TURKISH PIANIST PERFORMS CHOPIN ON 200TH BIRTH ANNIVERSARY
LONDON - A Turkish pianist performed Chopin's works
in London, Britain on Sunday to mark the 200th birth anniversary of the
Polish composer.
Turkey's pianist Idil Biret gave a recital at London's Henrietta Barnett School and played works of Frederic Chopin.
Biret received a great ovation at the end of the concert.
Biret will also take stage together with "The Whitehall" orchestra at the St. John's Church in London on March 25.
Idil Biret manifested an outstanding gift for music at the age of three and was trained at the Paris Conservatory under the tutelage of Nadia Boulanger.
Since the age of sixteen Idil Biret has given concerts throughout the world with major orchestras including the London Symphony, the Philharmonia, BBC Orchestras, Leningrad Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, Leipzig Gewandhaus, Dresden Staatskapelle, Berlin Radio Symphony, French National Orchestra, Polish Radio Symphony, Orchestre Suisse Romande, Warsaw Philharmonic, Tokyo Philharmonic and Sydney Symphony Orchestra.
Among the eminent conductors she collaborated with are Pierre Monteux, Joseph Keilberth, Hermann Scherchen, Gennadi Rozhdestvensky, Alexander Dimitreev, Eric Leinsdorf, Rudolf Kempe, Adrian Boult, Malcolm Sargent, Charles Mackerras, Moshe Atzmon, Rafael Fruhbeck de Burgos, Andrew Davis, Anthony Wit and Aaron Copland.
Idil Biret has participated in many festivals including Montreal, Berlin, Paris, Nohant, Duszniki, Athens, Persepolis, Dubrovnik, Montreal, Royan, Montpellier, Weimar and Istanbul. She has played Beethoven Sonatas with Yehudi Menuhin and the Mozart Concerto for two pianos with Wilhelm Kempff. Idil Biret has been member in the juries of many competitions including the Van Cliburn (USA), Queen Elisabeth (Belgium), Montreal (Canada), Busoni (Italy), Liszt (Weimar, Germany, Utrecht, Holland) Messiaen (Paris). She has received the following awards; Lily Boulanger Memorial, Boston; Harriet Cohen - Dinu Lipatti gold medal, London; Adelaide Ristori prize, Italy; Artistic Merit and Order of Merit, Poland; Chevalier de l'Ordre du Mérite, France.
Her recording of the complete works of Chopin was awarded a "Grand Prix du Disque Chopin" prize in Poland in 1995.
In 2007, the Polish President decorated Biret with the "Distinguished Service Order - Cavalry Cross" for her contribution to Polish culture through her recordings and performances of Chopin's music.
