Matthias Kirschnereit

Born in 1962 in Dorsten, West Germany, pianist Matthias Kirschnereit shaped a personal approach centered on measured, unshowy interpretations drawn from the central German and Austrian repertoire. At the age of nine he moved with his family to Namibia in southern Africa, where a substantial German community had long been established. Captivated by the prospect of a professional piano life, he sought his relatives’ consent to return alone to Germany; the approval finally came when he turned fourteen. By then he had received only sporadic instruction, so that enrollment at the Hochschule für Musik Detmold left him noticeably behind his peers. Against the counsel of instructors and acquaintances he left school two years later, freeing himself to concentrate entirely on the instrument. Success soon followed in major contests, among them the Concours Géza Anda in Zurich and the International Australian Piano Competition in Sydney, drawing the attention of distinguished mentors such as Sandor Végh, Murray Perahia, and Claudio Arrau. In 1997 Kirschnereit joined the faculty of the Academy of Music and Theater in Rostock. Shortly afterward he launched an extensive recording partnership with the Arte Nova label, culminating in a seven-year traversal of Mozart’s piano concertos alongside the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra led by Frank Beermann. Further Arte Nova projects encompassed works by Mendelssohn and Brahms; his 2009 release of the reconstructed Piano Concerto in E minor by Mendelssohn earned an ECHO Klassik award. Subsequent discs have appeared primarily on Berlin Classics and CPO, including the 2017 Brahms program Frei aber Einsam. That same year he collaborated with violinist Lena Neudauer on a recording of Mendelssohn’s seldom-programmed Double Concerto in D minor. Kirschnereit resides with his family in Hamburg and maintains a keen interest in painting as an amateur pursuit.