Information: Music
of Tribute is a Labor Records historic series that pays homage to great composers
by linking their works with music–often unknown, rediscovered or previously unrecorded–that
pays tribute to them through dedication, homage or thematic reference. Here
now is the latest volume dedicated to J.S. Bach. Beatrice Berthold's first
break came when she was introduced by the well-known singer, Anneliese Rothenberger,
at a gala concert on German television for the promotion of young artists. This
soon led to international recognition when, for example, her first CD 'The Young
Rachmaninov' was awarded the German Record Critic's Prize (quarterly list) and
became 'CD of the Month'. The British music magazine 'The Gramophone' said : "In
Beatrice Berthold EMI has located a performer of true 'star' quality and charisma"
and compared the quality of her playing with that of Martha Argerich. Subsequent
recordings for EMI were re-released by NAXOS Records in 1998. Beatrice Berthold,
who lives in Hamburg, is the only woman German pianist at the present time to
have made a name for herself in the international music press for her interpretations
of Russian virtuoso piano music, as well as of piano works by Spanish and Latin
American composers. After studying at the Music Schools of Vienna, Cologne and
Freiburg, mainly with Russian teachers, she studied with Professor Renata Kretschmar-Fischer
at the Detmold Music School. Early successes in various competitions, including
in the UK, led to performances on BBC Radio 3 and Classic FM. In Germany, Beatrice
Berthold was featured by ARD television (Channel 1) in several programmes, including
in 1993 a performance of Rachmaninov's 1st Piano Concerto at the opening concert
of its series to mark the 50th anniversary of the composer's death. This series
also featured recordings by Martha Argerich, Lilya Zilberstein and Dinorah Varsi.
Since then she has featured in documentaries on Granados, Rachmaninov and Clara
Schumann. A portrait of Beatrice herself was televised. Abroad, recordings of
her performances have been played by Radio France, Radio Suisse Romande, Classic
FM, AVRO Televisie Hilversum, Radio Nacional de Chile and NPR Atlanta. Beatrice
Berthold has pursued a busy concert career in Germany and abroad. She has performed
with the radio symphony orchestras of Hamburg (NDR), Cologne (WDR), Luxemburg
and Prague and with the Berlin Symphony Orchestra (BSO), Stuttgart Philharmonic
Orchestra, Philharmonic Orchestra 'Arthur Rubinstein' Lodz, Orquestra Sinfonica
de Porto Alegre, Orquesta 'Gran Mariscal de Ayscucho' Caracas, etc. She has also
given guest performances at well-known music festivals such as the 'Lucerne International
Music Festival', 'International Piano Festival (of the) Ruhr', 'Festival de Radio
France', 'Music Festival of Lower Saxony', 'Semanas Musicales de Frutillar' (Chile)
and at the International Piano Festival of Albacete (Spain) under the patronage
of Alicia de Larrocha, who inaugurated this festival in 2001. In the field of
chamber music, she has played with such well-known artists as Josef Suk, Maria
Kliegel, Lilya Zilberstein and Markus Groh. Solo recitals and performances with
orchestra have taken her to several countries in South America, as well as to
the USA. Her concerts in Chile in 2002 and 2003 resulted in an invitation by the
Orquesta Sinfonica de la Universidad de Chile to play at the 'Pablo Neruda' International
Festival, which took place in Santiago in 2004. In 1999 Beatrice Berthold was
appointed a professor of the Hannover School of Music and she also has given master
classes in Germany, Chile (University of Santiago) and Lithuania (Academy of Music,Vilnius).
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