Since his triumph as winner of the 1970 Chopin International Piano Competition, Garrick Ohlsson has established himself worldwide as a musician of magisterial interpretive and technical prowess.
Although long regarded as one of the world’s leading exponents of the music of Frédéric Chopin, Mr. Ohlsson commands an enormous repertoire, which ranges over the entire piano literature. A student of the late Claudio Arrau, Mr. Ohlsson has come to be noted for his masterly performances of the works of Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert, as well as the Romantic repertoire. To date he has at his command more than 80 concertos, ranging from Haydn and Mozart to works of the 21st century, many commissioned for him.
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On May 25, 27 and 28, Garrick Ohlsson will make his highly celebrated return to Toronto to play Beethoven’s magnificent Concerto No. 5 “Emperor” with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra at Roy Thomson Hall. The first half of the program will feature two exciting world premieres by Canadian composers, with the first being Mithrā: Celebration Prelude by Afarin Mansouri and the other being…
Conversations with the greatest pianists of the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries is a new book series of The Fryderyk Chopin Institute. Garrick Ohlsson is the main character of the first book in the series, authored by Kamila Stępień-Kutera, who has an impressive resume in music theory and Polish philology, and a PhD from the Institute of Art of the Polish Academy of Sciences. The Pianist:…
This Friday, February 11 at 5:30pm EST, join Garrick Ohlsson as he explores his all-Chopin recital program, featuring the Barcarolle, Fantaisie, and the mighty Third Sonata, alongside students from the Colburn School. Tune in on the tonebase‘s website and be part of the session by contributing your own comments and questions in the live chat.
Ohlsson played with an intense tenderness, striking the keys with finality but also gently.
Ohlsson played with an intense tenderness, striking the keys with finality but also gently. […] Ohlsson’s lullaby encore, the second movement to Beethoven’s “Pathetique” piano sonata, was a fitting end to a long-needed reunion. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Ohlsson is justly acclaimed as a titanic force at the keyboard.
“Ohlsson is justly acclaimed as a titanic force at the keyboard. At moments over the years, listeners have practically needed seatbelts. On this occasion, however, he was a subtle presence, a weaver of gossamer musical fabrics and a wellspring of humble and seemingly effortless virtuosity. He approached the concerto not as a solo showpiece but rather as an outsized work of chamber music. At…