Heinrich Schiff: Witold Lutoslawski - Sacher Variations

Live recording of the Austrian cellist Heinrich Schiff, 1988
Witold Lutoslawski - Sacher Variations
Watch the full concert: • Heinrich Schiff: Hans ...
Heinrich Schiff (born 18 November 1951) is an Austrian cellist and conductor. He studied cello with Tobias Kühne and André Navarra and made his solo debut in Vienna and London in 1971. He studied conducting with Hans Swarovsky and made his conducting debut in 1986.
Schiff was Artistic Director of the Northern Sinfonia from 1990 to 1996, and recorded with them for the NMC label. He also held chief conductorships with the Copenhagen Philharmonic Orchestra in Copenhagen, Denmark (1996-2000), and the Orchester Musikkollegium Winterthur.
In 2004, he was appointed Chief Conductor of the Vienna Chamber Orchestra and served in the post from 2005 to 2008. He stood down from the post in 2008 for health reasons.
Schiff plays the "Mara" Stradivarius (1711) and "Sleeping Beauty" made by Montagnana in Venice in 1739. His recording of the Bach Cello Suites won prizes, and his recording of the Shostakovich concertos won the Grand Prix du Disque. His recording of the Brahms Double Concerto with Frank Peter Zimmermann and Wolfgang Sawallisch won the Deutscher Schallplattenpreis. Composers who have written cello concertos for Schiff include John Casken and Friedrich Cerha. Among his students are Rudi Spring, Gautier Capuçon, Richard Harwood and Natalie Clein.
This text is based on the Wikipedia-article "Heinrich Schiff" (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heinric.... A list of the authors is available here: en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?...
Witold Roman Lutosławski (25 January 1913 - 7 February 1994) was a Polish composer and orchestral conductor. He was one of the major European composers of the 20th century, and one of the preeminent Polish musicians during his last three decades. He earned many international awards and prizes. His compositions (of which he was a notable conductor) include four symphonies, a Concerto for Orchestra, a string quartet, instrumental works, concertos, and orchestral song cycles.
During his youth, Lutosławski studied piano and composition in Warsaw. His early works were influenced by Polish folk music. His style demonstrates a wide range of rich atmospheric textures. He began developing his own characteristic composition techniques in the late 1950s. His music from this period onwards incorporates his own methods of building harmonies from small groups of musical intervals. It also uses aleatoric processes, in which the rhythmic coordination of parts is subject to an element of chance.
During World War II, after escaping German capture, Lutosławski made a living by playing the piano in Warsaw bars. After the war, Stalinist authorities banned his First Symphony for being "formalist"-allegedly accessible only to an elite. Lutosławski believed such anti-formalism was an unjustified retrograde step, and he resolutely strove to maintain his artistic integrity. In the 1980s, Lutosławski gave artistic support to the Solidarity movement. Near the end of his life, he was awarded the Order of the White Eagle, Poland's highest honour.
This text is based on the Wikipedia-article "Witold Lutosławski" (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witold_.... A list of the authors is available here: en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?...