var labelnews_title = new Array;
var labelnews_id = new Array;
var labelnews_text = new Array;
var labelnews_website_url = new Array;
labelnews_title[0] = "Stephen Kovacevich";
labelnews_id[0] = "1636715";
labelnews_text[0] = "\"<i>This is one of the most commanding accounts of Beethoven’s mighty Hammerklavier - an unflinching, sometimes combative view of a titanic masterpiece, and a version to be spoken of in the same breath as those of Brendel, Gilels and Pollini. Superbly recorded, with outstanding clarity and presence, Kovacevich announces the music’s potency from the first bar, more or less at Beethoven’s very demanding fast metronome... Ultimately, this is one of the great records of the Hammerklavier.</i>\"<br />(The Classical source)<br /><br />Stephen Kovacevich has had a long and distinguished career as a concert pianist. His interpretations of Beethoven, Brahms, Mozart and Schubert are renowned. He records exclusively for EMI Classics. His recordings of Sonatas Opp.53, 78 & 110, and Opp.13, 14 & 22 were nominated for the instrumental category of the 1994 and 1999 Gramophone Awards. He has recorded both Brahms Piano Concertos with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Sawallisch; No.1 was nominated for a Grammy Award and won the 1993 Gramophone Award and the Stereo Review Record of the Year, while No.2 won the Diapason D'Or. Of Beethoven Sonata Op.111 The New York Times wrote: \"<i>His performance is exact and melancholic at the start, unfolding organically, coherently, with a tender Arietta that ends up heaven-storming.</i>\" Over the last 10 years Kovacevich has recorded Beethoven’s 32 Piano Sonatas. This journey, now completed, was issued as a box set by EMI in October 2003.<br /><br />As a tribute to his interpretations of works of Beethoven, Stephen Kovacevich was recently featured in a six-concert project ‘Kovacevich, Beethoven and the Piano’. The project, in collaboration with the Harrods International Piano Series, the London Philharmonic and the South Bank Centre, included the Emperor Concerto with Kurt Masur, three Beethoven recitals in the Royal Festival Hall, playing/directing the London Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, and a public masterclass.<br /><br />Stephen Kovacevich’s concerto engagements worldwide have included performances with the London, Los Angeles and Israel Philharmonic orchestras, and the Pittsburgh, Finnish Radio, Swedish Radio and Montreal Symphony orchestras. He performed all five Beethoven Piano Concertos in a series of concerts with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and Joseph Swensen in the autumn of 2003. Further concerto engagements included working with the Boston Symphony, City of Birmingham Symphony, Houston Symphony, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and St Paul Chamber orchestras.<br /><br />In addition to his solo work, Kovacevich enjoys good relations with orchestras as a conductor, directing from the keyboard. During the 2003/04 season he directed the London Mozart Players, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. Future projects include conducting in Australia and Canada, and Cosi fan Tutti with the Geneva Opera.<br /><br />Chamber music partners include Steven Isserlis, Nigel Kennedy, Lynn Harrell, Sarah Chang, Gautier Capuçon, Renaud Capuçon, Kyung-Wha Chung, Truls Mørk and Emmanuel Pahud.<br /><br />Stephen Kovacevich was born in Los Angeles and made his concert debut as a pianist at the age of 11. At the age of 18 he moved to England to study with Dame Myra Hess.";
labelnews_website_url[0] = "";