鋼琴│基里爾．格斯坦 Kirill Gerstein
格斯坦的好奇心與多才多藝使他得以探索廣袤的曲目與風格，從巴赫到阿德斯，他的演奏因為獨到的智慧、精湛的技藝，以及清晰的表現力而格外出眾，他曾被這樣描述：「極其自在，無需擔心技術上的困難，他讓鋼琴歌唱，這首我們聽過多次的協奏曲，獲得了新的生命。」─【萊比錫人民報】
2016年8月，格斯坦再度受BBC逍遙音樂節之邀，與湯瑪斯．道斯加德指揮的BBC蘇格蘭交響樂團演出柴科夫斯基第一號鋼琴協奏曲（1879年版），【獨立報】評論其演出為：「無瑕的技巧並充滿良好的說服力，出人意表的美感遍佈在整場演出中，很少看到觀眾爆發出如此由衷而發的欣喜。」
格斯坦最近完成了與維也納愛樂、柏林愛樂、阿姆斯特丹皇家音樂會堂管弦樂團的首次合作。在2016/17樂季中，他與BBC交響樂團同臺，參與畢契科夫策劃的柴科夫斯基音樂節，演出柴氏的第二與第三號鋼琴協奏曲，並首次與法國國家管弦樂團合作演出，並再次受邀至萊比錫布商大廈管弦樂團、柏林德意志交響樂團、科隆西德廣播交響樂團演出。
作為經常與美國各大樂團合作的格斯坦，這個樂季的演出還包括與波士頓交響樂團合作的布梭尼C大調鋼琴協奏曲、與克里夫蘭管弦樂團合作演出荀貝格鋼琴協奏曲、與紐約愛樂合作柴科夫斯基第一號鋼琴協奏曲（1879年版本）。在獨奏會方面，他在維也納音樂廳、漢堡的易北愛樂廳、皇家利物浦愛樂廳，以及布魯塞爾的弗拉耶音樂廳將現身演出。
格斯坦的專輯由myrios classics發行。他根據俄羅斯克林的柴科夫斯基博物館發行、柴科夫斯基於1879年親自修訂的最終版總譜，錄製了世界第一張1879年版柴科夫斯基第一號鋼琴協奏曲，於2015年出版。這張專輯獲得ECHO Klassik獎「年度協奏曲錄音」的殊榮。「這就是那種嚴謹、充滿理解、名家技藝的音樂創作，正是這樣的存在，使古典音樂繼續活著。」英國【觀察家報】如是評述。
在此之前，他收錄了舒曼、李斯特與奧利佛．克努森作品的首張專輯，被紐約時報選為2010年最佳錄音之一。其也與中提琴家塔貝亞．齊瑪曼合作了兩張專輯，曲目包括雷貝卡．克拉克、維歐當、布拉姆斯、舒伯特與法朗克的中提琴奏鳴曲。
格斯坦最新的專輯─李斯特的《超技練習曲》在2016年7月發行，【金融時報】曾這樣評論：「格斯坦的演奏沒有過度的渲染，而是花時間創造詩意與戲劇性，卻又不過於張揚，為眾所熟悉、喜愛的〈鬼火〉像是一個奇蹟，〈狩獵〉則同時兼具了猛然的追逐與收斂，在這些充滿想像的演奏中，為整組樂曲創造了一加一大於二的效果。」
格斯坦出生於俄羅斯沃羅涅日，在培養資優兒童的音樂學校學習古典鋼琴，14歲時，他從俄羅斯遷往美國，成為波士頓柏克利音樂學院最年輕的學生，師事Dmitri Bashkirov 與Ferenc Rados，繼續專攻鋼琴。
2001年，他獲得第十屆魯賓斯坦鋼琴大賽首獎，2010年榮獲吉爾摩藝術家大獎，使其得以委託提摩．安德烈、亞歷山大．高爾、奧利佛．克努森、甚至爵士音樂家奇克．柯瑞亞、布瑞德．梅爾道等人譜寫新作品。
「無瑕的技巧並充滿良好的說服力，出人意表的美感遍佈在整場演出中，很少看到觀眾爆發出如此由衷而發的欣喜。」
─【獨立報】，2016
「基里爾．格斯坦與柏林愛樂令人振奮的首次合作獲得了滿堂喝采，隨著鐘聲般的序奏，格斯坦手上響起的漸強像魔法一樣，其表現讓自己成為管絃樂團的真正的夥伴……他擁有李斯特般名家的風采與流動性，同時具有室內樂音樂家般的洞察力。」
─德國【每日鏡報】，2016
「這就是那種嚴謹、充滿理解、名家技藝的音樂創作，正是這樣的存在，使古典音樂繼續活著。」
─英國【觀察家報】，2015
Kirill Gerstein’s curiosity and versatility has led him to explore a wide range of repertoire and styles. From Bach to Adès, his playing is distinguished by a discerning intelligence, great virtuosity and a clarity of expression. He has been described as “Gloriously free and unfazed by technical difficulties, he made the piano sing… The concerto that we’ve heard so many times before gained new life.” (Leipziger Volkszeitung)
In August 2016, Gerstein returned to the BBC Proms in a performance of Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto (1879 version) with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and Thomas Dausgaard. The Independent wrote of his performance: “Technically flawless and imbued with benign authority, his performance was studded with moments of unexpected beauty; one seldom sees an audience erupt with such spontaneous delight.”
Gerstein has recently made his debut with the Vienna Philharmonic, Berlin Philharmonic and Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. In the 2016/17 season he will appear with the BBC Symphony Orchestra as part of their Tchaikovsky Festival curated by Semyon Bychkov performing the composer’s Second and Third Piano Concertos, make his debut with the Orchestre National de France, and will return to the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, and WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln. A regular guest of all the major orchestras in the USA, this season Gerstein performs Busoni’s Piano Concerto in C with the Boston Symphony, Schonberg’s Piano Concerto with the Cleveland Orchestra and Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto (1879 version) with the New York Philharmonic. In recital he performs at the Vienna Konzerthaus, the new Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Hall and Flagey in Brussels.
Gerstein records for myrios classics. His world premiere recording of Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto in the author’s own final 1879 version published by the Tchaikovsky Museum in Klin, Russia, was released in 2015. The disc won an ECHO Klassik Award for Concerto Recording of the Year. “This is the kind of serious, intelligent and virtuosic music-making that keeps classical music alive.” (Observer). Prior to this, his first solo recording of works by Schumann, Liszt and Oliver Knussen was chosen by the New York Times as one of the best recordings of 2010. He has collaborated with Tabea Zimmerman on two recordings of sonatas for viola and piano by Rebecca Clarke, Henri Vieuxtemps, Brahms, Schubert and Franck. Gerstein’s latest recording of Liszt’s Transcendental Études was released in July 2016 to widespread acclaim: “Gerstein plays them without any sense of being stretched, finds time to create poetry and drama, and is sparing with his big guns. ‘Feux follets’, a familiar favourite, is magical. ‘Wilde Jagd’ is at once a headlong chase and a model of restraint. In these imaginative performances the whole set adds up to more than the sum of its parts.” (Financial Times)
Born in Voronezh, Russia, Gerstein studied classical piano at a special music school for gifted children. The youngest student to attend Boston’s Berklee College of Music, Kirill Gerstein was 14 when he moved from Russia to the USA to study the piano. Kirill Gerstein counts Dmitri Bashkirov and Ferenc Rados as his principal teachers. In 2001, he won First Prize at the 10th Arthur Rubinstein Competition, and in 2010, was awarded the prestigious Gilmore Artist Award which allowed him to commission new works from Timothy Andres, Chick Corea, Alexander Goehr, Oliver Knussen and Brad Mehldau.
“Technically flawless and imbued with benign authority, his performance was studded with moments of unexpected beauty; one seldom sees an audience erupt with such spontaneous delight.”
The Independent, August 2016
“Kirill Gerstein… brought the house down with his rapturously acclaimed debut with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. With the massive bell-like introduction, which in Kirill Gerstein’s hands crescendoed like a magical force, he presented himself as a true partner to the orchestra… He has the touch and fluidity of a Liszt virtuoso and at the same time the intuition of a chamber musician.”
Der Tagesspiel, April 2016
“This is the kind of serious, intelligent and virtuosic music-making that keeps classical music alive. ”
Observer, May 2015
