Israeli pianist Boris Giltburg wins Queen Elisabeth Piano Competition

On 1 June Israeli pianist Boris Giltburg (28) won First Prize at the prestigious Queen Elisabeth Piano Competition in Brussels. Giltburg also won the Flemish Radio and TV Prize. He was awarded €25,000 and a busy schedule of international concerts including:
 
17 June Centre for Fine Arts (Bozar), Brussels: Closing concert of the competition, to be broadcast on TV and radio. Withn De Filharmonie and Edo de Waart in Prokofiev Piano Concerto No 2
21 June De Singel, Antwerp (repeat)
27 June Philharmonie, Luxembourg. With Orchestre Philharmonique de Luxembourg and Emmanuel Krivine
 
Giltburg impressed the jury in his Finals appearance on 29 May with an outstanding performance of Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No 3, accompanied by Marin Alsop and the Orchestre National de Belgique at the Bozar in Brussels. He also performed the compulsory new work by Michel Petrossian, and earlier in the same concert revealed the depth of his musicianship in Beethoven’s Sonata Op 90, having played a Mozart concerto and the Liszt B minor Sonata in the semi-finals.
 
This competition is the culmination of a spectacular year for Giltburg. His Prokofiev 'War Sonatas' disc on Orchid (released September 2012) was praised by critics. It was ‘Critic’s Choice’ of 2012 in Gramophone received five stars in the Daily Telegraph and was singled out on BBC Radio 3 and in the record press worldwide.

Last season Giltburg made his London Philharmonic Orchestra debut, toured Germany with the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse and Tugan Sokhiev, made a sensational recital debut at the Beijing NCPA and returned to Wigmore Hall, where he is a regular guest.
 
As well as the many prestigious concerts associated with the Queen Elisabeth Competition, highlights of the coming months include Giltburg’s Vienna Musikverein debut in October, and a return to the International Piano Series at London’s Southbank Centre in November 2013.
 
Boris Giltburg's next UK performance is his recital at the Cheltenham Festival on 12 July 2013.