Acclaimed Pianist Daniel Gortler Will Perform at Scandinavia House

Acclaimed American-Israeli pianist, Daniel Gortler, will perform a recital at the Scandinavia House, 58 Park Avenue in New York on Thursday, October 17 at 7pm.  The concert will celebrate his recent release Edvard Grieg – Lyric Pieces for Solo Piano (Prospero Classical 0082) which won the prestigious CHOC Award from the French magazine Classica. The album, Gortler's debut on Prospero Classical, was given 5 stars by Fanfare, stating “The performance steals the heart. The disc runs on in one gorgeous stream of melody that only Grieg could have written. Gortler’s care of all aspects results in Grieg’s masterpiece emerging as a perfect sound sculpture, Gortler’s account is magnificent.” Tickets are $30 ($25 for ASF Members) and available here.

 In addition to 12 of the Lyric Pieces, the program will spotlight two other iconoclastic sets of miniatures: Robert Schumann’s Kinderszenen, Scenes from Childhood Op. 15 and 12 selections from Felix Mendelssohn’s Songs without Words.  

Fanfare Magazine writes, “Gortler consistently gets it right,” and for this recital, Gortler chose "to put a light on the intimate side of these Romantic composers - the delivery of a picture, image, feeling, thought, in a blink of 2 or 3 minutes a piece of music. Each of these works tells a story, written to be emotionally captivating. While Grieg and Mendelssohn's originally titled sets of miniatures were composed over the course of the composers' lifetimes and reveal their evolving musical voices, Schumann's character studies convey the innocence of childhood from a nostalgic adult perspective."

Daniel Gortler has delighted audiences and critics alike with his performances around the world, receiving praise for his technical mastery and musical ingenuity. He has performed as soloist with the London Philharmonic, Berlin Radio Symphony, Bavarian Radio Symphony, NDR Symphony, North-West German Philharmonic, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, and every orchestra in Israel, including the Israel Philharmonic. In the United States, he has been featured as soloist with the San Francisco, New World, and Atlanta Symphony Orchestras and held recitals in New York at Symphony Space, the Jewish Museum, Lincoln Center, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 92nd Street Y, and in Cleveland at the Museum of Art, to name a few. He has collaborated with conductors Zubin Mehta, Christoph Eschenbach, Franz Welzer-Most, Michael Tilson Thomas, Valerie Gergiev and Yoel Levi. An avid chamber musician, Gortler has worked with artists including , Daniel  Johannsen, Nikolaj Znaider, David Garrett, Steven Isserlis, Pinchas Zukerman, and David Adam Moore. In 2023 Gortler performed with the Jupiter, Catalyst, and Shanghai Quartets.

Earlier releases by Gortler include the complete Mendelssohn: Songs without Words (Romeo Records 7281/2), which Classics Today hailed as “beautifully performed,” noting “He commands a warm, singing sonority, tasteful musicality, plus finger work that is consistently fluent and well-defined.” Of his 2-disc Schumann set which includes his Fantasy in C Major, Op. 17 and the full Symphonic Etudes Op. 13, (including the 5 posthumous Etudes), Gortler is praised by International Record Review for his “high level of refinement and musical personality” and “color and imagination” in abundance. His discography also includes a recording with violinist Nikolaj Znaider on BMG and a collection of Schubert songs with soprano Sharon Rostorf- Zamir.