Igor Kamenz

Ludwig van Beethoven

Piano Sonata No. 21 op. 53 "Waldstein Sonata"
Piano Sonata No. 32 op. 111 in C minor

"Miracles last longer" was the headline of an enthusiastic review by Helmut Mauró in the Süddeutsche Zeitung describing the unusual life of the "miracle pianist" Igor Kamenz. The pianist and conductor Igor Kamenz was born in Russia near the Chinese border in 1968. He made his debut as conductor of the Novosibirsk Philharmonic Orchestra in 1975. A series of concerts as a pianist, soloist and above all as a conductor followed between 1976 and 1978. In 1977, Kamenz made his first appearance in the Kremlin as conductor of the Bolshoi Orchestra, and his concert was broadcast on Soviet television on May 1, 1977.
Igor Kamenz is a long-time student of Vitaly Margulis and Sergiu Celibidache. In recent years, he has also been intensively involved in historical performance practice of the 18th century in collaboration with Robert Hill, among others. He has been awarded 18 first prizes, 15 second prizes and 15 special prizes at international piano competitions. His recitals and soloist appearances at the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, in Munich's Herkulessaal and Gasteig, in the Laeiszhalle in Hamburg, in the Liederhalle Stuttgart, in the Beethovenhalle Bonn, in the Konzerthaus (concert hall) Berlin, in the Kennedy Center in Washington, in the Salle Gaveau in Paris, in the Tonhalle Zurich, the Alte Oper in Frankfurt, the Mozarteum Salzburg, his Liszt recital in the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, at the "Mostly Mozart" Festival in the Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center in New York and in Leipzig's Gewandhaus were great successes. Kamenz has made numerous radio and television recordings in the form of studio productions and concert recordings.
Igor Kamenz, "a titan of the piano" (International Piano), conquers audiences not only with "the finest nuances" and "almost incomprehensible virtuosity" (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung): Rather, by combining these with "incredible beauty" and "extraterrestrial musicality" (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung), he cultivates a personal style that does not elevate virtuosity to a sparkling end in itself, but rather serves as the medium of a music-making culture that always seeks the "message" of the work.

Photo: © Mat Hennek