“This young Italian pianist is not only a formidable technician but also an original musical thinker whose performances seek to illuminate, after unconventional ways, the true nature of the repertoire he plays” – Jeffrey Tate
“In my opinion Giuseppe Albanese is one of the best young Italian pianists who have emerged in recent years. He performed the Mendelssohn Piano Concerto in D minor with me on two occasions, and I was very impressed with his musicianship, pianism and expressive talent. It stands out in my memory.” – James Conlon
Giuseppe Albanese is one of the most sought after pianists of his generation.
He launched his career winning First Prize at the Vendome International Piano Competition in London, with a distinguished jury chaired by Sir Jeffrey Tate, Stephen Bishop-Kovacevich, Elisabeth Leonskaja, Elisabeth Söderstrom, Christa Ludwig, defined by Le Figaro as “the piano world’s most prestigious award”. Albanese was awarded First Prize at Premio Venezia, the most important Italian piano competition.
In 2014 he made his Deutsche Grammophon label debut with “Fantasia”, a concept album featuring Beethoven’s Sonata quasi una Fantasia Op. 27 No. 2, Schubert’s Wanderer Fantasy Op. 15 and Schumann’s Fantasy Op. 17. One year later, in November 2015, he released his second DG Album: “Après une lecture de Liszt”, dedicated to the Hungarian composer entirely. In March 2016 Decca Classics released a box with complete Bartók’s works which features Albanese’s recording of the “Variations” (world premiere recording). Recently, Universal released his new recording: Liszt’s Piano Concertos 1 & 2 and Malédiction with the “Russian Philharmonic” and Fabio Mastrangelo. His third release for Deutsche Grammophon will be of dance transcriptions end 2019.
Giuseppe Albanese performs to outstanding critical and public acclaim in leading concert halls throughout the world, frequently collaborates with internationally renowned conductors such as Christian Arming, John Axelrod, James Conlon, Lawrence Foster, Will Humburg, Dmitri Jurowski, Julian Kovatchev, Alain Lombard, Nicola Luisotti, Othmar Maga, Fabio Mastrangelo, Henrik Nanasi, Daniel Oren, George Pehlivanian, Alexander Sladkowsky, Hubert Soudant, Pinchas Steinberg, Michel Tabachnik, Sir Jeffrey Tate, Jurai Valcuha and Jonathan Webb.
Regularly invited to participate in international festivals, Albanese has performed for Lorin Maazel’s Castleton Festival, Yuri Temirkanov’s ‘Arts Square’ Winter Festival in St Petersburg, Contemporary Music Festival at the Biennale of Venice, Gustav Khun’s Tiroler Festspiele; French Festival of Colmar (with Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana); International Piano Festival “En Blanco & Negro” of Mexico City, International Piano Festival of Brescia and Bergamo, MiTo Festival in Milan and Turin, Mittlefest, Sintra Music Festival in Portugal and the Tongyeong Festival in Korea.
In his native country, Italy, he gives recitals and concerts in the most important concert hall season with such orchestras as the Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia and Orchestra Sinfonica della RAI as well as in the most important theatres such as Petruzzelli – Bari; Comunale – Bologna; Teatro Lirico – Cagliari; Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino – Florence; Carlo Felice – Genoa; San Carlo – Naples; Massimo – Palermo; Teatro dell’Opera – Rome; Verdi – Triest; La Fenice – Venice; Arena – Verona.
His concerts are regularly broadcast by RAI Italian national radio and television, and Classical HD recently broadcast his Debussy program performed in Teatro Bibiena in Mantova.
Giuseppe Albanese was born in Reggio Calabria (Italy) in 1979. He began piano lessons when he was five and he received his diploma with the highest honours at the Conservatory Rossini in Pesaro three years later, when 17. His studies continued at Imola International Piano Academy and at Messina University, where he was awarded a Magna cum laude Doctorate in Philosophy, writing his thesis on the aesthetics of Liszt in his Années de pèlerinage. At age of 25 Giuseppe Albanese became a full professor, teaching Methodology of Musical Communication at the University of Messina. In addition to his intense concert activity, he is also currently professor at the Tartini Conservatory in Trieste.
