to take up the musical profession unless they have remarkable hands"...
won another Gramophone Award, and so did her recording of the Schoenberg Piano Concerto
Piano Concerto (Schoenberg)
Arnold Schoenberg's Piano Concerto, Op. 42 consists of four interconnected movements: Andante , Molto allegro , Adagio , and Giocoso . It features use of the twelve-tone technique and only one tone row, though he does at points take some liberties with the permutation of the row...
. She is distinguished as an interpreter of the works of the Second Viennese School
Second Viennese School
The Second Viennese School is the group of composers that comprised Arnold Schoenberg and his pupils and close associates in early 20th century Vienna, where he lived and taught, sporadically, between 1903 and 1925...
.
From 2002 to 2007 she served as artist-in-residence for the Cleveland Orchestra
Cleveland Orchestra
The Cleveland Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Cleveland, Ohio. It is one of the five American orchestras informally referred to as the "Big Five". Founded in 1918, the orchestra plays most of its concerts at Severance Hall...
, where she led performances of all of Mozart's solo piano concertos
Mozart piano concertos
The Mozart piano concertos refer to the 27 concertos for piano and orchestra written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. These works, many of which Mozart composed for himself to play in the Vienna concert series of 1784–86, held a special place for him; indeed, Mozart's father apparently interrupted him...
. She has also conducted the English Chamber Orchestra
English Chamber Orchestra
The English Chamber Orchestra is a British chamber orchestra based in London. The full orchestra regularly plays concerts at Cadogan Hall, and the ECO Ensemble performs at Wigmore Hall...
, among others, from the keyboard. In 2010, she is artist-in-residence for the Berlin Philharmonic. She is an Artistic Director of the Marlboro Music School and Festival
Marlboro Music School and Festival
The Marlboro Music School and Festival is a retreat for advanced classical training and musicianship held for seven weeks each summer in Marlboro, Vermont...
, along with fellow pianist Richard Goode
Richard Goode
Richard Goode is an American classical pianist, especially known for his interpretations of Ludwig van Beethoven and chamber music.Goode was born in East Bronx, New York...
. She is also a trustee of the Borletti-Buitoni Trust
Borletti-Buitoni Trust
The Borletti-Buitoni Trust was established as a charitable trust in 2002 to help young musicians throughout the world. The Trust assists classical instrumentalists, ensembles and singers in their early 20s and 30s to further develop their international careers with awards that fund tailor-made...
, an organization established to help young artists develop and sustain international careers.
Uchida currently resides in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. Her long-standing partner, Robert Cooper, currently works for the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
in Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
.
Honours and awards
Uchida is a recipient of the 1986 Suntory Music AwardSuntory Music Award
The , previously known as the , designed to promote Western music in Japan, has been given by the Suntory Music Foundation since their establishment in 1969. The award is presented annually to individuals or groups for the greatest achievement in the development of Western or contemporary music in...
.
Mitsuko Uchida was appointed Honorary Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2001 New Year Honours
New Year Honours
The New Year Honours is a part of the British honours system, being a civic occasion on the New Year annually in which new members of most Commonwealth Realms honours are named. The awards are presented by the reigning monarch or head of state, currently Queen Elizabeth II...
. At the time, the award was honorary because she was not yet a citizen of the United Kingdom.
In April 2008, BBC Music Magazine presented her its Instrumentalist of the Year and Disc of the Year awards.
She was promoted to Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2009 Queen's Birthday Honours
Queen's Birthday Honours
The Queen's Birthday Honours is a part of the British honours system, being a civic occasion on the celebration of the Queen's Official Birthday in which new members of most Commonwealth Realms honours are named. The awards are presented by the reigning monarch or head of state, currently Queen...
. On this occasion, the award was substantive as she is now a British citizen.
In June 2009 she was awarded an honorary Doctor of Music
Doctor of Music
The Doctor of Music degree , like other doctorates, is an academic degree of the highest level. The D.Mus. is intended for musicians and composers who wish to combine the highest attainments in their area of specialization with doctoral-level academic study in music...
(DMus) degree by the University of Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
during Encaenia
Encaenia
Encaenia is an academic or sometimes ecclesiastical ceremony, usually performed at colleges or universities. It generally occurs some time near the annual ceremony for the general conference of degrees to students...
2009.
In 2011, her recording of Mozart's Piano Concerti no. 23 K. 488 and no. 24 K. 491 with the Cleveland Orchestra
Cleveland Orchestra
The Cleveland Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Cleveland, Ohio. It is one of the five American orchestras informally referred to as the "Big Five". Founded in 1918, the orchestra plays most of its concerts at Severance Hall...
(which she conducted from the piano) won a Grammy award for Best Instrumental Soloist(s) Performance (with orchestra).
External links
- Erica Jeal, 'Musical moments' (profile of Mitsuko Uchida), The GuardianThe GuardianThe Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, February 25, 2006. Accessed 1 February 2008. - Allan Kozinn, 'A Keyboard Alchemist Exploring the Haze', New York Times, April 29, 2005. Accessed 1 February 2008.
- Transcript: 'Mitsuko Uchida', The Music Show, ABC (Australia)Australian Broadcasting CorporationThe Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...
, July 1, 2006. Accessed 1 February 2008. - Andrew Lindemann Malone, 'From Pianist Uchida, Daring, Intense Mozart', The Washington PostThe Washington PostThe Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
, November 17, 2005, Page C02. Accessed 1 February 2008. - Mitsuko Uchida
- Borletti-Buitoni Trust