News

28.03.2024

Spotlight Artist in Musis Arnhem

In the 2024-25 season Hannes Minnaar will be Spotlight Artist in Arnhem’s beautiful concert hall Musis. His residency will include a.o. an evening of Fauré’s chamber music and songs, a Shostakovich recital, Beethoven’s Second Piano Concerto with the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra and Philippe Herreweghe.

Find all concerts here!

01.03.2024

Brahms at the Concertgebouw

A live registration of last month’s performance of Brahms’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Radio Philharmonie Orchestra and David Robertson at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw is now available on the AVROTROS YouTube-channel. You can watch it here!

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!

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!

24.01.2023

New video: Soloduiveldans II

This year is the centenary of Simeon ten Holt (1923-2012) – a Dutch composer famous for his minimal music for piano(s) with influences of Romanticism. I look forward to play some of his Soloduiveldansen (Solo Devil’s Dances) throughout the season. The Piano Biënnale has now released their live registration of my Soloduiveldans II performance on their website. You can watch the complete performance here!

22.09.2022

Edison Award for Goldberg Variations!

The Goldberg Variations recording has won an Edison Award, one of the oldest music prizes in the world. It was selected by the jury in the category ‘solo instrument’. From the jury report: “Minnaar lets the music speak for itself and does not force anything, but he still makes embellishments here en there in an interesting way. Everything sounds intelligent, light and flowing and makes perfect sense.”  Find out more about the album on the recordings section of this website.

09.09.2022

New album: Shostakovich 24 Preludes & Fugues

A new double album with all 24 Preludes and Fugues, Op. 87 by Dmitri Shostakovich will be released on September 23. This gigantic 20th-century masterpiece has been fascinating me since my youth, and in the last few years I have finally been able to spend time with the cycle as a whole. In October there will be some complete live performances – please check the calendar for details. You can order your signed copy already through my webshop.

20.11.2021

Chopin with Amsterdam Sinfonietta

From 8:30 PM tonight, a concert stream of last month’s programme with Amsterdam Sinfonietta and Anthony Marwood – including Chopin’s Second Concerto – will be available for rewatching. You can visit the website of Amsterdam Sinfonietta for free tickets. Enjoy!

06.11.2021

Editor-in-chief for Luister

I was honoured to be guest editor-in-chief of this month’s Luister – one of the most renowned classical music magazines in The Netherlands. The issue includes interviews and articles on, amongst others, Beatrice Rana, piano builder Chris Maene and De Waalse Kerk, as well as an extensive interview about my latest recording and a report of my first encounter with Glenn Gould’s iconic version.

18.09.2021

Goldberg Variations disc to be released!

On September 24 my Goldberg Variations recording will be released! It was made after the tour last year that meant so much to me and to many listeners. Daan Manneke’s ‘Gedanken zu Bach’, which was composed especially for the occasion, has been included on a bonus disc. I ‘m looking forward to performing the Goldberg Variations again later this season (check the calendar for details). The recording is already on sale in my webshop.

31.12.2020

5-star reviews for 'Nox'

Nox has got amazing acclaim in the Dutch press during the last months. It has received 5-star reviews in main newspapers De Volkskrant, NRC and Trouw and a similar review in Het Parool. All of these newspapers have included the album in their ‘best of the year’-lists (NRCTrouwVolkskrantParool). Besides, NRC has included my Rachmaninoff 3 performance with the Netherlands Philharmonic and Valentin Uryupin in their ‘best classical concerts of 2020’-list.

01.10.2020

Support the artist: buy a signed CD

To buy a signed copy of my recordings, please visit my little webshop! At the moment, delivery is only possible in the Netherlands.

16.09.2020

New solo album: Nox

On September 24 my new solo album Nox will be released! It’s all about the theme of night, its magic and its delusions. The programme contains Schumann’s Nachtstücke, Ravel’s Gaspard de la Nuit and a brandnew piece by Robert Zuidam titled Nox (check this small excerpt). Find more information on the recording section on this site. I’ll be on tour with this programme in recital from November, starting in Muziekgebouw aan het IJ on November 7.

02.09.2020

Once more: Goldberg Variations

A live registration of last month’s Goldberg Variations concert in De Waalse Kerk Amsterdam can now be viewed (and listened to) online – it’s the first video on my YouTube channel! The programme also includes Daan Manneke’s ‘Gedanken zu Bach’, composed specially to accompany Bach’s iconic work in a tour through monumental churches through the Netherlands – my first concerts after the lockdown.

24.08.2020

Prinsengracht Concert

What an unique experience and great honour it was to perform at the Prinsengracht Concert last Saturday! With the Van Baerle Trio, I was asked to replace Janine Jansen (who is – of course – unreplaceable!) at short notice. This year’s edition took place without the usual crowd of people and boats for obvious reasons. We played pieces by Ravel, Mendelssohn, Beethoven, Schubert and Arensky and my trio colleagues left me alone for the Aria from the Goldberg Variations… The entire concert was broadcast live on Dutch television and can be rewatched.

24.06.2020

Empty Concertgebouw Sessions

What a strange yet exhilarating feeling to be playing in the Concertgebouw Amsterdam again. My ‘orchestra’ is the Dudok Quartet Amsterdam and violist Simone van der Giessen. For your streaming pleasure, here is an arrangement of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4 by an unknown contemporary of his.

04.06.2020

Goldberg Variations live!

Truly happy to announce that I will be playing live concerts again from July 1st! In the vast spaces of six monumental churches in Zwolle, Amsterdam, Breda, Naarden, Rotterdam and Groningen, I’ll be performing Bach’s Goldberg Variations, preceded by a new composition by Daan Manneke, Gedanken zu Bach, composed during the corona crisis especially for this tour. There will be a maximum of 100 tickets per concert to guarantee your safety. For the tour schedule, please refer to the calendar.

01.06.2020

Schumann with Ulster Orchestra

On February 28th I had the honourable job of playing the Schumann Piano Concerto with the Ulster Orchestra and Jac van Steen in Belfast. It turned out to be my last performance as a soloist before the lockdown. The concert was broadcast on BBC 3, and with their kind permission you can listen to a 5-minute fragment of the Concerto and the encore I played. Enjoy!

26.05.2020

Saint-Saëns 10 years ago

This day, ten years ago, I played in the finals of the renowned Queen Elisabeth Competition. The Piano Concerto No. 5 by Camille Saint-Saëns is still very dear to me. Enjoy the live recording with the Belgian National Orchestra conducted by Marin Alsop. See the video on my YouTube channel.

08.01.2020

Starting the Beethoven Year

Don’t you think that playing Rachmaninov’s Third Concerto is a nice way to kick off the Beethoven year? I had the pleasure to play it twice in the Concertgebouw, with the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra and Valentin Uryupin, and both concerts were reviewed by a national newspaper. Click on these links for the reviews in NRC and Trouw (in Dutch).

10.11.2019

Enjoy my new recordings

Daan Manneke’s magnum opus Grote Archipel, written for six pianists (each of them performing their ‘own’ movement) has been recorded live last year and issued now. Palazzetto Bru Zane has released an extensive portrait of Fernard de la Tombelle on 3 CDs, including a world première recording of his Fantaisie for piano and orchestra, performed by the Brussels Philharmonic under Hervé Niquet with yours truly as the soloist. Last but surely not least, the Van Baerle Trio has reached Volume 4 of the Complete Beethoven piano trios.