Georgijs Osokins
Georgijs Osokins (born 25 April 1995) is a Latvian classical pianist. He has gained international attention through his participation at age of 19 in the XVII International Chopin Piano Competition where he quickly became an absolute Audience Favourite but his performances received either superlatives or led to controversy. His epic sense of time scale is akin to Emil Gilels.[1] Gidon Kremer has described him as “a highly gifted musician with a big future”.
Early life and education
Refined, impeccable technique, musical ideas - simply great piano playing - France Musique
Born into a family of pianists, Georgijs Osokins began learning piano at the age of five. Osokins began piano studies with his father, Professor Sergejs Osokins, a prominent teacher and pianist in Latvia. Then he moved to the Juilliard School of Music to work with Sergei Babayan and later returned to Europe to study under Georg Friedrich Schenck in Germany. Georgijs took private lessons from Valery Afanassiev, Sir András Schiff, Dmitri Bashkirov, Bernd Goetzke and Mikhail Voskresensky.
Professional career
Having caused a marked sensation at the competition, he certainly has the requisite mix of agility and grace[2] - Gramophone
Osokins performed his debut concert at the age of 10, playing Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Piano Concerto No. 20 (Mozart), K. 466 with the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra. Although his successes include winning the first prize in both the 9th International Moscow Frederick Chopin Competition for Young Pianists (2014) and the 9th Alexander Scriabin International Competition in Paris (2009) the breakthrough in his artistic path came later. In 2015, aged only 19, Osokins has been thrown into the limelight of international music critics during the 17th International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw. His interpretations of Frédéric Chopin pieces have been dubbed by critics as “revolutionary”[3], "exceptional and unpredictable"[4]. Even before the finals, he walked away with opportunities often reserved just for prizewinners as concert invitations started pouring in for a solo recital at the prestigious "Chopin and His Europe" festival in Warsaw and for his first tour of Japan, as well as invitations from three continents for concerts and recordings.
These included performances at the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra Concert Hall in Katowice, the Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre Hall, Zaryadye Concert Hall in Moscow and recitals in Switzerland, Germany, the United States, Canada, Ireland and the United Kingdom.
Osokins made important debuts at the Konzerthaus Berlin, the Vancouver Playhouse (theatre venue), Klavier-Festival Ruhr, Laeiszhalle in Hamburg, International Piano Series in Bern, the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, Lockenhaus Festival, Onkagudo Hall in Japan, Tongyeong Hall in South Korea.
Since 2018 Georgijs has been collaborating with Gidon Kremer performing works by Johann Sebastian Bach, Mozart, Chopin, Robert Schumann, Ferruccio Busoni, Mieczysław Weinberg, Arvo Pärt|Pärt and Valentyn Silvestrov, touring in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Russia, Poland, Germany, Asia and US. Alongside Lucas Debargue, Georgijs was announced the first permanent Guest Artist of Kremerata Baltica in its 22-year history by Gidon Kremer.
Georgijs Osokins has appeared with the Amadeus Chamber Orchestra, Kremerata Baltica, Taiwan Philharmonic Orchestra, Tokyo New City Orchestra, Naples Philharmonic Orchestra, Sinfonietta Cracovia. He shared the stage with Gidon Kremer, Giedrė Dirvanauskaitė, Sergei Nakariakov, Nicolas Altstaedt, Vladimir Fedoseyev, Andrey Boreyko, Lio Kuokman etc.
In 2021 Georgijs Osokins debuted at the 101st Salzburg Festival. 2022 sees his debut performances at Wigmore Hall in London, Pierre-Boulez Hall in Berlin, Sala Verdi in Milan.
Recordings
UK’s label “Piano Classics” released Osokins' two CD albums focused on Chopin’s Late Works and works of Sergei Rachmaninoff. These recordings received rave reviews from important Canadian, German, Danish, British and French music magazines. Similar tone has resonated from the renowned classical music pedagogues and piano virtuosos, as seen in the words of Sergei Babayan:
“He has a very rare gift of a true Chopinist.”[5]
In 2020 German label Accentus Music has released the first chamber music album of Georgijs alongside Gidon Kremer containing trios of Chopin and Ludwig van Beethoven - this CD received excellent reviews worldwide and was nominated for both International Classical Music Awards 2020 and Opus Klassik 2021.
Awards
9th Alexander Scriabin International Competition in Paris – 1st prize (2009)
9th International Moscow Frederick Chopin Competition for Young Pianists – 1st prize (2014)
17th International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw – Finalist, Honourable mention (2015)
Manhattan International Music Competition – 1st prize (2018)
Recipient of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland in 2018
Latvian Grand Music Award (2016) - highest honour in music in Latvia. Remains youngest recipient in Awards history
References
- ↑ Distler, Jed (4 October 2021). "The Chopin Piano Competition: welcome to our daily blog". Gramophone. Archived from the original on 4 October 2021. Retrieved 16 July 2022.
- ↑ Smith, Harriet. "BEETHOVEN; CHOPIN Piano Trios (Kremer; Dirvanauskaitė; Osokins)". Gramophone. Retrieved 16 July 2022.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "Georgijs Osokins is a piano provocateur". The Georgia Straight. 2016-05-18. Retrieved 2022-07-16.
- ↑ Nicholas, Jeremy. "RACHMANINOV Chopin Variations. Song transcriptions (Georgijs Osokins)". Gramophone. Retrieved 16 July 2022.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "Rachmaninoff: Chopin Variations, Song Transcriptions - Brilliant Classics". www.piano-classics.com (in Nederlands). Retrieved 2022-07-16.
External links
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