Spain
Piemontesi is one of the leading interpreters of the German classical and romantic repertoire. Regular guest with the world’s leading orchestras and concert halls.
In addition to the classical and romantic periods, Francesco Piemontesi’s wider repertoire includes works by Bach and Handel in original versions and transcriptions, piano concertos by Ravel, Debussy, Bartók, Rachmaninov and Schönberg, as well as works by Messiaen and Chin. Among his many important musical influences, he highlights his distinguished teachers Arie Vardi and Alfred Brendel, but above all French concert pianist Cecile Ousset.
His numerous recordings have received awards and critical acclaim, such as Schubert’s last Piano Sonatas, Debussy’s Preludes and Mozart’s Piano Concertos with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra conducted by Andrew Manze. His latest release on Pentatone is dedicated to two of the most demanding pieces of piano literature: The Transcendental Etudes and the B minor Sonata by Franz Liszt.
Highlights of the 2024/25 season include appearances at the BBC Proms, an extensive tour with the Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, performing Mozart’s concerto for two pianos KV 365 with Jan Lisiecki under the direction of Gianandrea Noseda. The tour features a special appearance by the orchestra in Locarno, where Piemontesi continues to hold the position Artistic Director of the Settimane Musicali di Ascona. Further ahead, Piemontesi appears with the Filarmonica della Scala, also conducted by Noseda, L’Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della Rai, Gewandhausorchester under Manfred Honeck, and returns to the Frankfurt Radio Symphony and SWR Symphonieorchester. Further engagements include returns to the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester, NHK, Chicago and Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, The Cleveland Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Budapest Festival Orchestra and London Philharmonic Orchestra with Robin Ticciati, as well as the Helsinki Philharmonic. In recital, Piemontesi appears at Auditorium Lyon, Rudolfinum/Dvořák Hall, Tonhalle Zurich, and La Chaux-de-Fonds, to mention just a few.
As a soloist, he has played alongside leading orchestras such as Berlin, New York and Los Angeles Philharmonic, Orchestre de Paris, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks Munich, the Chicago, Boston and London Symphony orchestras, as well as the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, Swedish, Danish National and Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestras. He regularly collaborates with distinguished conductors such as Fabio Luisi, Antonio Pappano, Daniele Gatti, Lorenzo Viotti, Robin Ticciati, Iván Fischer, Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla, Marek Janowski, Joana Mallwitz, Thomas Søndergård, Daniel Harding, Paavo Järvi, Zubin Mehta and Nathalie Stutzmann.
He recently has been Artist in Residence with the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, the Dresden Philharmonic and the Gstaad Menuhin Festival. A long-standing relationship links him to the Schubertiade Festival and to London’s Wigmore Hall. As adept on the concert stage as he is in smaller chamber combinations, Francesco Piemontesi appears with a variety of partners including Renaud Capuçon, Tabea Zimmermann, Leonidas Kavakos, Martha Argerich, Janine Jansen, Daniel Müller-Schott, Augustin Hadelich and Jörg Widmann.
In chamber music, he performed in many prestigious venues including Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Carnegie Hall and Avery Fisher Hall New York and Elbphilharmonie Hamburg. As a welcomed guest he was featured in the festivals of Salzburg, Edinburgh, Aix-en-Provence, Lucerne, Verbier and Schleswig-Holstein as well as in La Roque d’Anthéron, New York Mostly Mozart and Klavierfestival Ruhr.
