Beethoven, Ludwig van - Piano Sonatas - Guy, Francois-Frédéric (piano)
Since his debut with the Orchestre de Paris under Wolfgang Sawallisch, followed by such events as the Second Concerto of Prokofiev with Esa-Pekka Salonen and the Philharmonia and his live recording of Brahms’s Second Concerto with Paavo Berglund and the London Philharmonic, François-Frédéric Guy has succeeded, without undue haste or impatience, in imposing a strong musical personality. Since his passion for opera and orchestral music goes hand-in-hand with a certain taste for taking risks, he chooses from the ocean of the piano repertoire works that are among the most complex. This rigour and his ability to communicate deeply reflective musical thought have marked him out as belonging to a select band of pianists. As early as 1997, his first recording of the ‘Hammerklavier’ Sonata testified to these qualities, which were subsequently confirmed by CDs devoted to Prokofiev, Brahms, and Liszt. His keen interest in the music of today has prompted him to play Stockhausen, Murail, Dufourt (whose complete works for solo piano he is currently preparing), Pesson, Nono, and Fedele. His regular chamber music partners include the Pražák and Ysaÿe Quartets, the violinists Raphaël Oleg and Isabelle van Keulen, the clarinettist Michael Collins, and the cellist Anne Gastinel.
He also has the pleasure of playing under the direction of Bernard Haitink, Neem Järvi, Alexander Briger, Michael Tilson Thomas, Daniel Harding, Günther Herbig, Ken-Ichiro Kobayashi, Kazushi Ono, Eiji Oue, Michael Schønwandt and Thierry Fischer. He appears as the guest of such prestigious orchestras as the London Philharmonic, the Philharmonia, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the NDR Symphony Orchestra Hamburg, the Berlin Symphony Orchestra, the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, the Helsinki Philharmonic, the San Francisco Symphony, the Japan Philharmonic, the Orchestre de Paris, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, and the Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte Carlo. He will make his debut at the BBC Proms in London with Esa-Pekka Salonen and the Philharmonia in August 2006.
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN
Pianosonat Op 13 "Pathétique"
Pianosonat Op 106 "Hammarklaversonaten"
Pianosonat Op 49:1