László Borbély
(Hungary)
Junior Prima and Artisjus Awards winner pianist László Borbély (1984) graduated from the Liszt Academy in Budapest. He was awarded at several prestigious international piano competitions, and received 2nd prize at the Franz Liszt International Piano Competitions in Budapest and in Los Angeles. He held a Yamaha scholarship, and received the Annie Fischer Scholarship for performance artists several times.
He is regularly invited back to numerous international and Hungarian festivals; he performs actively as a soloist, a chamber musician, and a concerto soloist. He had concerts at the Hermitage Theatre in Saint Petersburg, at the Festival Palace in Santander, at the Carnegie Hall in New York, and at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC. Among other venues, he performed at the Grand Hall of Liszt Academy in Budapest, and at the Béla Bartók National Concert Hall in MÜPA.
He has worked with conductors such as Zoltán Kocsis and János Kovács; he regularly plays with well-known and prestigious artists. His repertoire includes the music of centuries, from the Early Baroque to contemporary pieces. Numerous Hungarian contemporary composers—including György Kurtág—have written pieces dedicated to him. He also enjoys playing works from Schönberg, Ligeti, Thomas Adés, Mauricio Kagel, Federico Mompou and other famous (or less played) modern composers.
He feels especially close to the musical worlds of Ligeti and Olivier Messiaen; in May 2023, he played the Hungarian premiere of Messiaen’s monumental cycle titled Catalogue d'oiseaux in the House of Music, Hungary. He released over ten solo albums at Hunnia Records in four years. Among others, he recorded Bach’s Goldberg Variations, The Art of Fugue, Liszt’s sonatas and other pieces, a selection of Rachmaninoff's piano pieces, and last but not least, the Catalogue d'oiseaux by Messiaen. He has recently recorded all three piano concertos from Béla Bartók. His album containing the late works of Liszt was recognised at the 41st International "Ferenc Liszt Record Grand Prix". He is currently working on solo albums featuring pieces of Bartók, Ligeti and Chopin.
Besides performing concerts, he works as an associate professor at the Liszt Academy Budapest, and often holds masterclasses and lectures in Hungary and abroad. Reviews highlight his “attention to detail”, “profoundness”, “maximalism”, “intellectual discipline”, and his “perfect technique that comes with an almost obsessive virtuosity”.