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Discography

Yuuko Shiokawa - Andras Schiff

Born in Tokyo, Yuuko Shiokawa began her violin studies at the age of 5. In 1958 she moved to Lima where, in addition to her studies with Eugen Cremer, she began to give concerts and build the foundation of her professional career. In 1961 she completed advanced studies with Professor Wilhelm Stross in Munich, and in 1968 began studying with Professor Sandor Vegh. At the age of 19 she won the Mendelssohn Prize and first prize from the Competition of German Music Conservatories.

Her orchestral engagements have included concerts with the Berlin Philharmonic in Berlin, Salzburg and Japan (with Karajan), Israel Philharmonic, Bavarian Radio Orchestra under Rafael Kubelik including performances of Jan Kubelik's Violin Concerto No. 6, a work which she has also performed with the London Symphony Orchestra. In America she has worked with the New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony and Pittsburgh Symphony.

Other engagements have included a cycle of Mozart Sonatas with Bruno Canino in Munich, and the complete Mozart Piano and Violin Sonatas with Andras Schiff at the Wigmore Hall in London. In 1988 she participated in the Wigmore Hall's highly acclaimed Haydn Festival, and their Bartok/Beethoven Festival in 1991, and she also took part in the Schubert/Janacek series at the Barbican in 1994. In addition to giving regular duo recitals with Mr Schiff, she also performs in a trio with Schiff and Miklos Perenyi. Festivals in which she has appeared include Edinburgh, Luzern, Lockenhaus, Mondsee, Lichfield and Marlboro. She returns regularly to Japan for various engagements.

Miss Shiokawa's recordings include the Bach Solo Sonatas and Partitas, and the Mozart Violin Sonatas with Keiko Toyama (both for Camerata Japan). She has made several discs of Mozart repertoire using Mozart's original violin: a selection of Violin Sonatas with András Schiff; the Piano Quartets with Schiff, Erich Hobarth and Miklós Perényi (both Decca) and Piano Trios with Schiff and Perenyi (Warner/Teldec). She also appears on Schiff's Mondsee recordings performing the Bartok Violin Sonata No 1 and the Janacek Violin Sonata (Decca), and, together with Schiff and Perenyi, she has recorded the Schubert Piano Trios (Warner/Teldec).

Sir András Schiff was born in Budapest in 1953 and began playing the piano at the age of five. Aged 14 he began formal studies at Budapest’s Ferenc Liszt Academy with teachers who included György Kurtág and later studied under George Malcolm in London, the city he has made his home. Success in major piano competitions (Tchaikovsky (1974) and Leeds (1975)) brought him to international attention and launched his career as a recording and concert artist.

After making a number of recordings for Hungarian label Hungaroton, Schiff had a long relationship with Decca for whom he recorded, inter al, landmark cycles of Mozart’s piano concertos and sonatas and many works by Bach. Schiff came to ECM in the late 1990s to record a recital of two-piano music by Mozart, Reger and Busoni with Peter Serkin. Since then he has become a New Series exclusive artist and brought to the label distinguished partnerships with Juliane Banse (Songs of Debussy and Mozart), Yuuko Shiokawa (Schubert fantasies) and fellow Hungarian Miklós Perényi (Beethoven’s cello sonatas). In addition he has recorded solo albums devoted to Bach (Goldberg Variations, Das Wohltempierte Clavier, partitas), Beethoven (the complete piano sonatas and two versions of the Diabelli Variations), Schubert, Schumann and Janácek.

The complete Beethoven sonata cycle – one of Schiff's most ambitious and critically acclaimed projects to date – was performed in 20 major musical centres worldwide and recorded for ECM in concert at the Zürich Tonhalle. Of this cycle, he has said: "For me, these sonatas are the most stupendous journey. They give a complete picture of how Beethoven developed though his creative life." 

Schiff has long been concerned with period performance practice but at first the musical results of the research into authentic sound left him unconvinced. Since then his initial qualms have given way to a gusto for period instruments. A change of heart was prompted above all by his experience with Mozart's hammerklavier, which he was allowed to play in the house where the composer was born in Salzburg – 'at once a privilege and an unforgettable experience'.

András Schiff is also actively involved in orchestral music as both conductor and soloist. In 1999 he created his own chamber orchestra, the Cappella Andrea Barca, consisting of international soloists, chamber musicians and friends. He also works regularly with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe.

Schiff has been the recipient of a host of international awards and prizes, including Grammy and Gramophone awards, the Bartók Prize, the Royal Academy of Music Bach Prize and the Robert Schumann Prize. He is also highly regarded as a pedagogue and lecturer on music.