Andris Nelsons

In his native Brazil, Nelson Freire began piano lessons at the age of 3. Just two years later, in 1949, he made his stage debut with Mozart's Sonata in A major. His success at the international piano competition in Rio de Janeiro in 1957, where he impressed the jury with Beethoven's Piano Concerto in E-flat major, is considered the starting point of his great career. Freire then studied with Gulda's teacher Bruno Seidlhofer. His international career began shortly thereafter, with concerts and recitals in the most important venues in Europe, America, South America, and Asia. Further awards followed, such as the Dinu Lipatti Medal in London and first place at the international Vianna da Motta Competition in Lisbon (both in 1964). Nelson Freire played with almost all major orchestras, including the Berlin and Munich Philharmonic Orchestras, the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, the London Symphony Orchestra, and American orchestras in Baltimore, Boston, Montreal, New York, Philadelphia, and many more. Leading conductors such as Boulez, Chailly, Gergiev, Jochum, Masur, Previn, and Kempe engaged him as a soloist. Freire frequently performed as a piano duo with Martha Argerich. He toured Japan with her in 2003, Brazil and Argentina in 2004, and America in 2005. In the following two years, he played with the Gewandhaus Orchestra in Leipzig, at the BBC Proms in London, with the French National Orchestra and the NHK in Tokyo, and again with Martha Argerich in Toulouse and at the Ruhr Piano Festival. In 2009, their joint album "Salzburg" was released by Decca. His European tour in 2006/2007 took him to Switzerland, France, Austria, Germany, Portugal, and Spain. Nelson Freire made his Decca debut in 2003 with Chopin. Since then, he has been an exclusive artist for the label and has released eight albums to date. In 2010, for Frédéric Chopin's 200th birthday, his Nocturnes were released, along with a re-release of Chopin's Sonata No. 2.