Nicolas Hodges @ Eric Richmond
Nicolas Hodges
An active and ever-growing repertoire that encompasses such composers as Beethoven, Berg, Brahms, Debussy, Schubert and Stravinsky reinforces pianist Nicolas Hodges’ superior prowess in contemporary music. Over the past couple of decades, Hodges has established himself as one of the world’s leading contemporary music figures and has close associations with many of today’s most respected composers, conductors, and orchestras. His outstanding virtuosity and innate musicianship give him an assured command over the most strenuous technical complexities making him a firm favourite among many of today’s most prestigious contemporary composers – many of whom have dedicated works to him.
Born in London and now based in Germany, where he is a professor at the Musikhochschule Stuttgart, Hodges approaches the works of Classical, Romantic, 20th century and contemporary composers with the same questing spirit, leading the Guardian to comment: “Hodges' recitals always boldly go where few other pianists dare ... with an energy that sometimes defies belief.”
As a soloist, Hodges has appeared with orchestras including Boston Symphony, Berliner Philharmoniker, BBC Symphony, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic, London Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Melbourne Symphony, MET Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Philharmonia Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Sydney Symphony, Tokyo Philharmonic, Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, Bergen Philharmonic, Helsinki Philharmonic and WDR Sinfonieorchester Cologne, under the baton of conductors such as Thomas Adès, Daniel Barenboim, George Benjamin, Martyn Brabbins, Sylvain Cambreling, Susanna Mälkki, Cornelius Meister and François- Xavier Roth.
Hodges appears regularly in recital too, at venues such as Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall, the Barbican and Wiener Konzerthaus, at festivals such as Lucerne, Berlin, Helsinki Salzburg and the BBC Proms, and collaborates widely with artists including the Arditti Quartet, Adrian Brendel, Colin Currie, Anssi Karttunen, and as a member of Trio Accanto since 2013.
Nicolas Hodges’ varied discography includes Thomas Adès’ piano concerto “In Seven Days”, with the London Sinfonietta conducted by Thomas Adès (Signum Classics); Pascal Dusapin’s concerto “À Quia” (BIS); the complete late piano works of Sciarrino, music by Michael Finnissy and Gershwin (all three on Metronome). Hodges has recorded four solo discs on Wergo, including works by Walter Zimmermann, Brice Pauset, Rolf Riehm and Harrison Birtwistle – the latter coupled with Beethoven and including the first recording of the prize-winning “Gigue Machine”.
As of June 2021