Murray Perahia

Famed pianist Murray Perahia is renowned for his performances of interpretively difficult music from Bach to Schumann. He has a vast recording catalog, much of it made for the CBS Masterworks label and its descendant, Sony Classical. Perahia is highly esteemed among his fellow musicians and has won three Grammy Awards and numerous Gramophone Awards in Britain, where he lives. Plagued by a hand injury in later life, he released his most recent recording to date, one of Beethoven's "Hammerklavier" and "Moonlight" Sonatas in 2018. Perahia was born on April 19, 1947, in the New York City borough of the Bronx. His parents were Jewish immigrants from Thessaloniki, Greece, and his first language was Ladino (Judaeo-Spanish). As a child piano student, his dedication to music was indifferent, but his interest began to grow rapidly when he was 15 for reasons that he says he cannot explain. Perahia attended Mannes College of Music in Manhattan, studying with Mieczysław Horszowski and Artur Balsam. In the summer, he had additional instruction from Rudolf Serkin and other famed musicians; he played four-hand piano music with Serkin and went on to become his assistant at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. Perahia made his debut at New York's Carnegie Hall in 1968, winning critical acclaim, and he scored a major breakthrough in 1972 when he became the first North American to take the top prize at England's Leeds Piano Competition. Signed to the CBS Masterworks label, he released his debut album, featuring Schumann's Davidsbündlertänze, Op. 6, and Fantasiestücke, Op. 12, the following year. Over a performing career lasting a half-century, Perahia was an international star and one of the most respected pianists in the entire world of classical music. Based in London, where he lived with his wife, Ninette Shohet, and raised two sons, he appeared in recital and as a concerto soloist in major international capitals. He was co-artistic director of Britain's Aldeburgh Festival in the late '80s. During the later part of his career, he often conducted Mozart's piano concertos from the keyboard. In 1990, Perahia suffered from an infection that began with a cut thumb; he also suffered from hand bone problems, and these issues necessitated breaks of several years from performing. Perahia used his time away to immerse himself more deeply in the music of Bach, and when he returned with a 1999 recording of Bach's English Suites, it won a Grammy Award. Perahia won two other Grammy Awards and earned two nominations for his 2000 recording of Bach's Goldberg Variations, BWV 988. Perahia's recording catalog is vast. It includes music by Franck, Grieg, and Bartók, but the vast majority comprises recordings of music from Bach to Schumann and includes a complete cycle of Beethoven's piano concertos with the Concertgebouw Orchestra. Perahia recorded for CBS/Sony from 1973 to 2011, and that label has continued to reissue his material. He made several recordings for Deutsche Grammophon in the 2010s, including, in 2018, one of Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 29 in B flat major, Op. 106 ("Hammerklavier"), and Piano Sonata No. 14 in C sharp minor, Op. 27, No. 2 ("Moonlight"). By that time, his catalog included well over 100 albums. Perahia's performing career has slowed in the 2020s, but he has remained visible as the recipient of various awards, including designation as an honorary Knight Commander of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II in 2012 and an honorary doctorate from Cambridge University in 2024. Perahia has given masterclasses at the Juilliard School, Stanford University, and other institutions, and he has taught summer courses at the Jerusalem Music Centre, where he serves as president. ~ James Manheim, Rovi