Nelson Goerner

Born in San Pedro, Argentina, Nelson Goerner has established himself as one of the foremost pianists of his generation. After studying in Argentina with Jorge Garrubba, Juan Carlos Arabian and Carmen Scalcione, he was awarded First Prize in the Franz Liszt Competition in Buenos Aires in 1986. This led to a scholarship to work with Maria Tipo at the Geneva Conservatoire, and in 1990 Nelson Goerner won the First Prize at the Geneva Competition.

Nelson Goerner has performed throughout Europe including at the Salzburg Festival, La Roque d'Anthéron, La Grange de Meslay (where he replaced Richter at short notice), Schleswig-Holstein and Verbier festivals, the Piano aux Jacobins series in Toulouse, and in halls such as the Musikverein in Vienna, the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, the South Bank Centre in London, and at Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires. He has also performed with the Philharmonia Orchestra, under Claus Peter Flor; the Deutsche Symphonie Orchestra of Berlin, under Andrew Davis; the London Philharmonic Orchestra, under Emmanuel Krivine; the Hallé Orchestra, under Mark Elder; the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, with Neemi Jarvi and Rafael Fruhbeck de Burgos; the Vienna Symphony; Sinfonia Varsovia; and the NHK Symphony Orchestra of Tokyo, under Fabio Luisi. He performs regularly at the BBC Proms. In the USA and Canada his appearances have included performances with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Montreal Symphony Orchestra.

Mr Goerner has performed chamber music with the Takács Quartet, Janine Jansen, Julian Rachlin, Steven Isserlis, Gary Hoffman and Vadim Repin, and duo recitals with the mezzo-soprano Sophie Koch. He also performs repertoire for two pianos with Martha Argerich, Alexander Rabinovich, and with his wife Rusudan Alavidze.

Mr Goerner's future appearances will include performances with the Orchestra of the 18th century, the NHK Symphony, the Utah Symphony, the Suisse Romande Orchestra, the Barcelona Symphony, the orchestra of RAI Turin, and the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, as well as recital and chamber appearances in London, Paris, Hannover, Schwetzingen, Geneva, Madrid, and Buenos Aires.

Mr Goerner's discography includes a Chopin recording for EMI, discs of repertoire by Rachmaninov and Liszt for the Cascavelle label, Busoni's Indian Fantasy for Chandos, and a new work for piano and orchestra by Jon Lord for EMI. His recording of Chopin for the Frederic Chopin Institute of Warsaw, performed on original instruments, was recently awarded the Diapason d'Or, and his Chopin recording on the Wigmore Hall Live label was instrumental Choice of the Month in BBC Music Magazine. Future releases include a live recital on DVD from the Verbier Festival (2009) for the Ideale-Audience label featuring repertoire by Beethoven and Chopin.

Photo © Brice Toul