Michel Dalberto
Michel Dalberto first came to prominence when, between 1975 and 1978, he won the 1st Mozart Competition in Salzburg, the Clara Haskil Prize and 1st Prize at the Leeds International Piano Competition.
Born inParisin a non-musical family which take roots in Dauphiné and Italian Piemonte, he began the piano at the age of three and a half and gave his first concert at five and a half. When he was twelve, he was introduced to Vlado Perlemuter, a favourite pupil of the late Alfred Cortot, and entered his class at the Paris Conservatoire where he completed his studies during nine years. Another influent teacher was Jean Hubeau in the chamber music field.
He has performed under the baton of some of the most distinguished conductors including Sawallisch, Colin Davis, Temirkanov, Masur, Gatti or Gardiner. He has been guest of Festivals such as Lucerne, Florence, Aix-en-Provence, Vienna, Edinburgh, Schleswig-Holstein and is a regular visitor of Asian countries including Japan, Chinaand Korea.
An outstanding chamber musician since his beginning, he played the ten Beethoven Sonatas with the late Henryk Szeryng and two-pianos recitals with the late Nikita Magaloff. More recently he appeared in Trio with Dmitry Sitkovetsky and Lynn Harrell or with Renaud and Gautier Capuçon. Among his partners were Vadim Repin, Nikolaj Znaider, Renaud Capuçon, Yuri Bashmet, Truls Mork, Emmanuel Pahud,Paul Meyer, Modigliani and Ebène Quartets as well as sopranos Barbara Hendricks, Jessye Norman, Ildiko Raimondi and baritone Stephan Genz. This season 2012/13 he is playing Brahms and Fauré chamber music with Renaud Capuçon, Ebène Quartet and others at the Musikverein inVienna, Wigmore Hall inLondon, as well as inBirmingham, Dublin, Bonn, Essen…
From the beginning of his career, Michel Dalberto has been acknowledged as one of the foremost interpreter of Schubert and Mozart music. Liszt, Debussy, Fauré, Schumann and Ravel are also among his favorite composers.
He is the only living pianist to have recorded the complete piano works by Schubert. Recent recordings on Sony/BMG include Debussy Preludes & Images, two Mozart Concertos and “A piano at the Opera”, a programme of Paraphrases by Liszt on Verdi and Wagner operas.
Latest releases include the Fauré complete chamber music with Renaud & Gautier Capuçon and the Ebene Quartet for Virgin Classics and Schubert cycle “Winterreise” with Stephan Genz for Swiss editor La Dogana.
After having served as Chairman of the Jury of the Clara Haskil Competition (Switzerland) between 1991 and 2009, he has become a member of the organization committee.
He has given regular masterclasses at Imola Accademia Pianistica as well as at Hannover Hochschule, Manchester Royal College, Seoul University or Tokyo Toho University. Since September 2011 he has been appointed Professor at the Paris Conservatoire.
A keen amateur of gastronomy, he enjoys skiing in Savoy and Switzerland, is an expert in scuba-diving and a devoted fan of Formula 1.
He has been awarded the Knight of the “Ordre National du Mérite” by the French Government in 1996.