Master Class

Christopher Hinterhuber

„One of the best and most fascinating piano recordings of the year“ wrote the german magazine Fono Forum in 2006 about his recording of Sonatas and Rondos by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, followed by an „Editor‘s Choice“ by the renowned english Gramophone Magazine in 2008 for the recording of works for piano and orchestra by Hummel.

An ongoing project to record all 8 Piano Concertos by Ferdinand Ries with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and Uwe Grodd conducting (currently at the second-to-last Vol.4) has also brought him international notice.

Born in Klagenfurt, Austria, Christopher Hinterhuber studied with Alex Pappenberg, Rudolf Kehrer, Lazar Berman, Avo Kouyoumdjian and Heinz Medjimorec, acquiring additional artistic input from such artists as Oleg Maisenberg and Vladimir Ashkenazy. He has won numerous prizes and honors at the international piano competitions in Leipzig (Bach), Saarbrücken (Bach), Pretoria (Unisa), Zurich (Geza Anda) and Vienna among others.

As "Rising Star" 2002/03, he performed with violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja in the international series at the Carnegie Hall, New York and in all important musical centers in Europe.

The last few years have seen him play in major festivals such as the Styriarte in Graz, the Carinthische Sommer in Ossiach, the Mozartwoche in Salzburg, the Schubertiade Schwarzenberg, the Ruhr Piano Festival and the Prague Summer; under such conductors as Vladimir Ashkenazy, Bertrand de Billy, Yakov Kreizberg, Sylvain Cambreling and Bruno Weil; with the Radio Symphony Orchestra and the KlangForum in Vienna, the Vienna and Zurich Chamber Orchestra, the MDR-Orchestra Leipzig, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, the New Japan Philharmonic, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Luxembourg, the Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg and the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra among others.

A special project was the sound recording (Schubert, Rachmaninov, Schönberg) and filming (his hands) for the french-austrian movie "La pianiste" based on a novel by Elfriede Jelinek and directed by Michael Haneke, which was awarded the Great Prize of the Jury in Cannes in 2001.

Chamber music forms an important part of his work with partners like the violinists Ernst Kovacic, Christian Altenburger, Rainer Honeck; with Tamás Varga (cello), Ernst Ottensamer (clarinet) or Wolfgang Schulz (flute); and, with the Hugo-Wolf-, Ysaye or Prazak Quartets.

He has given masterclasses in Japan, Europe and South America and was teaching as guest  at the University for Music and performing Arts in Vienna in 2005/06.

Highlights of the 2009/10 season include concerts in many European countries, New Zealand, Japan and Korea.

Languages: German, English, French, Italian, Spanish