Mark Padmore & Mitsuko Uchida
Biography Mark Padmore & Mitsuko Uchida
Mark Padmore
British tenor Mark Padmore was born in London in 1961 and grew up in Canterbury. Initially he studied clarinet, but in 1979 he moved to King's College as a "Choral Scholar" and to the vocal discipline. In 1991 he began his close collaboration with William Christie and Les Arts Florissants, and in 1992 with Philippe Herreweghe and the Collegium Vocale Gent. Padmore soon achieved world fame, especially as an evangelist and tenor soloist in Bach's choral works. From the 1990s onwards, however, he also made a name for himself as an opera interpreter: he appeared in Peter Brook's production of Don Giovanni in Aix-en-Provence, made a guest appearance as Tom Rakewell in Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress at the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels, performed Handel's Jephtha at the English National Opera and took part in staged performances of the Bach Passions with Sir Simon Rattle and the Berlin Philharmonic. At the Glyndebourne Festival he appeared as Captain Vere in Britten's Billy Budd, and in Aldeburgh he premiered two one-act operas by Sir Harrison Birtwistle. In the 2016/17 season, Mark Padmore made his mark on the program of the BR Symphony Orchestra as artist-in-residence, and in 2017/18 he occupies the same position with the Berliner Philharmoniker. He also has close collaborations with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and the Britten Sinfonia. Padmore devotes himself intensively to lieder singing: Für seine Aufnahme der Schubert-Liedzyklen mit Paul Lewis erhielt er 2010 den «Vocal Solo Award» des Magazins Gramophone, für Schumanns Dichterliebe mit Kristian Bezuidenhout 2011 den «Edison Award» und für seine Deutung von Brittens Serenade und Nocturne 2013 den «Echo Klassik». 2016 kürte ihn das Magazin Musical America zum «Vocalist of the Year». Mark Padmore is artistic director of the St. Endellion Summer Music Festival in Cornwall.
Mitsuko Uchida
One of the most revered artists of our time, Mitsuko Uchida is known as a peerless interpreter of the works of Mozart, Schubert, Schumann and Beethoven, as well for being a devotee of the piano music of Alban Berg, Arnold Schoenberg, Anton Webern, and György Kurtág. She is Musical America’s 2022 Artist of the Year, and a Carnegie Hall Perspectives artist across the 2022/3, 2023/4 and 2024/5 seasons. Her latest recording, of Beethoven’s Diabelli Variations, was released to critical acclaim earlier this year, has been nominated for a Grammy® Award, and won the 2022 Gramophone Piano Award.
She has enjoyed close relationships over many years with the world’s most renowned orchestras, including the Berlin Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Bavarian Radio Symphony, London Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, and – in the US – 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 have included 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 engaged on a multi-season touring project in Europe, Japan and North America. She also appears regularly in recital in Vienna, Berlin, Paris, Amsterdam, London, New York and Tokyo, and is a frequent guest at the Salzburg Mozartwoche and Salzburg Festival.
Mitsuko Uchida records exclusively for Decca, and her multi-award-winning discography includes the complete Mozart and Schubert piano sonatas. She is the recipient of two Grammy® Awards – for Mozart Concertos with The Cleveland Orchestra, and for an album of lieder with Dorothea Röschmann – and her recording of the Schoenberg Piano Concerto with Pierre Boulez and the Cleveland Orchestra won the Gramophone Award for Best Concerto.
A founding member of the Borletti-Buitoni Trust and Director of Marlboro Music Festival, Mitsuko Uchida is a recipient of the Golden Mozart Medal from the Salzburg Mozarteum, 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 holds Honorary Degrees from the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge. In 2009 she was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire.
