Ralf Gothoni
Encyclopedia
Ralf Georg Nils Gothóni is a Finnish pianist and conductor. He is also active as a chamber musician, professor, composer, and author. Born in Rauma
, Finland
he made his orchestra debut at age 15. Besides his worldwide concert career he has made some 100 recordings with major labels. He often performs in a double role conducting from the keyboard.
Ralf Gothóni studied the piano from the age of five, first with Tapani Valsta and later with Ervin László
. Gothóni mentions Sviatoslav Richter
and Arthur Rubinstein
as models for him.
One of the first ladmarks in Gothóni's career was the 1977 Schubertiade
in Helsinki: forty Finnish singers performed circa 450 lied
s by Franz Schubert
. Gothóni has appeared as a lied
pianist with such singers as Jorma Hynninen
, Martti Talvela
, Arleen Augér
, Edith Mathis
, Anne Sofie von Otter, Ileana Cotrubas
, Peter Schreier
, and Barbara Hendricks
. He appeared in lied concerts until the middle of the 1990s and since that has concentrated on solo and chamber concerts and orchestral conducting.
Gothóni was the artistic director of the Savonlinna Opera Festival
from 1984 to 1987. He created the Forbidden City Music Festival in Beijing
in 1996 and the "Musical Bridge Egypt–Finland" in 2004. He was professor of chamber music at the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler
in Berlin
1996–2000, the Sibelius Academy
in Helsinki
1992–2007, the Hochschule für Musik
in Hamburg
1986–1996 and since 2006 at the Instituto International da Camara, Reina Sofia, Madrid
. He was principal conductor of the English Chamber Orchestra
from 2000 to 2009. Since 2004, he has been the guest conductor of the Deutsche Kammerakademie.
In the United States
, Gothóni was music director of the Northwest Chamber Orchestra (Seattle) from 2002 until 2006. His initial appearance with the orchestra in 2001 was highly acclaimed and led to his appointment in Seattle. In 2006 he resigned in the context of financial pressures on the orchestra. The orchestra was later dissolved.
Gothóni's awards include the Finnish
Pro Finlandia in 1990 and the Gilmore Artist Award
in 1994. He has recorded for various labels, including BIS, Decca, Deutsche Grammophon, EMI, CPO and Ondine, such works as Benjamin Britten
's Piano Concerto
, Heitor Villa-Lobos
' Choros XI
, and the first and second piano concertos of Einojuhani Rautavaara
. His writings include Luova hetki (The Creative Moment, 1998). His compositions include three chamber operas and the cantata The Ox and its Shepherd.
Gothóni is married to the violinist Elina Vähälä
.
Rauma, Finland
Rauma is a town and municipality of ca. inhabitants on the west coast of Finland, north of Turku, and south of Pori. Granted town privileges on May 17, 1442 , Rauma is known of its high quality lace , and of the old wooden architecture of its centre , which is a Unesco world heritage...
, Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
he made his orchestra debut at age 15. Besides his worldwide concert career he has made some 100 recordings with major labels. He often performs in a double role conducting from the keyboard.
Ralf Gothóni studied the piano from the age of five, first with Tapani Valsta and later with Ervin László
Ervin László
Ervin László is a Hungarian philosopher of science, systems theorist, integral theorist, originally a classical pianist. He has published about 75 books and over 400 papers, and is editor of World Futures: The Journal of General Evolution...
. Gothóni mentions Sviatoslav Richter
Sviatoslav Richter
Sviatoslav Teofilovich Richter was a Soviet pianist well known for the depth of his interpretations, virtuoso technique, and vast repertoire. He is widely considered one of the greatest pianists of the 20th century.-Childhood:...
and Arthur Rubinstein
Arthur Rubinstein
Arthur Rubinstein KBE was a Polish-American pianist. He received international acclaim for his performances of the music of a variety of composers...
as models for him.
One of the first ladmarks in Gothóni's career was the 1977 Schubertiade
Schubertiade
A Schubertiade is an event held to celebrate the music of Franz Schubert.-History:During Schubert's lifetime, these events were generally informal, unadvertised gatherings, held at private homes...
in Helsinki: forty Finnish singers performed circa 450 lied
Lied
is a German word literally meaning "song", usually used to describe romantic songs setting German poems of reasonably high literary aspirations, especially during the nineteenth century, beginning with Carl Loewe, Heinrich Marschner, and Franz Schubert and culminating with Hugo Wolf...
s by Franz Schubert
Franz Schubert
Franz Peter Schubert was an Austrian composer.Although he died at an early age, Schubert was tremendously prolific. He wrote some 600 Lieder, nine symphonies , liturgical music, operas, some incidental music, and a large body of chamber and solo piano music...
. Gothóni has appeared as a lied
Lied
is a German word literally meaning "song", usually used to describe romantic songs setting German poems of reasonably high literary aspirations, especially during the nineteenth century, beginning with Carl Loewe, Heinrich Marschner, and Franz Schubert and culminating with Hugo Wolf...
pianist with such singers as Jorma Hynninen
Jorma Hynninen
Jorma Kalervo Hynninen is a Finnish baritone who performs regularly with the world's major opera companies. He has also worked in opera administration....
, Martti Talvela
Martti Talvela
Martti Talvela was a Finnish operatic bass.Born in Hiitola, Finland , he studied in Lahti and Stockholm, and made his operatic debut in Helsinki in 1960 as Sparafucile. At , he was the tallest singer of his century. He trained as a boxer in his youth and developed the stamina necessary for the...
, Arleen Augér
Arleen Auger
Joyce Arleen Auger was an American soprano singer, admired for her coloratura voice and interpretations of works by Bach, Handel, Haydn, Monteverdi, Gluck, and Mozart.-Biography:...
, Edith Mathis
Edith Mathis
Edith Mathis is a renowned Swiss soprano and a leading exponent of the works of Mozart. She studied in Lucerne and debuted there in 1956 in The Magic Flute...
, Anne Sofie von Otter, Ileana Cotrubas
Ileana Cotrubas
Ileana Cotrubaş is a Romanian opera soprano whose career spanned from the 1960s to the 1980s. She was much admired for her acting skills and facility for singing opera in many different languages.-Biography:...
, Peter Schreier
Peter Schreier
Peter Schreier is a German tenor and conductor.-Early life:Schreier was born in Meissen, Saxony, and spent his first years in the small village of Gauernitz, near Meissen, where his father was a teacher, cantor and organist...
, and Barbara Hendricks
Barbara Hendricks
Barbara Hendricks is an African American operatic soprano and concert singer. Hendricks has lived in Europe since 1977, and in Switzerland on Lake Geneva since 1985, She is a citizen of Sweden.-Early life and education:...
. He appeared in lied concerts until the middle of the 1990s and since that has concentrated on solo and chamber concerts and orchestral conducting.
Gothóni was the artistic director of the Savonlinna Opera Festival
Savonlinna Opera Festival
Savonlinna Opera Festival is held annually in the city of Savonlinna in Finland. The Festival takes place at the medieval Olavinlinna , built in 1475...
from 1984 to 1987. He created the Forbidden City Music Festival in Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
in 1996 and the "Musical Bridge Egypt–Finland" in 2004. He was professor of chamber music at the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler
Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler
The " in Berlin, Germany is one of the leading music conservatories in Europe. It was established in East Berlin in 1950 as the ' because the older was in West Berlin...
in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
1996–2000, the Sibelius Academy
Sibelius Academy
The Sibelius Academy is a university-level music school which operates in Helsinki and Kuopio, Finland. It also has an adult education centre in Järvenpää and a training centre in Seinäjoki. The Academy is the only music university in Finland. It is among the biggest European music universities...
in Helsinki
Helsinki
Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...
1992–2007, the Hochschule für Musik
Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg
The Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg is one of the larger universities of music in Germany.It was founded 1950 as Staatliche Hochschule für Musik on the base of the former private acting school of Annemarie Marks-Rocke and Eduard Marks.Studies include various music types from church music...
in Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
1986–1996 and since 2006 at the Instituto International da Camara, Reina Sofia, Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
. He was principal conductor of the English Chamber Orchestra
English Chamber Orchestra
The English Chamber Orchestra is a British chamber orchestra based in London. The full orchestra regularly plays concerts at Cadogan Hall, and the ECO Ensemble performs at Wigmore Hall...
from 2000 to 2009. Since 2004, he has been the guest conductor of the Deutsche Kammerakademie.
In the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Gothóni was music director of the Northwest Chamber Orchestra (Seattle) from 2002 until 2006. His initial appearance with the orchestra in 2001 was highly acclaimed and led to his appointment in Seattle. In 2006 he resigned in the context of financial pressures on the orchestra. The orchestra was later dissolved.
Gothóni's awards include the Finnish
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
Pro Finlandia in 1990 and the Gilmore Artist Award
Gilmore Artist Award
The Gilmore Artist Award is awarded every four years to an international pianist. The award was established in 1989 by the Irving S. Gilmore Foundation of Kalamazoo, Michigan. In contrast with other music awards, nominees are not aware that they are under consideration, but are assessed discreetly...
in 1994. He has recorded for various labels, including BIS, Decca, Deutsche Grammophon, EMI, CPO and Ondine, such works as Benjamin Britten
Benjamin Britten
Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten, OM CH was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He showed talent from an early age, and first came to public attention with the a cappella choral work A Boy Was Born in 1934. With the premiere of his opera Peter Grimes in 1945, he leapt to...
's Piano Concerto
Piano Concerto (Britten)
The Piano Concerto, Op. 13, by Benjamin Britten is a piece of classical music composed for piano and orchestra. It was written in 1938 and revised by Britten in 1945. In the 1945 revision it was given a different 3rd movement. The full version received its premiere at the Cheltenham Festival on...
, Heitor Villa-Lobos
Heitor Villa-Lobos
Heitor Villa-Lobos was a Brazilian composer, described as "the single most significant creative figure in 20th-century Brazilian art music". Villa-Lobos has become the best-known and most significant Latin American composer to date. He wrote numerous orchestral, chamber, instrumental and vocal works...
' Choros XI
Chôros
Chôros is the title of a series of compositions by the Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos, composed between 1920 and 1929.-Origin and conception:...
, and the first and second piano concertos of Einojuhani Rautavaara
Einojuhani Rautavaara
Einojuhani Rautavaara is a Finnish composer of contemporary classical music, and is one of the most notable Finnish composers after Jean Sibelius.-Life:...
. His writings include Luova hetki (The Creative Moment, 1998). His compositions include three chamber operas and the cantata The Ox and its Shepherd.
Gothóni is married to the violinist Elina Vähälä
Elina Vähälä
Elina Vähälä is a Finnish violinist. Vähälä made her concert debut aged 12 with the Lahti Symphony. Elina Vähälä has released CDs and given many concerts.- External links :*...
.