Michael Endres (born 1961) is a German pianist. He was professor for piano from 1993 to 2004 at the

Hochschule für Musik A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music academy, music faculty, college of music, music department (of a larger in ...

in Cologne, and from 2004 to 2009 at the Hochschule Hanns Eisler in Berlin. From 2009 to February 2014, he taught at the

University of Canterbury The University of Canterbury (UC; ; postnominal abbreviation ''Cantuar.'' or ''Cant.'' for ''Cantuariensis'', the Latin name for Canterbury) is a public research university based in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was founded in 1873 as Canterbur ...

in Christchurch, New Zealand, and 2014–2018 at the

Barratt Due Institute of Music The Barratt Due Institute of Music in Oslo, Norway, is a music education institute founded in 1927 by pianist Mary Barratt Due and violinist Henrik Adam Due. It is situated in Fagerborg in Oslo and is a private foundation which receives governme ...

in Oslo, Norway. He resides currently in New Zealand.

Early life and training

He was born 1961 in

Sonthofen Sonthofen is the southernmost Town#Germany, town of Germany, located in the Oberallgäu region of the Bavarian Alps. Neighbouring Oberstdorf is situated 14 km farther south but is classified as a market town. In 2005, Sonthofen was awarded ...

in the

Oberallgäu Oberallgäu is a Districts of Germany, ''Landkreis'' (district) in Swabia (Bavaria), Swabia, Bavaria, Germany. It is bounded by (from the north and clockwise) the districts of Unterallgäu and Ostallgäu, the Austrian states State of Tyrol, Tyrol a ...

region of the

Bavarian Alps The Bavarian Alps (, ) is a collective name for several mountain ranges of the Northern Limestone Alps within the German state of Bavaria. Geography The term in its wider sense refers to that part of the Eastern Alps that lies on Bavarian state ...

and studied with Hugo Steurer,

Klaus Schilde Klaus Schilde (born 12 September 1926; died 11 December 2020) was a German pianist and violinist who has made numerous recordings, radio and TV broadcasts and produced 100 Henle urtext editions of fingerings. Biography Schilde was born in Dresde ...

and Karl Hermann Mrongovius in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

, then with

Jacob Lateiner Jacob Lateiner (March 31, 1928 – December 12, 2010) was a Cuban-American pianist. Early life and studies Though born on March 31, 1928, Lateiner's father did not get around to registering his birth until May 31 the same year. He was the br ...

at the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a Private university, private performing arts music school, conservatory in New York City. Founded by Frank Damrosch as the Institute of Musical Art in 1905, the school later added dance and drama programs and became ...

New York, where he received his master's degree, and later with

Peter Feuchtwanger Peter Bernhard Feuchtwanger (26 June 1930 – 18 June 2016)baritone A baritone is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the bass (voice type), bass and the tenor voice type, voice-types. It is the most common male voice. The term originates from the ...

Hermann Prey Hermann Prey ( Berlin, 11 July 1929 – Krailling, 22 July 1998) was a German lyric baritone, who was equally at home in the Lied, operatic and concert repertoires. His American debut was in November 1952, with the Philadelphia Orchestra and ...

Repertoire

As well as specializing in Mozart, Schubert, Schumann and Ravel, he has a wide repertoire including the somewhat neglected composers

Carl Maria von Weber Carl Maria Friedrich Ernst von Weber (5 June 1826) was a German composer, conductor, virtuoso pianist, guitarist, and Music criticism, critic in the early Romantic music, Romantic period. Best known for List of operas by Carl Maria von Weber, h ...

Leopold Godowsky Leopold Mordkhelovich Godowsky Sr. (13 February 1870 – 21 November 1938) was a virtuoso pianist, composer and teacher, born in what is now Lithuania to Jewish parents, who became an United States of America, American citizen in 1891. He ...

Gabriel Fauré Gabriel Urbain Fauré (12 May 1845 – 4 November 1924) was a French composer, organist, pianist and teacher. He was one of the foremost French composers of his generation, and his musical style influenced many 20th-century composers. ...

, Sir Arnold Bax and

Eduard Tubin Eduard Tubin ( – 17 November 1982) was an Estonian composer, conductor, and choreographer. Life Tubin was born in Torila, Tartu County, Governorate of Livonia, then part of the Russian Empire. Both his parents were music lovers, and his fath ...

. His comprehensive recordings include the complete sonatas of

Franz Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; ; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical period (music), Classical and early Romantic music, Romantic eras. Despite his short life, Schubert left behind a List of compositions ...

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

and

Arnold Bax Sir Arnold Edward Trevor Bax (8 November 1883 – 3 October 1953) was an English composer, poet, and author. His prolific output includes songs, choral music, chamber pieces, and solo piano works, but he is best known for his orchestral music ...

, the complete piano works of

Maurice Ravel Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism in music, Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composer ...

and

George Gershwin George Gershwin (; born Jacob Gershwine; September 26, 1898 – July 11, 1937) was an American composer and pianist whose compositions spanned jazz, popular music, popular and classical music. Among his best-known works are the songs "Swan ...

as well as a complete recording of the 400 dances of

, the 48 Songs without Words by Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy and 3 CDs of works by

Robert Schumann Robert Schumann (; ; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and music critic of the early Romantic music, Romantic era. He composed in all the main musical genres of the time, writing for solo piano, voice and piano, chamber ...

. In March 2018 the 13 Barcarolles by Gabriel Faure were added to his discography. His recordings have received many prizes including Choc du Musique and Diapason d'Or and he has appeared at many major festivals and concert-halls around the world, such as the

Salzburg Festival The Salzburg Festival () is a prominent festival of music and drama established in 1920. It is held each summer, for five weeks starting in late July, in Salzburg, Austria, the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Mozart's operas are a focus of ...

Wigmore Hall The Wigmore Hall is a concert hall at 36 Wigmore Street, in west London. It was designed by Thomas Edward Collcutt and opened in 1901 as the Bechstein Hall; it is considered to have particularly good building acoustics, acoustics. It specialis ...

London, Newport Festival, Wiener

Musikverein The ( or ; ), commonly shortened to , is a concert hall in Vienna, Austria, which is located in the Innere Stadt district. The building opened in 1870 and is the home of the Vienna Philharmonic orchestra. The acoustics of the building's 'Grea ...

and

Suntory Hall The is a concert venue in the central Akasaka district of Tokyo, Japan. Part of the Ark Hills complex, it consists of a main concert hall, widely considered one of the finest in the world for its acoustics – Herbert von Karajan called it “ ...

, Tokyo.

Style

His playing is often described as subtle, elegant and refined regarding his recordings, where he does not take the dramatic elements of the music to the extreme. This is more than compensated for by the insights that he brings and the remarkable clarity of his readings and playing. On the concert stage he often follows a riskier approach. The ''Boston Globe'' reviewer Richard Dyer described him as following during his Newport Festival debut: : ''"Endres has made an admirable series of records for Capriccio and Oehms Classics -- Mozart, Ravel, Weber, Schumann, and the finest recent account of the complete Schubert sonatas -- but the CDs don't begin to do him justice. They are poised, thoughtful, and expressive, but there is no hint of the wild-man risk-taking that marked his Newport recital. Endres took big chances, communicated how thrilling every dimension of the music was to him, and succeeded triumphantly against the odds."''

Recordings

*Wolfgang A. Mozart: Complete Sonatas for piano (5 CDs)- Arte Nova Classics - 74321 63639 2 *Franz Schubert: Complete Sonatas for piano (6 CDs) *Franz Schubert: Complete dances (5 CDs) *Franz Schubert: Wandererfantasy and other works *Franz Schubert: Impromptus Opus 90 and Opus 142 *Carl Maria von Weber: Complete piano sonatas und other works (2 CDs) *Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy: Lieder ohne Worte ( complete ) (2 CDs) *Robert Schumann: Piano works (3 CDs) *Arnold Bax: Complete Sonatas for piano (2 CDs) *Gabriel Faure: 13 Barcarolles *Maurice Ravel: Complete piano works (2 CDs) *George Gershwin: Works for piano *Carl Loewe: Ballades (with Hermann Prey) *Franz Schubert & Johann: W. Kalliwoda (with Ashan Pillai)

References

External links

Michael Endres' website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Endres, Michael 1961 births Living people People from Sonthofen German male classical pianists Juilliard School alumni Academic staff of the University of Canterbury Academic staff of the Barratt Due Institute of Music 21st-century German classical pianists Oehms Classics artists 21st-century German male musicians Academic staff of the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler Berlin