Jean-Paul Gasparian

“His playing is clear and precise, full of nuances and contrasts. The virtuosity that he develops from one end of the piece to the other is breath-taking. The young pianist is in dialogue and plays with the orchestra […]. Listening to this version of Rachmaninoff’s Concerto No. 2, time stands still. Jean-Paul Gasparian’s interpretation draws all your attention to it and whisks you away to another world.”

Jean-Paul Gasparian, born in Paris in 1995, won 2nd prize (when the 1st prize is not awarded) at the 2014 Bremen European Piano Competition and has won prizes in many other competitions including the 2013 Lyon International Piano Competition and the 2013 Hastings International Concerto Competition; he was also a semi-finalist in the Geza Anda Competition in 2015. He won the Cziffra Foundation Prize Piano Prize in 2015 and the l’Or du Rhin Foundation Prize in 2016. In 2020 he was a finalist at Victoires de la Musique France. In 2013, he also received the 1st prize at the Concours Général des Lycéens de France (French national competition).

In 2019 he won the Prix Therry Scherz at the Sommets Musicaux de Gstaad, which enabled him to record Babadjanian’s Heroic Ballad and Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Bern Symphony Orchestra, which was released by claves in spring 2022. The recording received excellent reviews from the press.

At a young age he already brings a wide-ranging repertoire to the stage, including works by Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov and Gershwin. Gasparian performs with orchestras such as the Orchestre National d’ Île-de-France, the Bremen Philharmonic, the Musikkollegium Winterthur, the Orchestre de l ‘Opéra de Rouen, the Orchestre de Normandie and the Valencia Symphonic Orchestra. In 2022 Gasparian made his debut with Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Orchestre National d’Île-de-France under Ilyich Rivas at the Paris Philharmonie. In the 2022/2023 season, he brings unusual repertoire to the stage: with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France he plays Howard Shore’s (known for Lord of the Rings) Ruin and Memory, Concerto for Piano and Orchestra as well as Scriabin’s Piano Concerto in F-sharp minor with the Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra.

Gasparian has appeared as guest at major festivals, including the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, La Roque d’Anthéron, Nohant Festival Chopin, Montpellier-Festival, Piano aux Jacobins Toulouse, Festival Chopin de Bagatelle, Lisztomanias, and Printemps des Arts de Monte-Carlo. In summer 2020, he performed selected Beethoven sonatas as part of the Festival Intégrales des Sonates de Beethoven by Radio France. He has given performances in venues such as the Salzburg Mozarteum, Tonhalle Zürich, Laeiszhalle Hamburg, Glocke Bremen, Belgrade Kolarac, the Museum of Modern Art in Tel-Aviv, the Louis Vuitton Foundation, the Maison de la Radio, the Salle Cortot and the Salle Gaveau in Paris.

The Classica magazine has ranked Jean-Paul Gasparian among the ten most promising young pianists of his generation. His debut CD with a Russian program around Rachmaninov, Scriabin and Prokofiev was released in February 2018 on Évidence Classics and has received rave reviews. With his second solo album, released in 2019 and dedicated to the works of Chopin, as well as his third record with works by Rachmaninov, he yet again proves that he is a musical talent that you absolutely must keep an eye on.

Gasparian studied at the Conservatoire National de Paris under Olivier Gardon, Jacques Rouvier, Michel Beroff, Laurent Cabasso, Claire Désert and Michel Dalberto. He took part in international piano master classes with Pavel Gililov, Elisso Virsaladze and Tatiana Zelikman. In June 2018 he completed his artist diploma with Prof. Vanessa Latarche at the Royal College of Music in London.

Since September 2016, Gasparian is artist-in-residence at the Singer-Polignac Foundation, together with Shuichi Okada and Gauthier Broutin, with whom he founded the Cantor Trio. He is supported by the Safran Foundation for Music and is a Steinway Artist.

Season 2022/2023 | Photo: Bernard Martinez | Quote: crescendo magazin, May 6 2022.
Changes and abridgement must be coordinated with Künstlersekretariat Astrid Schoerke GmbH

No entries.

Babadjanian
Heroic Ballad

Bach
Concerto No. 5 BWV 1056 in F minor

Beethoven
Concerto No. 1 in C major op. 15
Concerto No. 3 in C minor op. 37
Concerto No. 5 in E-flat major op. 73

Brahms
Concerto No. 1 in D minor op. 15

Chopin
Concerto No. 1 in E minor op. 11
Concerto No. 2 in F minor op. 21

Gershwin
Rhapsody in Blue

Grieg
Concerto in A minor op. 16

Khachaturian
Concerto in D-flat major op. 38

Liszt
Concerto No. 1 in E-flat major
Concerto No. 2 in A major
Wanderer – Fantasy, after Schubert

F. Mendelssohn
Concerto No. 1 in G minor op. 25

Mozart
Concerto No. 14 in E-flat major K 449
Concerto No. 20 in D minor K 466
Concerto No. 23 in A major K 488
Concerto No. 24 in C minor K491
Concerto No. 25 in C major K 503

Prokoviev
Concerto No. 3 in C major op. 26

Rachmaninow
Concerto No. 1 in F-sharp minor op. 1
Concerto No. 2 in C minor op. 18
Paganini Variations

Ravel
Concerto in G major

Saint-Saens
Concerto No. 2 in G minor op. 22

H. Shore
Ruin and Memory

Tchaikovsky
Concerto No. 1 in B-flat minor op. 23

Rachmaninoff & Babadjanian
Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, op. 18
Babadjanian: Heroic Ballad
Claves Records CD 3004 (2022)

Rachmaninoff
Piano Sonata No. 2 in B-flat minor, op. 36
10 Preludes, op. 23
13 Preludes, op. 32
Moments musicaux, op. 16
14 Romances, op. 34
Evidence classics EVCD085 (2022)

Chopin
Ballad No. 1 in G minor, op. 23
Ballad No. 2 in F major, op. 38
Ballad No. 3 in A-flat major, op. 47
Ballad No. 4 in F minor, op. 52
Nocturne in C minor, op. 48 No. 1
Valse in E minor, op. posth.
Grande Valse brillante in F major, op. 34 No. 3
Nocturne in D-flat major, op. 27 No. 2
Polonaise Herioïque in A-flat major, op. 53
Polonaise-Fantaise in A-flat major, op. 61
Évidence classics EVCD059 (2019)

Rachmaninoff – Scriabin – Prokofiev
Rachmaninoff: Etudes-Tableaux, op. 39
Scriabin: Piano sonata No. 2, op. 19
               3 Etudes, op. 65
Prokofiev: Piano sonata No. 2 in D minor, op. 14
Évidence classics EVCD048 (2018)

Archives of the Nohant Festival Vol. 1
Dedicated to Aldo Ciccolini’s last recital, the CD released in December 2016, also includes extracts from the concerts of young pianists who took part in the festival.
There, Jean Paul offers a live representation of Schumann’s sonata in G minor.
(2015)

Winner of the European Contest of Bremen 2014
Debussy: 7 preludes, book 2
Liszt: Sonata in B-flat minor
(2014 – CD produced at Radio Bremen)

Jean-Paul Gasparian – Berner Symphonieorchester: Babadjanian: Heroic Ballad

Jean-Paul Gasparian – Rachmaninov: Prélude No. 4 op. 23

Jean-Paul Gasparian – Rachmaninov: Moments musicaux No. 4

Jean-Paul Gasparian – Mendelssohns Piano concerto No. 1

Jean-Paul Gasparian – Chopin Polonaise No. 6 op. 53, Héroïque

Jean-Paul Gasparian – Beethoven Piano sonata No. 21 op. 53, “Waldenstein”

Jean-Paul Gasparian – Beethoven Piano sonata No. 30 op. 109

Jean-Paul Gasparian: Flash Quiz

Jean-Paul Gasparian – CD Trailer: Chopin (Evidence Classics)

Jean-Paul Gasparian – CD Trailer: Rachmaninoff, Scriabin, Prokofiev (Evidence Classics)

Jean-Paul Gasparian – Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 2, Daniel Smith et l’ONDIF

Jean-Paul Gasparian – Piano New Talents

Jean-Paul Gasparian Mozart Concerto Tonhalle Zürich