Maria João Pires (born in Lisbon, Portugal, July 23, 1944) is a renowned Po… Read Full Bio ↴Maria João Pires (born in Lisbon, Portugal, July 23, 1944) is a renowned Portuguese pianist who currently lives in Brazil.
Her first recital was at age five, and at age seven she was already playing Mozart Piano Concertos publicly. Two years later, she received Portugal's top prize for young musicians. In the following years, she studied with Professor Campos Coelho at the Lisbon Conservatory, taking courses in composition, theory, and history of music. She continued her studies in Germany, first in the Musikakademie of Munich with Rosl Schmidt and then in Hanover with Karl Engel.
International fame came in 1970, when she won the Beethoven Bicentennial Competition in Brussels. She has since then regularly performed with major orchestras throughout the world, interpreting works by Bach, Beethoven, Schumann, Schubert, Mozart, Brahms, Chopin and many other classical and romantic composers. She appears regularly with major world orchestras in Europe, America, Canada, Israel and Japan.
She appears as a solo artist and in chamber music: her many successful recordings include Moonlight, featuring Beethoven sonatas, Le Voyage Magnifique, the complete Impromptus of Schubert, Nocturnes and other works by Chopin, and Mozart Trios with Augustin Dumay (violin) and Jiang Wang (cello).
She won the Pessoa Prize in 1989. She also founded the Belgais Centre for Study of the Arts.
Gramophone (magazine) selected her recordings of the Chopin Nocturnes as the best version available: "I have no hesitation in declaring Maria Joao Pires – a pianist without a trace of narcissism – among the most eloquent master-musicians of our time" (Bryce Morrison).
In 2006 she moved to Lauro de Freitas—a town near Salvador, Brazil—and continues performing. At the time of her move, she commented that she had suffered much in Portugal due to her Belgais Centre project.
Her first recital was at age five, and at age seven she was already playing Mozart Piano Concertos publicly. Two years later, she received Portugal's top prize for young musicians. In the following years, she studied with Professor Campos Coelho at the Lisbon Conservatory, taking courses in composition, theory, and history of music. She continued her studies in Germany, first in the Musikakademie of Munich with Rosl Schmidt and then in Hanover with Karl Engel.
International fame came in 1970, when she won the Beethoven Bicentennial Competition in Brussels. She has since then regularly performed with major orchestras throughout the world, interpreting works by Bach, Beethoven, Schumann, Schubert, Mozart, Brahms, Chopin and many other classical and romantic composers. She appears regularly with major world orchestras in Europe, America, Canada, Israel and Japan.
She appears as a solo artist and in chamber music: her many successful recordings include Moonlight, featuring Beethoven sonatas, Le Voyage Magnifique, the complete Impromptus of Schubert, Nocturnes and other works by Chopin, and Mozart Trios with Augustin Dumay (violin) and Jiang Wang (cello).
She won the Pessoa Prize in 1989. She also founded the Belgais Centre for Study of the Arts.
Gramophone (magazine) selected her recordings of the Chopin Nocturnes as the best version available: "I have no hesitation in declaring Maria Joao Pires – a pianist without a trace of narcissism – among the most eloquent master-musicians of our time" (Bryce Morrison).
In 2006 she moved to Lauro de Freitas—a town near Salvador, Brazil—and continues performing. At the time of her move, she commented that she had suffered much in Portugal due to her Belgais Centre project.
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Piano Concerto No.21 in C major K467 'Elvira Madigan' : I Allegro
Maria João Pires Lyrics
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The lyrics are frequently found in the comments by searching or by filtering for lyric videos
The lyrics are frequently found in the comments by searching or by filtering for lyric videos
maria petronilho
She is a national pride for us, the Portuguese People!
Ela é um orgulho nacional para nós, Portugueses!
I think she did the best, retiring from stage to appreciate her life.
Penso que ela fez bem ao retirar-se dos palcos a tempo de apreciar a sua vida.
She is the best Mozart player that I know.
Ela é a melhor intérprete de Mozart que conheço.
She is quite well.
Ela está bem.
Thank you very much, ADGO!
Muito obrigada, ADGO!
Yuri Andropov
Sorry to hear she's retiring. She is one of the greatest Mozart players of our time.
maria petronilho
Don´t be sorry. I also admire Maria João Pires very much.
Teresa Leandro
Well, today is the 12th of February 2021 and I've just watched her livestreaming from Gulbenkian. Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 20. ♥️
António Castelo
She's back on stage
Gérard Paire
Elle a repris les concerts et récitals, pour notre plus grand bonheur !!
Gonzalo Valdivia
Many thanks Maria for being back and feeding our spirits.
Gus McEwan
I must say, this video is phenomenal, and not only because of her astounding performance, but there's a certain "If Stanley Kubrick did classical music" feel to it all! LOVE IT!
Charlie B
Kubrick did do classical!
https://youtu.be/KkJZOxqB-qk
https://youtu.be/0ZoSYsNADtY
https://youtu.be/rlYJlAWriaI
maria petronilho
She is a national pride for us, the Portuguese People!
Ela é um orgulho nacional para nós, Portugueses!
I think she did the best, retiring from stage to appreciate her life.
Penso que ela fez bem ao retirar-se dos palcos a tempo de apreciar a sua vida.
She is the best Mozart player that I know.
Ela é a melhor intérprete de Mozart que conheço.
She is quite well.
Ela está bem.
Thank you very much, ADGO!
Muito obrigada, ADGO!
Clovis Rabello
At least we have records of her performances. She will never be forgotten.