Benjamin Grosvenor to continue his Decca deal

This article originally appeared on Gramophone.co.uk

One of today’s most significant young pianists, Benjamin Grosvenor, is to continue his partnership with the Decca Classics label.

Grosvenor joined Decca as an exclusive artist in 2011, becoming the first British pianist to have done so for 60 years (taking us back to the era of Clifford Curzon, Moura Lympany and Peter Katin) – as well as, at 18 years old, being the youngest. His February 2020 release of Chopin concertos – a category winner at last year’s Gramophone Awards (as, indeed had been his first Decca album, in 2012) – fulfilled that initial five-album deal. A year on, and February 2021 will see the release of a solo album devoted to the music of Liszt, centred around the Sonata in B minor, and also featuring the Petrarch Sonnets and the composer’s fantasy on Bellini’s Norma.

‘Decca Classics has been my recording home for the last decade, and I’m pleased that we are continuing our partnership with this new release,’ said Grosvenor. ‘The music of Liszt has been central to my repertoire since I was introduced to it as a child, by my grandfather. I wanted with this recording to show the composer in his different aspects, including some of his original compositions, but also displaying the extraordinarily re-creative abilities he showed in his transcriptions.’

Dominic Fyfe, Decca Classics’ Label Director, added: ‘I am delighted that Benjamin will start a new chapter with Decca Classics. Decca has been a lifelong home to the legacies of such legendary pianists as Clifford Curzon, Julius Katchen, Vladimir Ashkenazy and more recently Nelson Freire. Benjamin richly deserves his place in such company. He builds on a distinguished discography: both his debut and most recent albums garnered Gramophone awards as well as numerous international honours. His new Liszt recital perfectly captures his compelling pianism and flair for imaginative programming.’

Grosvenor first came to public awareness when he won the Keyboard Final of the 2004 BBC Young Musician Competition, aged 11. Now aged 28, it seems fitting that his acclaimed career – which has included such high-profile public performances as 2015’s Last Night of the Proms – should continue on a label with such a prestigious piano pedigree.