Mitsuko Uchida

Pianist Mitsuko Uchida was born on December 20, 1948, in a suburb of Tokyo. Her father, a diplomat, was frequently in Germany, so she was primarily raised by her mother. She began piano lessons at the age of four, and even in kindergarten, she stood out by sitting at the piano and harmonium whenever possible. She was sent to a Junior Music School where she received fundamental musical education. When she was twelve, her father was transferred to Vienna, and the family followed him to Austria. There, she joined Richard Hauser's class at the Vienna University of Music. At 14, she played her first recital. When her father was transferred again in 1964, this time to Cologne, Uchida decided to stay in Vienna and complete her education there, which she did in 1968, most recently as Hauser's assistant. From then on, her career progressed slowly but steadily. In 1969, she won the Beethoven Competition in Vienna. She took further lessons with Wilhelm Kempf, then secured second place at the Chopin Competition in Warsaw in 1970. In 1972, she settled in London, making her way through, and in 1976, she won the Leeds International Piano Competition. However, it wasn't until around 1978 that she was truly able to make a living from music. Uchida began to undertake ambitious projects, developing a recital featuring all of Mozart's piano sonatas, which she had extensively studied since her years in Vienna. This decision was made in collaboration with Philips producer Erik Smith, who assumed that Mozart would sell better than the pianist's second favorite in her repertoire, Franz Schubert. In any case, Uchida went public with this project in 1982, presenting the complete sonatas on stage in London and Tokyo. This brought her to the attention of the international music scene, and her true career began. This was followed by her first recordings for Philips, then in 1986, a complete recording of Mozart's piano concertos with Jeffrey Tate and the English Chamber Orchestra. From then on, Uchida became a prominent figure in the international concert scene. As part of the grand Mozart Edition, and increasingly as a specialist in the works of Schubert, Beethoven, Schoenberg, and Hindemith, she made a name for herself. Since her debut with the Berlin Philharmonic in 1984, she has performed with many renowned ensembles. Together with Kurt Sanderling and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, she recorded the complete Beethoven concertos in the second half of the nineties. With Pierre Boulez and the Cleveland Orchestra, she dedicated herself to the piano-orchestral music of Schoenberg, Webern, and Berg (2001). In 2002, she was Artist in Residence with the Cleveland Orchestra, and also performed in the Hamburg Musikhalle, the Vienna Konzerthaus, Carnegie Hall, the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, and the Royal Festival Hall in London. In the same year, she completed her Schubert cycle of piano works for Philips. In early 2004, Uchida again presented Mozart piano concertos with the Berlin Philharmonic under Sir Charles Mackerras and the Los Angeles Philharmonic under Esa-Pekka Salonen. She also designed a Mozart cycle, which was to continue until 2007, with the Cleveland Orchestra, and works by Messiaen and Ravel were also on the program. With the Chicago Symphony and the Camerata Salzburg, she played and conducted Mozart from the piano, and further concerts followed with the London Symphony Orchestra and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe. For many years, she has worked closely with the world's most prestigious orchestras, including the Berlin Philharmonic, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the London Symphony Orchestra, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, and – in the USA – the Chicago Symphony and the Cleveland Orchestra, with whom she recently celebrated her 100th performance at Severance Hall. Conductors with whom she has worked closely include Bernard Haitink, Sir Simon Rattle, Riccardo Muti, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Vladimir Jurowski, Andris Nelsons, Gustavo Dudamel, and Mariss Jansons. Since 2016, Mitsuko Uchida has been an artistic partner of the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, with whom she is currently on a multi-year tour through Europe, Japan, and North America. She also regularly gives recitals in Vienna, Berlin, Paris, Amsterdam, London, New York, and Tokyo, and is a frequent guest at the Salzburg Mozart Week and the Salzburg Festival. Mitsuko Uchida is a founding member of the Borletti-Buitoni Trust and a director of the Marlboro Music Festival. She is a recipient of the Golden Mozart Medal from the Mozarteum Salzburg and the Praemium Imperiale from the Japan Art Association. She has also been awarded the Gold Medal of the Royal Philharmonic Society and the Wigmore Hall Medal, and has received honorary doctorates from the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge. In 2009, she was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire.