Andreas Staier
More than 21 times played this month
Pianist Andreas Staier first became world famous as a harpsichordist. After studying with Lajos Rovatkay and Ton Koopman, he worked for three years with the Musica Antiqua Köln. But Staier is far more than a virtuoso representative of so-called historical performance practice. Each work that the pianist undertakes is not only analysed in terms of its structure, but also explores the historical situation in which it originated. Through his meticulous approach, he has opened up completely new interpretive approaches and made surprising listening experiences possible.
His commitment does not end with the music of the 19th century. This is shown by Staier's collaboration with the French composer Brice Pauset (b. 1965) from whom several compositions have been commissioned. The Kontra Sonata (2000), a hybrid of Schubert's Sonata in A minor D 845 and Pauset's Kontrakompositionen is a prime example of Staier's epoch-crossing musical thinking.
All this is documented on numerous recordings, almost all of which have received prestigious awards. Staier himself has often been honoured for his work. He was Artist in Residence at the AMUZ in Antwerp from 2012-2016, and between 2011 and 2021 at the Opéra de Dijon.
Whether at the harpsichord or the fortepiano, Staier performs at numerous renowned music festivals worldwide with ensembles such as the Freiburger Barockorchester, Concerto Köln, the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin or the Orquestra Barroca Casa da Música Porto.
Longtime musical partners include pianists Alexander Melnikov and Christine Schornsheim, violinist Isabelle Faust and tenor Christoph Prégardien. Andreas Staier maintains a close collaboration with Daniel Sepec and Roel Dieltiens, with whom he has performed well-known compositions for piano trio since 2010. The trio released an album of the Schubert piano trios in 2016.
Staier's extensive interests and abilities have made him a much sought-after educator from an early age.
