Jonathan Plowright

"one of the finest living pianists"

GRAMOPHONE


 

 

"How richly satisfying to hear playing of such unimpeachable musical honesty and awe-inspiring grandeur;  Gilels himself never produced a richer, more full-bloodied sonority.......and it is surely no exaggeration to say that if such playing is anything to go by you are listening to one of the finest living pianists"     GRAMOPHONE

 

 

 

"This Hyperion release is simply stunning....The plaudits for Plowright... confirm a colossal musical mind and matching technical ease."  INTERNATIONAL RECORD REVIEW

 

Hailed recently by reviewers as "a colossal musical mind"  with a "transcendent technique",  Jonathan Plowright  is now recognised globally as one of the UK's truly  exceptional pianists. 

Gold Medallist at the Royal Academy of Music and a Fulbright Scholar, Jonathan also won first prize in the European Piano Competition.    Critics, colleagues and audiences alike have since had unanimous praise for his many national and international performances and he has been in demand all over the world as recitalist, appeared with leading orchestras and ensembles and given numerous radio broadcasts.   

 

Jonathans last six CD recordings have been exclusively for Hyperion records, the UK’s largest and most highly respected independent classical music label.  Most recently his recording of the Concertos of Henryck Melcer for the Hyperion 'Romantic Piano Concerto' series attracted unanimous praise.

 

 

In 2006 his recording of Bach transcriptions by Walter Rummel was also released to great critical acclaim. His recording of the Constant Lambert Piano Concerto (which he world premiered in 1988) with David Lloyd Jones and the English Northern Philharmonia for Hyperion in 2005 was Gramophone Editor’s Choice and  CD of the Week in both The Sunday Times and ClassicFM

 

 

In the past few years Jonathan has become a keen advocate of the Polish Romantic repertoire and besides his popular disc of pieces by Chopin, his first recording of a rare collection of pieces by Paderewski earned Jonathan an invitation by the Paderewski in Memoriam Foundation to give the closing recital of the Polish Parliament’s 2001 ‘Year of Paderewski’ celebrations in Warsaw.

Jonathan's recordings featuring the music of the largely forgotten Polish/US emigré Sigismund Stojowski  led to a revival of interest in his music after several generations of neglect and attracted considerable attention in the international music press.  The discs, on Hyperion Records, were both named 'Record of the Month' in the Polish national music monthly Muzyka 21 and Jonathan has since been invited to perform with the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Polish National Symphony Orchestra.   

Recent memorable concerts include a sell-out Weill Hall recital promoted by the Kosciuszko Foundation in New York.   Also, whilst in the USA he was invited to perform at a special event at the Polish Music Centre at the University of Southern California, in the presence of Stojowski's surviving family, on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of his death and in celebration of their donation of the Stojowski manuscripts and personal papers to the University.

 

Jonathan is Head of Keyboard at the University of Chichester and on the Keyboard Faculty of the Royal Scottish Academy of Music & Drama.    He is also often invited to give masterclasses, consultation lessons and prize adjudications at competitions and international conservatoires.

 

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"..he understands the structure of Bach's music so that the performances have a pleasing inner logic and clarity"    INTERNATIONAL PIANO

 

 

"Here is a pianist at the top of his game with meticulous attention to detail, stylistic absorption, and a vivid sense of colour and character; the piano positively purrs with pleasure."   GRAMOPHONE

 

 

 

 

"Jonathan Plowright's playing is tender and virtuosic, providing a perfect companion to Stojowski's late romantic style."              POLISH MUSIC CENTRE

 

 

 

Autumn  2008