"From my view, this grand unites the sound ideal of old times (wood, not metal) with the playing style of today. A pianists dream.”
John Damgaard
The Danish pianist John Damgaard studied at Eastman School of Music (New York), The Royal Danish Conservatory of Music in Copenhagen with Georg Vasarhelyi and later with Ilona Kabos in London and Wilhelm Kempff in Italy. John Damgaard was assistant professor at The Royal Danish Academy of Music from 1969-1984. From 1984–2007 professor at The Royal Academy of Music, Aarhus. For many years up to now guest professor at Musashino Academia Musicae in Tokyo. Also guest professor at the Australian National Academy of Music in Melbourne. He has given concerts in USA, Canada, Mexico, Russia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Italy, France, Belgium, Japan, Australia, primarily with classical, romantic programs, but almost always including Danish pianoworks. Many recordings - among other the complete piano works by Ravel on 2 CDs and the complete finished sonatas by Schubert on 5 CDs. Two cd-releases in 2010 – one with the three last Beethoven sonatas and one with Haydn - as well as a DVD with a live recording of a recital with Schumann from Tokyo (2007).
„Some years ago in Wagner Sall in Riga, I performed a concert on one of the most wonderful grands, I´ve ever played - a pre-war Bechstein. Only this summer I realized, that Bechstein even today, manufactures grands, fully true to the standard of "old times". I had the pleasure of performing two Schubert evenings, on a brand new grand, arriving from Berlin 5 minutes after the scheduled start of the concert. Without having played the instrument at all, I sat (rather nervous) and started the concert, which should turn out to be absolutely without problems - quite the opposite. Action was light and troublefree. The pedal perfect. And the sound? It sang wonderfully, while having all the required brillance.100% regulated. And most interesting - every register (bass, mid, treble) were clearly differentiated. From my view, this grand unites the sound ideal of old times (wood, not metal) with the playing style of today. A pianists dream.”
Photo: © Jerry Bergman
