Cédric Tiberghien

“There was lightness and grandeur, seriousness and fun, powerful momentum and meditative restraint. Tiberghien knew exactly what he wanted to say about the music, and did so with a blend of boldness, reasoning and inspiration.”    -The Daily Telegraph, London   “An apparent natural with Saint-Saens, Tiberghien had a lock on all the score’s most fetching traits, channeling both its innocence and its volatility. To the work’s playful skittishness, the pianist brought a fantastically light, spidery touch, and where the music turned dark and thunderous, Tiberghien too morphed into a brooding, rapturous poet.”   - The Cleveland Plain Dealer     Cédric Tiberghien’s flourishing international career sees him performing across five continents in some of the world’s most prestigious halls, including, most recently, the Kennedy Centre in Washington, the Royal Albert Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Wigmore Hall and Barbican in London, the Salle Pleyel and the Theatre des Champs Elysees in Paris, Berlin’s Bechstein Hall, Salzburg’s Mozarteum, the Sydney Opera and Tokyo’s Bunka Kaikan and Asahi Halls.   His recent debut with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, performing Ravel’s Concerto in G at Symphony Hall and Carnegie Hall attracted unanimous acclaim from the press. The New York Times stated that “the highlight was a fresh and dazzling account of Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G, with the brilliant French pianist Cédric Tiberghien, who played with rich, rounded tone in the lyrical stretches and fleet, crisp articulation in the spiraling, jazzy, virtuosic passages". The Boston Globe saluted a “very impressive BSO debut. He showed a flair for interpretive risk (…) Tiberghien alternated between a sizable, almost declamatory sound and an ethereal stage whisper."   Highlights of the coming seasons include engagements with Orchestre National de Belgique ( Beethoven Concerto no. 4, Eivind Aadland), Hamburg Symphoniker ( Grieg with Jeffrey Tate), Orchestre National de France ( Rachmaninov no. 3 with Simone Young) and the continuation of the complete Beethoven Concerto cycle with Enrique Mazzola and the Orchestre National d’Ile de France.   Recital plans include several projects at the Wigmore Hall’s prestigious Master Series in London, performances at the Celebrity Series in Boston, the International Piano Series at London’s South Bank Centre, Bunka Kaikan Tokyo and the Piano Series Lyon.   Cédric Tiberghien’s most recent recording release is music of Szymanowski: Masques, Métopes & Études (Hyperion, February 2014) which follows concertos of Théodore Dubois with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and Andrew Manze ( Hyperion, June 2013). His discography also includes César Franck’s Symphonic Variations and Les Djinns, with the Liege Philharmonic conducted by François-Xavier Roth, Brahms’s Concerto No.1 with the BBC Symphony and Jiri Belohlavek, and six recital discs on Harmonia Mundi: Debussy, Beethoven Variations, Bach Partitas, Chopin and Brahms Ballades, Brahms Hungarian Dances, and a recital of Chopin Mazurkas.   Cédric Tiberghien studied at the Paris Conservatoire with Frédéric Aguessy and Gérard Frémy and was awarded the Premier Prix in 1992, aged just 17. He was then a prize winner at several major international piano competitions (Bremen, Dublin, Tel Aviv, Geneva, Milan), culminating with the 1st Prize at the prestigious Long-Thibaud Competition in Paris in 1998, alongside with five special awards, including the Audience Award and the Orchestra Award. This propelled on his international career, leading to over 150 engagements worldwide, including 7 visits to Japan and showcase appearances throughout Europe.   With over 60 concertos in his repertoire, Cédric Tiberghien has appeared with some of the world’s finest orchestras, including the Boston Symphony, Washington National Symphony, Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Budapest Festival Orchestra, Czech Philharmonic, BBC Symphony, Hallé Orchestra, Philharmonique de Radio-France, Orchestre de Paris, Orchestre National de France, Sydney Symphony, Tokyo Philarmonic, New Japan Philharmonic, Gelders Orkest, Stuttgart Staatsorchester, Hamburger Philharmoniker and Dresden Philharmonic. His conductor collaborations include Christoph Eschenbach, Jiri Belohlavek, Lionel Bringuier, Robin Ticciati, Simone Young, Myung-Whun Chung, Kurt Masur, Ivan Fischer, Leif Segerstam, Louis Langrée, Yutaka Sado, and Jerzy Semkow among many others.   Cédric Tiberghien is also a dedicated chamber musician, with regular partners including violinist Alina Ibragimova, soprano Sophie Karthäuser and cellist Pieter Wispelwey. His passion for chamber music is reflected in numerous recordings – a disc of songs with texts by Verlain (Cypres), and four projects with Alina Ibragimova; works by Schubert (Hyperion), Ravel and Lekeu, (Hyperion), Szymanowski (Hyperion), and the complete Beethoven violin sonatas (Wigmore Live).