Michael Korstick (born April 30, 1955 in

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

, Germany) is a German pianist. Mkorstick2014

Life

Korstick received his first piano lessons at the age of 9 and was first prize winner of the " Jugend musiziert" competition in Cologne at the age of 11. After graduating from high school he entered the ''Staatliche Hochschule für Musik'' in Cologne as a student of Jürgen Tröster, and in 1974 he became a student of Hans Leygraf in

Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

. In the same year he took master classes from the Russian pianist Tatiana Nikolayeva and subsequently worked with her on several occasions. He made his formal concert début in Cologne in 1975, performing

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...

sonata Sonata (; Italian: , pl. ''sonate''; from Latin and Italian: ''sonare'' rchaic Italian; replaced in the modern language by ''suonare'' "to sound"), in music, literally means a piece ''played'' as opposed to a cantata (Latin and Italian ''cant ...

s op.106 and op.111. In 1976 Korstick went to the United States to continue his studies at The Juilliard School in New York City where he was a scholarship student of

Sascha Gorodnitzki Sascha Gorodnitzki (24 May 19044 April 1986) was an American concert pianist, recording artist and pedagogue at the Juilliard School of Music. Biography Early life and education Born in Kyiv, Russian Empire Gorodnitzki emigrated as an infant ...

until 1983. He spent several summers at the Aspen Music Festival and School as a student of Jeaneane Dowis. After winning the Competition of German Music Council, he returned to Germany in 1983 to start his concert career. Critics have called Korstick "one of the most important

performers of our time" (Audiophile, ). His repertoire consists of more than 120 works for piano and orchestra and a large number of solo works from all periods, including the complete sonatas of

. On his worldwide concert tours he has given cyclical performances of the piano concerti of

, Brahms, Liszt,

Rachmaninov Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff; in Russian pre-revolutionary script. (28 March 1943) was a Russian composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, one of ...

, Bartók, and Prokofiev. Korstick has made more than 60 CD recordings so far, among them most notably

's ''32 piano sonatas'' (the complete edition was released in 2012). He has been the recipient of Germany's '' Echo Klassik'' prize in 2005, the ''

MIDEM Midem is the acronym for Marché International du Disque et de l'Édition Musicale, which is organised annually in and around the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès in Cannes, France. The trade show, organized by Reed MIDEM, a subsidiary of Re ...

Classical Award

Cannes Cannes ( , , ; oc, Canas) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions I ...

'' in 2009, as well as of seven "Awards of the German Record Critics", most recently in February 2022. He was also the recipient of the Special Achievement Award at the International Classical Music Awards (ICMA) 2022. His 2003 recording of Beethoven's Sonata op.106 (" Hammerklavier") has been the subject of feature articles in ''

Die Zeit ''Die Zeit'' (, "The Time") is a German national weekly newspaper published in Hamburg in Germany. The newspaper is generally considered to be among the German newspapers of record and is known for its long and extensive articles. History The ...

'' and the ''

Süddeutsche Zeitung The ''Süddeutsche Zeitung'' (; ), published in Munich, Bavaria, is one of the largest daily newspapers in Germany. The tone of SZ is mainly described as centre-left, liberal, social-liberal, progressive-liberal, and social-democrat. History ...

''. Jürgen Otten included him in his 2009 standard work ''Die großen Pianisten der Gegenwart'' ''(The Great Pianists of Our Time)'' as one of four German pianists. In

Ingo Harden Ingo Harden (born 26 February 1928) is a German music critic and writer. Life Born in Hamburg, Harden studied musicology with Heinrich Husmann and piano with Ilse Fromm-Michaels. From 1954 he worked first as an author and later as an editor fo ...

and

Gregor Willmes Gregor Willmes (born 30 March 1966) is a German musicologist, music writer and cultural manager. Life and career Born in Wanne-Eickel, Willmes took private piano, organ and music theory lessons with Matthias Kreuels. He studied musicology, ...

' ''Pianisten Profile'' (''Pianist Profiles'') his playing is described to be of "overwhelming intensity". From 2014 to 2022 he was full professor of piano performance at Anton Bruckner University in Linz, Austria.

Recordings

Oehms Classics

* 2004

: Piano Works Vol. 1 - Diabelli Variations op. 120 * 2005 Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Vol. 2 - Sonatas 1, 2, 3 * 2006 Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Vol. 3 - Sonatas 4, 9, 10, 12 * 2006 Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Vol. 4 - Sonatas 5, 6, 7, 8 * 2007 Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Vol. 5 - Sonatas 11, 19, 20, 13, 14 * 2007 Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Vol. 6 - Sonatas 15, Variations op. 34, op. 35 * 2008 Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Vol. 7 - Sonatas 16, 17, 18 * 2008 Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Vol. 8 - Sonatas 21, 22, 23 * 2008 Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Vol. 9 - Sonatas 24, 25, 26, 27, 28 * 2003 Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Vol. 10 - Sonatas 29, Bagatelles op. 126, Rondo op. 129 * 1997 Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Vol. 11 - Sonatas 30, 31, 32 * 2010/1997 Schumann: Kreisleriana op. 16, Arabesque op. 18, Carnaval op. 9 * 2018

Sergei Rachmaninoff Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff; in Russian pre-revolutionary script. (28 March 1943) was a Russian composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, one o ...

: Concerto No. 3 in D minor, op. 30; Variations on a Theme of Corelli, op. 42; Sonata No. 2 in B flat minor, op. 36

cpo CPO may refer to: Occupations * Certified Professional Organizer * Certified Protection Officer, a professional certification for security officers from the International Foundation for Protection Officers * Chief people officer, a corporate of ...

* 2005 Darius Milhaud: Complete Works for Piano and Orchestra * 2007

Max Reger Johann Baptist Joseph Maximilian Reger (19 March 187311 May 1916) was a German composer, pianist, organist, conductor, and academic teacher. He worked as a concert pianist, as a musical director at the Paulinerkirche, Leipzig, Leipzig University ...

Piano Concerto A piano concerto is a type of concerto, a solo composition in the classical music genre which is composed for a piano player, which is typically accompanied by an orchestra or other large ensemble. Piano concertos are typically virtuoso showpiec ...

in F minor, Op. 114, Bach- Busoni: Piano Concerto in D minor BWV 1052 * 2008/1997 Liszt: Années de Pèlerinage I "Suisse", Sonata in B-Minor * 2009 Liszt: Années de Pèlerinage II "Italie" * 2010 Liszt: Années de Pèlerinage III + Venezia e Napoli * 2009/2010

Mendelssohn-Bartholdy Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), born and widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions include symp ...

: Lieder ohne Worte (complete), Variations sérieuses * 2011 Dmitri Kabalevsky: Piano Concerti No. 1-4, Fantasy after Schubert D940, Rhapsody op. 75 * 2014

Franz Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast ''oeuvre'', including more than 600 secular vocal wor ...

: Piano Sonatas D664,D959,D960 + Moments Musicaux D780; Hungarian Melody D817 * 2015 Liszt:

Harmonies Poétiques et Religieuses ''Harmonies poétiques et religieuses'' (''Poetic and Religious Harmonies''), S.173, is a cycle of piano pieces written by Franz Liszt at WoronińceVoronivtsi the Polish-Ukrainian country estate of Liszt’s mistress Princess Carolyne von Sayn-Wi ...

(complete) * 2016

Alberto Ginastera Alberto Evaristo Ginastera (; April 11, 1916June 25, 1983) was an Argentinian composer of classical music. He is considered to be one of the most important 20th-century classical composers of the Americas. Biography Ginastera was born in Buen ...

: The Piano Music * 2017 Dmitri Kabalevsky: Complete Piano Sonatas * 2018 César Franck: Prélude, Choral et Fugue; Prélude, Aria et Final; Violin Sonata arr. by

Alfred Cortot Alfred Denis Cortot (; 26 September 187715 June 1962) was a French pianist, conductor, and teacher who was one of the most renowned classical musicians of the 20th century. A pianist of massive repertory, he was especially valued for his poeti ...

for solo piano * 2020 Dmitry Kabalevsky: Complete Préludes * 2021 Domenico Scarlatti: 37 Keyboard Sonatas ("The Essential Scarlatti") * 2022 Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Concertos 0 - 7

Hänssler Classic

* 2007

Charles Koechlin Charles-Louis-Eugène Koechlin (; 27 November 186731 December 1950), commonly known as Charles Koechlin, was a French composer, teacher and musicologist. He was a political radical all his life and a passionate enthusiast for such diverse things ...

: Piano Works Vol. 1 - "...des jardins enchantés..." * 2008 Charles Koechlin: Piano Works Vol. 2 - Les Heures persanes op. 65 * 2008 Charles Koechlin: Offrande musicale sur le nom de BACH op. 187 * 2009 Charles Koechlin: Piano Works Vol. 3 - "...des horizons lointains..." * 2011

Claude Debussy (Achille) Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influential composers of the ...

: Piano Music Vol. 1 * 2012 Claude Debussy: Piano Music Vol. 2 * 2013 Claude Debussy: Piano Music Vol. 3 * 2015 Claude Debussy: Piano Music Vol. 4 * 2018 Claude Debussy: Piano Music Vol. 5

Gramola

* 2013

Richard Strauss Richard Georg Strauss (; 11 June 1864 – 8 September 1949) was a German composer, conductor, pianist, and violinist. Considered a leading composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras, he has been described as a successor of Richard Wag ...

: Sonata for Violin & Piano op.18 * 2014 Iván Erőd: Sonatas for Violin & Piano * 2014

: Sonatas for Piano & Violin Vol.1 - Sonatas No.9,10 (op.47 Kreutzer Sonata + op.96) * 2015 Beethoven: Sonatas for Piano & Violin Vol.2 - Sonatas No.1,2,3,8 (op.12 No.1-3 + op.30 No.3) * 2015 Beethoven: Sonatas for Piano & Violin Vol.3 - Sonatas No.4,5 (op.23 + op.24

Spring Sonata The Violin Sonata No. 5 in F major, Op. 24, is a four movement work for violin and piano by Ludwig van Beethoven. It was first published in 1801. The work is commonly known as the ''Spring Sonata'' (''Frühlingssonate''), although the name "Spri ...

) * 2015 Beethoven: Sonatas for Piano & Violin Vol.4 - Sonatas No.6,7 (op.30 No.1,2) * 2015/1999

Mussorgsky Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky ( rus, link=no, Модест Петрович Мусоргский, Modest Petrovich Musorgsky , mɐˈdɛst pʲɪˈtrovʲɪtɕ ˈmusərkskʲɪj, Ru-Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky version.ogg; – ) was a Russian compo ...

/ Prokofiev /

Tschaikowsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky , group=n ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer of the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music would make a lasting impression internationally. He wrote some of the most popu ...

/ Liapunov: Pictures at an Exhibition * 2016 Schubert: Complete Piano Trios * 2017 Beethoven: Triple Concerto op.56 * 2018

Bohuslav Martinů Bohuslav Jan Martinů (; December 8, 1890 – August 28, 1959) was a Czech composer of modern classical music. He wrote 6 symphonies, 15 operas, 14 ballet scores and a large body of orchestral, chamber, vocal and instrumental works. He bec ...

: Concerto for Violin, Piano, and Orchestra * 2018

Edward Elgar Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet, (; 2 June 1857 – 23 February 1934) was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestr ...

: Sonata for Violin & Piano op.82 * 2023 Prokofiev: Complete Works for Violin & Piano

References

* Csampai Attila (April 2004). Audiophile: 84 /

Fono Forum The Legislative Assembly ( sm, Fono Aoao Faitulafono a Samoa), also known as the Parliament of Samoa ( sm, Palemene o Samoa), is the national legislature of Samoa, seated at Apia, where the country's central administration is situated. Samoan P ...

: 72. March 2008. * ''

'' n°42 October 7, 2004
''Eine Sonate im Ausnahmezustand''
* ''

'' September 8, 2004: ''Radikal wie der Komponist'' * Jürgen Otten (2009). ''Die großen Pianisten der Gegenwart''. Berlin/Leipzig, Henschel Edition. p. 174-177. . *

/Gregor Willmes (2008). ''PianistenProfile''. Kassel, Bärenreiter Edition. p. 394–395. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Korstick, Michael 1955 births Living people Aspen Music Festival and School alumni German classical pianists Male classical pianists Juilliard School alumni 21st-century classical pianists Oehms Classics artists 21st-century male musicians