welcome

‘Every hour I spend at the piano I encounter beauty in art. A great many masterpieces have been written for the instrument, and they provide me with a life-long journey of discovery.’

News

01.02.2024

Joining Interartists Amsterdam

I am delighted to announce that I am joining Interartists Amsterdam for General Management – a step which makes me very much look forward to what the future is going to bring. You can find all contact and booking details in the footer of this site. I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Emma-Jane Wyatt and EJ-Arts for five years of fruitful collaboration, and I wish her all the best for the future.

03.11.2023

Shostakovich recital nominated for De Ovatie

Last season’s live performances of Shostakovich’s 24 Preludes and Fugues have been nominated for De Ovatie, the annual prize of the VSCD (Association of Theatre and Concert Hall Managements) for the most memorable concert. From the jury report: “Shostakovich calls on almost all the skills of a pianist: virtuosity, technical mastery, control and exuberant piano playing. Minnaar has all this to offer, without showing visible emotions during his playing. The energy goes to the story the notes tell. Shostakovich is the big winner in Minnaar’s performance. After the concert, the listener goes through every conceivable emotion: from loud applause to people who are still sitting motionless in their seats after five minutes, overcome by emotions.” Read on here.

05.06.2023

New video: Mozart KV 503 at the Concertgebouw

A live registration of last week’s performance of Mozart’s Piano Concerto KV 503 with Philharmonie Zuidnederland and Duncan Ward at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw is now available on the AVROTROS YouTube-channel. You can watch it here!

In the press

‘He doesn’t seem to try overly hard to be distinctive, but he is so nonetheless, his playing always buoyant and convincingly thought-through.’

The Guardian
See all press

About

download press kit

‘Free of bluff and swagger, in deference to the music at all times.’ – NRC

Guiding Principles
‘My overall approach to music is to take a score very seriously, which is not the same as taking it literally. Pianists from earlier days are a constant inspiration in that respect. I admire such artists as Alfred Cortot, who does not position himself between the composer and the piece, yet leaves an unmistakeable mark on the music. Wilhelm Kempff’s aural richness and trueness, for example, is an example of something I aspire to.’

Minnaar is consistently described by the critics as being able to convey musical essence in all its purity. They talk about his spontaneity and naturalness, an ease without superficiality. On his debut solo album of Rachmaninov and Ravel, Gramophone commented: ‘A convincing tonal colourist and ardent Romantic. He’s a natural talent with a bold streak.’ BBC Music Magazine proclaimed the second album their Choice of the Month, saying: ’Underlying Bach’s contrapuntal wizardry is a compelling emotional narrative’. Of the complete Beethoven Piano Concertos with the Netherlands Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Jan Willem de Vriend, the Emperor Concerto was a recommended recording on BBC Radio 3’s Building a Library. It was said to have ‘passion, drama, vital rhythms, transparency, and, more important: a celebration of unity, with pianist and orchestra continually sparking off each other.’

Looking back
In 2019, Hannes Minnaar performed on the renowned Master Pianists Series in Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw; as the first Dutchman in 20 years. Hailed by the national press as an undisputed success, NRC noted his playing as ‘free of bluff and swagger’ and ‘in deference to the music at all times’.

Minnaar first gained attention as second prize winner of the Geneva International Music Competition 2008, and third prize winner at the Queen Elisabeth Competition 2010. The influence from his teachers including Jan Wijn, Jacques van Oortmerssen and Ferenc Rados, and masterclasses with Menahem Pressler profoundly informed his performance inspiration. Among conductors, Minnaar has worked with Herbert Blomstedt, Antony Hermus, Xian Zhang and the late Jirí Belohlávek. Minnaar was made a Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellow in 2011, and he received the Dutch Music Award in 2016 – the highest honour bestowed upon a classical musician by the Dutch Ministry of Culture.

During the extraordinary pause that the worldwide pandemic placed on ‘normal’ concert schedules Minnaar found inspiration and solace in Bach’s Goldberg variations. He undertook a concert tour throughout some of Holland’s monumental churches also recording the piece. He also recorded a recital disc, Nox, based on a nocturnal theme (Schumann, Ravel and a specially commissioned cycle by Robert Zuidam), which prompted a flurry of five star reviews in the Dutch press.

Vitally important to Minnaar’s musical raison d’être is his work with the Van Baerle Trio, founded together with violinist Maria Milstein and cellist Gideon den Herder in 2004. Nominated by Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, they were ECHO Rising Stars 2013–14. The trio has released the complete works of Beethoven for piano trio including the Triple Concerto performed with the Residentie Orchestra under the baton of Jan Willem de Vriend.

Looking forward
Highlights of the 2022–23 season include performances of Shostakovich’s 24 Preludes and Fugues, Op. 87 alongside the release of the disc of this repertoire. Concerto performances include the Dutch premiere of Jörg Widmann’s Trauermarsch with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic and James Gaffigan at a Zaterdag Matinee performance in the Concertgebouw and he brings a recital programme to the UK.

For more information on Hannes Minnaar and the upcoming season, please refer to the official biography in the Press Kit. The kit also contains high resolution pictures, please credit the photographer.

download press kit

Calendar

March 22, 2024

Friday 8:15 pm

Utrecht, NL

TivoliVredenburg

Van Baerle Trio

Fauré, Liszt, Brahms & Zuidam (world premiere)

March 23, 2024

Saturday 8:00 pm

Vlissingen, NL

Sint Jacobskerk

Van Baerle Trio

Fauré, Liszt, Brahms & Zuidam

March 24, 2024

Sunday 11:30 am

Oostvoorne, NL

CC De Man

Van Baerle Trio

Liszt, Fauré & Schubert

March 24, 2024

Sunday 4:00 pm

Den Bosch, NL

Toonzaal

Van Baerle Trio

Fauré, Liszt, Brahms & Zuidam

April 16, 2024

Tuesday 8:15 pm

Amersfoort, NL

Sint Aegtenkapel

Solo recital

Bach – Goldberg Variations

Music videos

Brahms – Piano Concerto No. 2, Op. 83

With Dutch Radio Philharmonic & David Robertson. A live recording from AVROTROS Klassiek Zondagochtend Concert. Concertgebouw Amsterdam, 4 February 2024

Bach – Goldberg Variations, BWV 988

Bach’s Goldberg Variations and Manneke’s ‘Gedanken zu Bach’. Live concert registration, De Waalse Kerk Amsterdam, 6 August 2020

Simeon ten Holt – Soloduiveldans II (Solo Devil’s Dance II)

Live stream for the Piano Biënnale. De Vereeniging Nijmegen, 15 May 2021.

Beethoven – Piano Concerto No. 4

In an arrangement for piano and string quintet, with the Dudok Quartet Amsterdam and violist Simone van der Giessen. Empty Concertgebouw Sessions, 24 June 2020

Van Baerle Trio – Beethoven’s ‘Archduke’ Piano Trio

Andante cantabile from Piano Trio nr.7 Opus 97