 Idil Biret (piano)Idil Biret was born in Ankara. She started to play the piano at the age of three and later studied at the Paris Conservatoire under the guidance of Nadia Boulanger, graduating at the age of fifteen with three first prizes. She was a pupil of Alfred Cortot and a lifelong disciple of Wilhelm Kempff. Idil embarked on her career as a soloist at the age of sixteen appearing with major orchestras, in the principal music centres of the world. Idil Biret has received the Lili Boulanger memorial Award in Boston, the Harriet Cohen / Dinu Lipatti Gold Medal in London, the Polish Cavalry Cross of the Order of Merit, the Adelaide Ristori Prize in Italy, the French Chevalier de l’Ordre National du Mérite and the State Artist distinction in Turkey.
More than one hundred recordings since the 1960s include the first recordings of Liszt's transcriptions of the nine Symphonies of Beethoven (for EMI) and of Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique (for Atlantic/Finnadar). She recorded for Naxos the complete piano works of Brahms, Chopin, and Rachmaninov, the three Sonatas of Boulez, Ligeti's Etudes and the transcription by Stravinsky of The Firebird. A Marco Polo disc features the piano compositions and transcriptions of her mentor Wilhelm Kempff.
Concerts
Below are details of concerts at which Idil Biret has performed since 1991.Click on a concert to find out more (full programme details are available from January 2003 only). |