Since winning First Prize at the 1959 International Ettore Pozzoli Piano Competition and 1960 International Chopin Piano Competition, Maurizio Pollini established himself as one of the modern era’s most legendary pianists. Working with the world’s most distinguished orchestras and conductors including Herbert von Karajan, Claudio Abbado, Pierre Boulez, Karl Boehm and Péter Eötvös, Pollini has proven himself a masterful interpreter of works both traditional and contemporary repertoire, known in particular for his gold standard performances of works by Beethoven, Chopin and Debussy amongst others.
A champion of contemporary composers, Pollini has performed many works by the likes of Pierre Boulez, Karlheinz Stockhausen, George Benjamin and Bruno Maderna, as well as given the world premiere of works by Luigi Nono (… sofferte onde serene …), Salvatore Sciarrino (Piano Sonata No.5) and Giacomo Manzoni (Masse: omaggio a Edgard Varèse).
With a deft and varied approach to programming, Pollini has curated a number of iconic concerts. In 1995, he devised and performed his own series at Salzburger Festspiele comprising both chamber and orchestral repertoire, which he subsequently extended to Carnegie Hall, Cité de la Musique and Parco della Musica. In 2010, he gave the Chopin Birthday recital as part of the International Piano Series for the Chopin 200th Anniversary celebrations. Only a year later, he presented The Pollini Project, charting the development of piano repertoire from Bach to Boulez for which he won the 2012 Royal Philharmonic Society Instrumentalist Award.
