UK & Ireland representation, in collaboration with EAS Musikmanagement, Berlin
Elisabeth Leonskaja has long been among the most celebrated pianists of our times. Born into a Russian family in Tbilisi, she gave her first concerts at the age of eleven. While still a student at the Moscow Conservatory, she won prizes at major international piano competitions, including the Enescu Prize, the Marguerite Long-Jacques Thibaud Competition and the Queen Elisabeth Competition. Her musical development was decisively influenced by her collaboration with Sviatoslav Richter who recognized her exceptional talent and encouraged her by inviting her to play duo concerts with him. This musical and personal friendship continued until Richter’s death in 1997.
Leonskaja left the Soviet Union in 1978 and made Vienna her home. Since then, she has performed as soloist with the world’s finest orchestras and conductors. A regular guest at numerous international festivals, her name is also to be found in the most prominent piano series of major musical centres of the world from Paris to Vienna to Melbourne. In addition to her many solo engagements, chamber music remains an important part of her work. She has performed many times with string quartets, such as the Belcea, Borodin Artemis and Jerusalem quartets. She also had a longstanding musical friendship with the Alban Berg Quartet, and their piano quintet recordings are legendary.
