Boris Bloch

Born in Odessa pianist Boris Bloch has established himself as one of the most important interpreters of classical and romantic piano music. Trained at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory, where he attended the master class of Dimitri Bashkirow, he acquired a broad repertoire from early on. Bloch first attracted attention in the 1970s when he won First Prize in the Young Concert Artists International Auditions in New York in 1976. In 1977 he won silver medal at the Artur Rubinstein Piano Masters Competition in Tel Aviv and first prize at the 1978 International Piano Competition "Ferruccio Busoni" in Bolzano.

Boris Boch is the prototype of a Russian virtuoso using his outstanding manual skills to achieve a very sensual and singing piano sound. Bloch has recorded several CDs that have reference character, in particular his recordings of Liszt's opera paraphrases, which were awarded the Grand Prix International du Disque Liszt, as well as recordings of Mussorgsky's piano works, which received the Excellence Disque prize.

As a special recognition for his many years of service to the care of the works of Franz Liszt Boris Bloch was awarded the Golden Badge of Honour of the International Liszt Society Vienna.

Since 1985 Boris Bloch is professor of piano at the Folkwang Conservatory in Essen. He is a regular juror at important piano competitions and in 2006 was artistic director of the 1st International Carl Bechstein Piano Competition.

Program: Works by Joseph Haydn, Franz Liszt, Claude Debussy, Alexander Skrjabin, and Frederic Chopin

Photo: Stephan Schilling