Imogen Cooper

Pianist Imogen Cooper earned particular distinction through her performances of Mozart. Her range extends across solo recitals, chamber collaborations, concerto appearances, and song partnerships at the keyboard.

Born in London on August 28, 1949, she is the daughter of musicologist Martin Cooper. Early training took her as a young adolescent to the Paris Conservatory, where she worked with Jacques Février and Yvonne Lefébure and received the institution’s First Prize in piano. Subsequent studies in Vienna brought her into contact with Alfred Brendel, Paul Badura-Skoda, and Jörg Demus. A 1969 Mozart Memorial Prize marked the start of her London engagements, after which she maintained a global calendar that encompassed repeated performances with the London Symphony Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, and the Boston Symphony Orchestra; conductor Seiji Ozawa promptly requested her return to Boston. As an accompanist she has most frequently appeared with baritone Wolfgang Holzmair, while chamber projects have included the Belcea Quartet. Her concerto repertoire encompasses all five of Beethoven’s works for piano and orchestra, the majority of Mozart’s later concertos, Chopin’s piano concertos, Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G major, Schumann’s Piano Concerto in A major Op. 54, and Bartók’s Piano Concerto No. 3. She has also introduced several notable new scores, among them Thomas Adès’s Traced Overhead in 1996 and Deirdre Gribbin’s Decorated Skin in 2003.

During the 1980s she released a widely praised survey of Schubert’s piano output from the final six years of the composer’s life. Her discography has centered chiefly on the Philips, Avie, and, more recently, Chandos labels; the 2019 Chandos release Iberia y Francia appeared under the latter imprint.