Description
The German-Greek pianist and harpsichordist Andreas Skouras was born in Thessaloniki (Greece) in 1972.He studied piano with Prof. Franz Massinger and harpsichord with Prof. Lars Ulrik Mortensen at the University of Music and Performing Arts Munich. Skouras has worked with major orchestras and ensembles (including the Vienna Philharmonic, Bavarian State Orchestra, ASKO Ensemble, Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg, Munich Chamber Orchestra, Ensemble intercontemporain) under conductors such as Peter Eotvos, Susanna Malkki, Lucas Vis, Ralf Gothoni, Constantinos Carydis, Markus Poschner, Christoph Poppen, Dirk Kaftan and Jac van Steen. His enormous repertoire of more than 1000 works includes music from five centuries; numerous recordings document his career. Andreas Skouras was awarded the Scholarship for Music from the City of Munich and the Bavarian Art Promotion Prize, among others.
On this CD, Andreas Skouras devotes himself to piano etudes by various of composers. In addition to one example each of the better-known etudes by Gyorgy Ligeti and Pascal Dusapin, Skouras has included the Three Etudes op. 18 by Bela Bartok, the Three Etudes op. 23 by Ligeti's student Wolfgang von Schweinitz, the 6 Etudes sur rythmes populaires grecs by the Greek composer Yannis Constantinidis and the Piano Etudes by Siemens Prize winner Unsuk Chin.
The result is a multifaceted collection of piano pieces with which Andreas Skouras demonstrates his great skill.
