The French pianist, Alexandre Tharaud, graduated from the Conservatoire Nat… Read Full Bio ↴The French pianist, Alexandre Tharaud, graduated from the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique in Paris and started his international career in earnest when he won the 2nd Prize at the ARD Competition in Munich.

As a soloist, Alexandre Tharaud has appeared with the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Münchner Rundfunkorchester, Japan Philharmonic Orchestra, Tokyo Metropolitan Orchestra, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio-France, Orchestre National de France, Orchestre National de Lille, Orchestre National de Bordeaux-Aquitaine, Taïwan National Symphony Orchestra and Sinfonia Varsovia under the baton of Yutaka Sado, Jean Fournet, Marc Minkowski, Stéphane Denève, Jean-Jacques Kantorow and Georges Prêtre. During the 2005-2006 season, Alexandre performed both Mozart No 21 K467 and Ravel concertos extensively, including with the St Gallen Orchestra in Switzerland, Orchestre du Capitole de Toulouse, Orchestre Philharmonique de Nice and Singapore Symphony Orchestra.

Alexandre Tharaud's concert schedule has resulted in challenging projects such as performances of Kagel’s music at the Cité de la Musique and for the ‘Octobre en Normandie’ festival; a Satie programme with a singer and a narrator which he has presented for four seasons at the Palais des Beaux-Arts/Philharmonie in Brussels; and commissions from young composers for a ‘Hommage à Rameau’ solo programme, which he regularly performs all over Europe (Prague, Madrid, Utrecht, Paris, Tallinn). He gave solo recitals at the Théâtre du Châtelet, Bern’s Casino (MeisterZyklus series), ‘Piano aux Jacobins’, La Roque d’Anthéron, BBC PROMS, Lufthansa Festival of Baroque Music, Grand Théâtre de Bordeaux, Prague Music Academy and Museo de la Reina Sofia in Madrid, and toured the United States (Miller Theatre in New York, Washington Performing Arts Series) to great acclaim. Alexandre also performed at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, Théâtre de Vevey, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées and Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, and will, next season, play Rameau and Couperin at the Philharmonie in Cologne.

Alexandre Tharaud is also a fine exponent of chamber music: he has given concerts at the Schleswig-Holstein, Brighton, Warwick and Norfolk festivals and at venues such as Bamberger Konzerthalle, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Musikverein in Vienna, Köln Philharmonie, Louisiana Museum, Brussels Philharmonie, Wigmore Hall and the South Bank.

An outstanding soloist as well as a fine chamber musician, Alexandre Tharaud has dedicated much of his time to French music. His recording, dedicated to Jean-Philippe Rameau's Nouvelles Pièces de Clavecin for Harmonia Mundi, received great critical acclaim and resulted in invitations for performances internationally. His following release, Ravel’s complete works for solo piano (including two world premieres), was greeted with the best awards from the press (Grand Prix de l’Académie Charles-Cros 2003, Diapason d’Or de l'Année, CHOC du Monde de la Musique, Recommandé de Classica and 10 de Répertoire, Pick of the Month-BBC Music Magazine, Stern des Monats-Fono Forum, Best CD of the year - de Standaard) and the CD dedicated to Bach’s Italian Concerti has received unanimous international ovation including an ‘E’ for excellent in the Spanish magazine Scherzo and a CHOC du Monde de la Musique. His latest release brings new life to Chopin's Waltzes and is especially recommended in the August issue of Gramophone: “Aristocratic and sensuous – a young master of the keyboard delivers Chopin playing in the finest French tradition.”