With
performances distinguished by deft musicianship
and a natural elegance, Moscow-born Maxim
Philippov was named silver medalist at the
Eleventh Van Cliburn International Piano Competition
in June 2001. He was awarded two years of
concert engagements and career management
as well as a compact disc recording of his
award-winning performances for the harmonia
mundi label.
Mr. Philippov has performed recitals throughout
his native Russia, Europe, and North America,
highlighted by appearances at important concert
venues such as the Gasteig in Munich, Queen
Elizabeth Hall in London, the Salle Cortot
in Paris, the Tonhalle in Zurich, and the
Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.
He has collaborated with the Calgary Philharmonic,
the City of Birmingham Symphony, the Edinburgh
Symphony, the Hamburg Symphony, the Moscow
Philharmonic, and the Santo Domingo Symphony
Orchestras. In the United States, Mr. Philippov
has performed with the Amarillo, Delaware,
Eugene, Jacksonville, New Haven, Pacific,
Tacoma, and Wyoming Symphony Orchestras, among
others. He has appeared in recital in such
cities as Burlington, Dallas, Little Rock,
New Orleans, San Antonio, San Jose, Savannah,
and Washington, D.C. Also the recipient of
a Steven De Groote Memorial Award for the
Best Performance of Chamber Music during the
semifinal round of the Cliburn Competition,
he has collaborated with the American String
Quartet and joined the Takacs Quartet at the
University of California in Berkeley and the
University of Connecticut in Storrs last season.
Highlights of the 2003-2004 season include
performances with the Reno Philharmonic and
Hartford Symphony Orchestras, as well as recitals
at Bass Hall in Fort Worth, Brigham Young
University in Idaho, the Scottsdale Center
for the Arts in Arizona, and at the University
of Louisville in Kentucky. He will perform
a New York recital as part of Carnegie’s inaugural
season at Zankel Hall on April 28, 2004. Emerging
as one of today's most engaging interpreters
of Rachmaninoff, Mr. Philippov has recorded
two discs devoted to the solo works of this
composer.
The harmonia mundi disc featuring his Cliburn
Competition performance of several Rachmaninoff
Preludes, Op. 32 was released to much critical
acclaim. He was featured in Playing on the
Edge, the Peabody Award-winning documentary
on the Eleventh Van Cliburn International
Piano Competition which premiered on PBS stations
across the United States beginning in the
fall of 2001, and also appeared in the PBS
Concerto series which showcases his Final
Round Cliburn Competition performances with
the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra and Maestro
James Conlon.
He began studying the piano at the age of
five and made his public debut when he was
eight. A laureate of several major international
piano competitions, including the Leeds, Rachmaninoff,
Rubinstein, and Tchaikovsky Competitions,
he won first prize at the 1996 Esther Honens
Calgary International Piano Competition. A former pupil of Vera Gornostaeva, Mr. Philippov now resides in Moscow, where he is professor of piano at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory.
His students had won many important international piano competitions including Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition, Horowitz International Piano Competition in Kiev, International Piano Competition in Astana and many other competitions.
Critical Acclaim for Maxim Philippov
“…an almost note-perfect pianist with
a…caressing tone and a powerful technical
command of his instrument. Extended chordal
passages were beautifully voiced…His octaves
were grandly authoritative…Philippov obviously
loves this music, has firm ideas about how
it should go, and sculpts it at the keyboard
much as Rachmaninoff himself did…with deadpan
accuracy, sweep and cumulative nobility.”
--Ronald Broun, The Washington Post
“(Maxim Philippov’s) account of the Rachmaninoff
Third Concerto was magnificent, more spacious
than the composer’s recording and less mercurial,
but noble and phrased with grandeur and warmth.”
--Scott Cantrell, The Dallas Morning
News
“(Philippov) played outside himself, elevating
this music to a grand spectacle, seasoned
with his personal interpretation. Philippov
ruled that piano–not only touching off scale
passages like tumbling dominoes but confidently
borrowing time here, giving it back there:
a true Romantic elan. This is a life-affirming
work, magnificently presented, and the standing
ovation it received was extended and joyous.”
-- New Haven Register
“Destined for stardom…transported by his
consummate skill and superb interpretation…prowess
and incredible range…his listeners were enthralled
as one tour de force followed another. The
concert itself was beyond words.”
--Naomi Donson, Sarasota Herald-Tribune
“Philippov’s remarkable recital was distinguished
by a flawless sense of musical line, with
intricate dynamic shadings and musical sensitivity
that won the hearts of the large, enthusiastic
audience.”
--Laurence E. MacDonald, The Flint
Journal
