Complete Piano Concertos
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‘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

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!

19.04.2023
Artist-in-residence at AVROTROS Vrijdagconcert
In the 2023-24 season Hannes Minnaar will be artist-in-residence at the AVROTROS Vrijdagconcert series in TivoliVredenburg in Utrecht. The residency will include performances of Brahms’s Second Piano Concerto with the Radio Philharmonic and David Robertson, a new piece for solo piano and Groot Omroepkoor by Grace-Evangeline Mason, a recital with baritone Thomas Oliemans and a programme with the Van Baerle Trio including a world premiere of Rob Zuidam’s piano trio. All of the concerts will be broadcast live on NPO Klassiek. Find all concerts here.

15.02.2023
Shostakovich reviews!
The new album with Shostakovich’s complete 24 Preludes and Fugues, Op. 87 has got great reviews in the February issues of BBC Music Magazine (5/5*), Gramophone and Diapason Magazine (5 Diapasons). You can read the complete reviews by clicking on the links or find quotes on the discography page of this website. In December, the album was already ranked #2 in NRC’s top 25 Dutch albums of the year, while a live performance was listed as one of the year’s best concerts. More live performances of the complete cycle are being planned for the Shostakovich year 2025!
See all 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
About
‘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.
Calendar
October 6, 2023
Friday 8:15 pm
Utrecht, NL
TivoliVredenburg
Brahms and Mason with Groot Omroepkoor
Grace-Evangeline Mason (new work for piano & choir), Brahms
October 8, 2023
Sunday 11:00 am
Amsterdam, NL
Concertgebouw
Brahms with Groot Omroepkoor
with Groot Omroepkoor & Florian Helgath
October 18, 2023
Wednesday 7:00 pm
Mannheim, DE
Florian-Waldeck-Saal
Van Baerle Trio
Brahms & Schubert
October 22, 2023
Sunday 3:00 pm
Heerlen, NL
Theater Heerlen
Solo recital
Schubert, Bartók & Chopin
October 27, 2023
Friday 8:15 pm
Utrecht, NL
TivoliVredenburg
Recital with Thomas Oliemans
Schubert, Bartók & Wolf

Visit Trio Website‘Irresistible freshness: an inquisitive spirit, a spring-like clarity and a daredevil verve.’
Gramophone