Mitsuko Uchida
Piano
Mitsuko Uchida is one of the world’s most poetic pianists, whose trademarks include a crystal-clear touch and haunting performances that strike a balance between intellect and emotion. At the same time, Mitsuko Uchida is also an extremely sensitive chamber musician, as audiences have been able to see for themselves since her residency with the Berliner Philharmoniker in the 2008/09 season.
Mitsuko Uchida has made a name for herself worldwide as a specialist in the piano music of Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert, but her repertoire also focuses on works by Berg, Schoenberg, Debussy and Boulez. For more than three decades, she has enjoyed a close artistic collaboration with the Berliner Philharmoniker with whom she made her debut in June 1984 as the soloist in Messiaen’s [Oiseaux exotiques], conducted by Seiji Ozawa. During her time as Artist in Residence with the Berliner Philharmoniker, she performed all of Beethoven’s piano concertos under the baton of Sir Simon Rattle. Mitsuko Uchida has also been Artist in Residence with the Cleveland Orchestra, at the Vienna Konzerthaus, Mozart Week in Salzburg, and the Lucerne Festival. Carnegie Hall in New York dedicated a special series to her entitled [Mitsuko Uchida: Vienna Revisited], and at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam she gave concerts with the Hagen Quartet, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra as part of a Carte Blanche series. In 2016, Mitsuko Uchida was appointed Artistic Partner of the Mahler Chamber Orchestra and conducted Mozart from the piano in Europe and Japan. For her services to classical music, she was made a Dame of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II. She has also received the Gold Medal of the Royal Philharmonic Society and the Gold Mozart Medal of the Mozarteum Foundation Salzburg.
