Biography
American keyboardist David Breitman has earned acclaim for his command of the fortepiano, the modern piano, and the art of accompaniment, placing him among a small number of players worldwide—and an even smaller cohort in the United States—who maintain mastery in every one of these domains. His most prominent association has been with baritone Sanford Sylvan, a partnership now exceeding thirty years that has produced hundreds of recitals and several discs, among them canonical works such as Schubert’s Die schöne Müllerin and the first recorded account of The Glass Hammer, a song cycle by Cuban-American composer Jorge Martín.
Breitman received his earliest musical instruction in Montreal. After a period away from music during which he earned a bachelor’s degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he resumed piano study with Patricia Zander at the New England Conservatory and completed a master’s degree there in 1981. His engagement with historical instruments deepened through work with Malcolm Bilson at Cornell University, from which he received the DMA the next year.
Breitman serves as director of the Historical Performance Program at Oberlin College in Ohio and regularly conducts master classes at other schools. Beyond his extensive catalogue with Sylvan, he has issued distinctive solo recordings, including the Mozart violin sonatas performed on period instruments with Jean-François Rivest for the Canadian label Analekta. He also took part in a multi-pianist project launched by Bilson that produced recordings, issued on Claves, of the complete Beethoven sonatas on historical pianos. The seven participants not only documented the music but traveled together, appearing twice in Italy—at the Accademia Bartolomeo Cristofori in Florence in 1999 and for the Amici della Musica in Palermo in 2002. Breitman began recording the Beethoven violin sonatas with Elizabeth Wallfisch in 2014 and, four years later, released an album of the composer’s cello sonatas with historically informed cellist Jaap ter Linden.
Breitman received his earliest musical instruction in Montreal. After a period away from music during which he earned a bachelor’s degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he resumed piano study with Patricia Zander at the New England Conservatory and completed a master’s degree there in 1981. His engagement with historical instruments deepened through work with Malcolm Bilson at Cornell University, from which he received the DMA the next year.
Breitman serves as director of the Historical Performance Program at Oberlin College in Ohio and regularly conducts master classes at other schools. Beyond his extensive catalogue with Sylvan, he has issued distinctive solo recordings, including the Mozart violin sonatas performed on period instruments with Jean-François Rivest for the Canadian label Analekta. He also took part in a multi-pianist project launched by Bilson that produced recordings, issued on Claves, of the complete Beethoven sonatas on historical pianos. The seven participants not only documented the music but traveled together, appearing twice in Italy—at the Accademia Bartolomeo Cristofori in Florence in 1999 and for the Amici della Musica in Palermo in 2002. Breitman began recording the Beethoven violin sonatas with Elizabeth Wallfisch in 2014 and, four years later, released an album of the composer’s cello sonatas with historically informed cellist Jaap ter Linden.
Albums
