:Mitsuko Uchida

{{Short description|Japanese-English classical pianist and conductor.}}

{{Infobox person

| honorific_prefix = Dame

| name = Mitsuko Uchida

| honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|DBE|size=100|country=GBR}}

| image = התזמורת הקאמרית מאהלר בלוקסמבורג.jpg

| image_size = 280px

| caption = Uchida with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, 2016

| native_name = {{nobold|内田光子}}

| native_name_lang = ja

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1948|12|20}}

| birth_place = Atami, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan

| citizenship = {{hlist|Japan|United Kingdom}}

| death_date =

| death_place =

| title = Co-artistic director of the Marlboro Music School and Festival (with Jonathan Biss)

| occupation = Classical pianist, conductor

| yearsactive = 1972–present

| partner = Robert Cooper

| children =

| website = {{URL|https://mitsukouchida.com/}}

}}

{{nihongo|Dame Mitsuko Uchida, |内田光子||{{IPA|ja|ɯtɕida miꜜtsɯ̥ko|}}; born 20 December 1948}} is a Japanese-English classical pianist and conductor. Born in Japan and naturalised in England, she is particularly notable for her interpretations of Mozart and Schubert.

She has appeared with many notable orchestras, recorded a wide repertory with several labels, won numerous awards and honours (including Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2009) and is the co-artistic director, with Jonathan Biss, of the Marlboro Music School and Festival.{{cite news|title=Mitsuko Uchida & Jonathan Biss, Artistic Directors|url=https://www.marlboromusic.org/about/leadership/|access-date=November 29, 2021|website=Marlboro Music Festival}} She has also conducted several major orchestras.

Life and career

Born in Atami, a seaside town close to Tokyo, Japan, Uchida moved to Vienna, Austria, with her diplomat parents when she was 12 years old, after her father was named the Japanese ambassador to Austria. She is the youngest of three children.{{Cite web |title=Mitsuko Uchida {{!}} Biography, Music, & Facts {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Mitsuko-Uchida |access-date=2024-04-09 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}} She enrolled at the Vienna Academy of Music to study with Richard Hauser and later Wilhelm Kempff and Stefan Askenase. She gave her first Viennese recital at the age of 14 at the Vienna Musikverein. Uchida also studied with Maria Curcio, the last and favourite pupil of Artur Schnabel. She remained in Vienna to study when her father was transferred back to Japan after five years.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2009/apr/14/obituary-maria-curcio|title=Maria Curcio|first=Niel|last=Immelman|date=13 April 2009|access-date=6 December 2016|newspaper=The Guardian}}{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/culture-obituaries/music-obituaries/5121311/Maria-Curcio.html|title=Maria Curcio|website=Telegraph.co.uk|access-date=6 December 2016|date=7 April 2009}}

She was awarded tenth prize at the Queen Elisabeth Music Competition in 1968, playing Beethoven, Debussy, and Gaston Brenta in the finals.{{Cite web |title=Mitsuko Uchida |url=https://queenelisabethcompetition.be/en/laureates/mitsuko-uchida/139/ |access-date=2022-03-18 |website=queenelisabethcompetition.be |language=fr}} In 1969 Uchida won the first prize in the {{ill|International Beethoven Piano Competition Vienna|de|Internationaler Beethoven Klavierwettbewerb Wien}}{{Cite web|title=History – 16th International Beethoven Piano Competition Vienna|url=https://beethoven-comp.at/history/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200930024753/https://beethoven-comp.at/history/ |archive-date=2020-09-30 |access-date=2022-07-18}} and in 1970 the second prize in the VIII International Chopin Piano Competition.{{Cite web|url=https://konkursy.nifc.pl/pl/miedzynarodowy/uczestnicy/46|title=Narodowy Instytut Fryderyka Chopina|website=Konkursy.nifc.pl|access-date=28 July 2020}} In 1975, she won second prize in the Leeds Piano Competition.[http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/42850 "Uchida, Mitsuko"], Grove Music Online, 2007. Accessed 3 June 2007. {{subscription required}}

In 1998 Uchida was the music director of the Ojai Music Festival in conjunction with conductor and violinist, David Zinman.

She is an acclaimed interpreterJean-Pierre Thiollet, 88 notes pour piano solo, "Solo nec plus ultra", Neva Editions, 2015, p. 51. {{ISBN|978 2 3505 5192 0}}. of the works of Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Chopin, Debussy and Schoenberg. She has recorded all of Mozart's piano sonatas (a project that won the Gramophone Award in 1989) and concerti, the latter with the English Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Jeffrey Tate. Her recording of the Schoenberg Piano Concerto with Pierre Boulez won another Gramophone Award. Uchida is further noted for her recordings of Beethoven's complete piano concerti with Kurt Sanderling conducting, Beethoven's late piano sonatas, and a Schubert piano cycle. She is also respected as a distinguished interpreter of the works of the Second Viennese School.Hunt, Brian, [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/4722593/Rekindling-the-very-grandest-of-passions.html "Rekindling the very grandest of passions"], The Daily Telegraph, 2 April 2001; accessed 22 September 2009.

Her 2009 recording of the Mozart piano concertos nos. 23 and 24, in which she conducted the Cleveland Orchestra as well as playing the solo part, won the Grammy Award in 2011.{{Cite web | url=http://www.grammy.com/videos/53rd-annual-grammy-awards-pre-telecast-best-instrumental-soloists-performance-with-orchestra | title=Mitsuko Uchida Wins Best Instrumental Soloist(s) Performance (With Orchestra)|website=Grammy.com|date=15 February 2011}} This recording was the start of a project to record all the Mozart piano concertos for a second time, conducting the Cleveland Orchestra from the piano. Further recordings for this project were released in 2011, 2012 and 2014.{{Cite web | url=http://www.deccaclassics.com/us/artist/uchida/pressquotes | title=Mitsuko Uchida – Reviews | publisher=Decca Classics}}

From 2002 to 2007 she was artist-in-residence for the Cleveland Orchestra, where she led performances of all Mozart's solo piano concertos. She has also conducted the English Chamber Orchestra, from the keyboard. In 2010, she was artist-in-residence for the Berlin Philharmonic. She was senior artist at the Marlboro Music School and Festival in 1974 and 1992, and has been permanently associated with Marlboro since 1994 when she became a member of the Committee for Artistic Direction. In 1999 she became one of two artistic directors along with fellow pianist Richard Goode. She served as the sole director until 2018 when Marlboro Music announced that American pianist Jonathan Biss would assume the role of co-artistic director. She is also a founding trustee of the Borletti-Buitoni Trust, an organisation established to help young artists develop and sustain international careers.{{cite web|title=Borletti-Buitoni Trust: Making a Difference|date=11 January 2012 |url=http://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whatson/festivals-series/borletti-buitoni-trust-making-a-difference|publisher=Southbank Centre|access-date=3 May 2015}} In May 2012, the Royal Philharmonic Society announced that she would be honoured with their Gold Medal (she received the society's annual Music Award in 2003); previous recipients have included Johannes Brahms (1877), Frederick Delius and Sir Edward Elgar (1925), Richard Strauss (1936), Igor Stravinsky (1954), Benjamin Britten and Leonard Bernstein (1987).

Her 2015 performance with the Cleveland Orchestra elicited this review from the Cleveland Plain Dealer:

{{blockquote|Call it the mark of a master. Just when Mitsuko Uchida was starting to seem predictable, the goddess of purity, the pianist goes and exhibits another persona altogether. Performing Mozart again with the Cleveland Orchestra Thursday, the pianist-conductor treated listeners to a heartier, more robust version of her art. More than just the layout of the strings, she rearranged, in a refreshing manner, her very sound.{{cite web|url=http://www.cleveland.com/musicdance/index.ssf/2015/04/mitsuko_uchida_treats_clevelan.html|title=Mitsuko Uchida treats Cleveland Orchestra crowd to bright, robust Mozart (review and gallery)|website=Cleveland.com|access-date=6 December 2016|date=10 April 2015}}}}

Her 2022 recording of Beethoven's Diabelli Variations{{Cite AV media |title= Diabelli Variations|title-link= |last= Uchida|first= Mitsuko|author-link= |first2= Ludwig van|last2= Beethoven|author-link2= |others= |url= https://worldcat.org/en/title/1342083603|date= 2022|access-date= 27 February 2023|type= |publisher= Decca|id= |location= New York}} was nominated for a Grammy for Best Classical Instrumental Solo{{cite news |title=Grammy Awards 2023: The Full List of Nominees |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/15/arts/music/grammys-nominee-list-2023.html |access-date=27 February 2023|newspaper=The New York Times|date=6 February 2023}} and won a Gramophone Piano Award.{{cite web |title=Gramophone Piano Award 2022 |url=https://www.gramophone.co.uk/awards/gramophone-classical-music-awards-2022/piano |website=Gramophone|access-date=27 February 2023}}

On 2 July 2024, The Times published a letter to the editor, co-signed by Uchida and numerous other Catholic and non-Catholic public figures, calling upon the Holy See to preserve what they describe as the "magnificent" cultural artifact of the Catholic Church's Traditional Latin Mass. {{cite web|url=https://www.thetimes.com/article/1836658d-5527-49a6-853c-059ddafef12b?shareToken=6252b61cdfb9c755f3eb1c3eed1c5551|title=Letters to the editor|work=The Times|date=2 July 2024 |access-date=4 July 2024}}

Honours and awards

1986: Suntory Music Award{{Cite web|url=https://www.suntory.com/sfa/music/pdf/title1_2019.pdf|title=Suntory Music Award Awardees|website=Suntory.com|access-date=28 July 2020}}
1989: Gramophone Award for Best Instrumental Recording, for her set of the complete Piano Sonatas of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart{{Cite web|url=https://www.gramophone.co.uk/artists/artist|title=Artist|website=Gramophone.co.uk|access-date=28 July 2020}}
2001: Appointed Honorary Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2001 New Year Honours. At the time, the award was honorary because she was not yet a citizen of the United Kingdom.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/uk/2000/new_year_honours_2000/1092705.stm|title=New Year Honours 2000 – Honorary appointments|website=Bbc.co.uk|access-date=6 December 2016|date=30 December 2000}}
2001: Gramophone Award for Best Concerto Recording, for her recording of the piano concerto of Arnold Schoenberg (with Pierre Boulez conducting)
2003: Uchida was elected an international member of the American Philosophical Society{{Cite web|title=APS Member History|url=https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=Mitsuko+Uchida&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=&year-max=&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced|access-date=2021-06-22|website=search.amphilsoc.org}}
2008: In April, BBC Music Magazine presented her its awards for Instrumentalist of the Year, and Disc of the Year (Beethoven's Hammerklavier Sonata).{{cite press release|title=Mitsuko Uchida takes BBC's classical top spot|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/bbcworldwide/worldwidestories/pressreleases/2008/04_april/music_magazine_awards.shtml|access-date=6 January 2020}}
2009: She was promoted to Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2009 Queen's Birthday Honours.{{London Gazette |issue=59090 |date=13 June 2009 |page=7 |supp=y}} On this occasion, the award was substantive,Honorary awards are specifically listed as such, and are not usually gazetted as she had become a British citizen.
2009: In June, she was awarded an honorary Doctor of Music (DMus) degree by the University of Oxford during Encaenia 2009.{{Cite web|url=http://www.ox.ac.uk/media/news_releases_for_journalists/090205.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090704100435/http://www.ox.ac.uk/media/news_releases_for_journalists/090205.html|url-status=dead|title=Oxford University Gazette, 5 February 2009|archive-date=4 July 2009|access-date=28 July 2020}}
2011: Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Soloist(s) Performance (with orchestra) for her recording of Mozart's Piano Concerti No. 23 K. 488 and No. 24 K. 491 with the Cleveland Orchestra, which she conducted from the keyboard.
2012: in May, Uchida was awarded the Royal Philharmonic Society Gold Medal, one of the highest honours in classical music.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-17952386|title=Pianist Mitsuko Uchida given classical honour|date=4 May 2012|access-date=6 December 2016|website=BBC News}}
2015: in January, Uchida was awarded the Gold Medal of the Foundation (Stiftung) of the Mozarteum University of Salzburg{{cite web|url=http://www.drehpunktkultur.at/index.php/mozartwoche-sp-79180025/8149-einmal-gold-zweimal-silber|title=Einmal Gold, zweimal Silber|first=Reinhard|last=Kriechbaum|website=Drehpunktkultur.at|access-date=6 December 2016}}
2015: Praemium Imperiale, awarded by the imperial family of Japan{{cite press release |date=21 October 2015 |title=Artists honored with Japan's Praemium Imperiale awards |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-japan-awards-praemium-imperiale/artists-honored-with-japans-praemium-imperiale-awards-idUSKCN0SF2RS20151021 |website=Reuters.com |agency=Reuters |access-date=17 July 2018}}
2017: Grammy Award for the Best Classical Solo Vocal Album (as accompanist) with Dorothea Röschmann{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/grammy-award-winners-2017-complete-list/2017/02/12/a80988f8-f17f-11e6-8d72-263470bf0401_story.html|title=Grammy Award winners 2017: Complete list|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=12 February 2017}}
2022: Gramophone Classical Music Awards – Piano Category (Beethoven Diabelli Variations){{Cite web |url=https://www.gramophone.co.uk/awards/gramophone-classical-music-awards-2022/piano |title=Gramophone Piano Award 2022 |access-date=17 March 2024 }}

References

External links

{{official website|https://mitsukouchida.com/}}
[http://www.bbtrust.com/ Borletti-Buitoni Trust]
{{YouTube|sxc8-dh3zwc|David Dubal interview with Mitsuko Uchida}}, WNCN-FM, 1 December 1985
{{YouTube|9a7XiHRjTGI|Beethoven – Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major (Mitsuko Uchida, piano, Proms 2013)}}
Erica Jeal, [https://www.theguardian.com/music/2006/feb/25/classicalmusicandopera.mozart 'Musical moments'] (profile of Mitsuko Uchida), The Guardian, 25 February 2006. Accessed 1 February 2008.
Allan Kozinn, [https://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/29/arts/music/a-keyboard-alchemist-exploring-the-haze.html "A Keyboard Alchemist Exploring the Haze"], The New York Times, 29 April 2005. Accessed 17 June 2024.
[https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/musicshow/mitsuko-uchida/3352090 "Transcript: Mitsuko Uchida"], Andrew Ford, The Music Show, ABC (Australia), 1 July 2006. Accessed 17 June 2024.
Andrew Lindemann Malone, [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/16/AR2005111602059.html 'From Pianist Uchida, Daring, Intense Mozart'], The Washington Post, 17 November 2005, Page C02. Accessed 1 February 2008.