MIHAI RITIVOIU IS AN AWARD-WINNING ROMANIAN CLASSICAL PIANIST, LIVING IN LONDON.

HE HAS PERFORMED THROUGHOUT GREAT BRITAIN, ROMANIA, GERMANY, ITALY, FRANCE, SWITZERLAND AND JAPAN.

FIND DETAILS ABOUT HIS DEBUT ALBUM “TRANSCENDENCE” BELOW

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Concert Diary

Born in Bucharest, the London-based Romanian pianist Mihai Ritivoiu is a top prize-winner of several national and international competitions, including the George Enescu International Competition, where he was also distinguished with the special prize for the best interpretation of a piano sonata by George Enescu.

He leads an international career performing solo and chamber music recitals in Europe and Asia, and has played concertos with the George Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra, Lausanne Chamber Orchestra, the English Chamber Orchestra and MDR Leipzig, and with conductors such as Joshua Weilerstein, Robert Trevino, Michael Collins, Jonathan Bloxham, Cristian Mandeal, Christian Badea and Horia Andreescu.

He has been invited to play at prestigious festivals, including Young Euro Classic in Berlin and the Enescu Festival in Bucharest, and has performed in halls such as the Barbican Centre, Wigmore Hall, Cadogan Hall, Konzerthaus Berlin, Studio Ernest Ansermet Geneva, the Radio Hall and the Romanian Athenaeum in Bucharest.

Ritivoiu was invited to appear live several times on BBC Radio 3’s programme ‘In Tune’, and his performances have been broadcast by Radio Romania Muzical, Radio Television Suisse and Medici TV. His debut album, released under the label Genuin with solo works by Franck, Enescu and Liszt, has been praised as “beautifully recorded, handsomely played - a solo recital to cherish” (The Arts Desk), while the critic Jean-Charles Hoffelé called the pianist “a magician”.

A graduate with the highest honours from the National University of Music in Bucharest and the Guildhall School of Music & Drama in London, Mihai studied with Professors Viniciu Moroianu and Joan Havill. He took masterclasses with Dmitri Bashkirov, Dominique Merlet, Emmanuel Ax, Richard Goode, Jean-Claude Pennetier and has been mentored by Valentin Gheorghiu and Christopher Elton.

In addition to his solo recitals and concerto appearances, Ritivoiu has a rich chamber music activity, having played with Corina Belcea, Antoine Lederlin, Roland Pidoux, Jack Liebeck and Robert Cohen. He has also worked closely with the contemporary French composer, Stéphane Delplace, recently having performed the world premiere of one of his solo piano works.

‘I have heard many recitals on this piano but rarely have I been aware of the glow and subtle sheen of sound that was hidden within…

The F minor transcendental study was shaped and given a Ballade type form and any trace of rhetoric or showmanship was subordinate to the passionate sense of urgency and forward movement that swept us along to the exciting finish.’

the artsdesk

Transcendence CD review by Graham Rickson

‘…you really need this CD for George Enescu’s Piano Sonata No. 1. The first movement’s constant shifts in mood and tempo discombobulate and enchant, the ensuing scherzo suggesting Debussy, Gershwin and Bartók by turns. And what an extraordinary finale, the plaintive opening melody overlaid with what sounds like distant church bells. Beautifully recorded, handsomely played – a solo recital to cherish and press into the hands of family and friends.’

Artalinna

Transcendence CD review by Jean-Charles Hoffelé

'Qui phrase ainsi les arpèges du Prélude, Choral et Fugue de Franck, dans une vraie sonorité d’orgue, où tous les timbres exhaussent comme une prière ? C’est un magicien certainement, tant ses polyphonies chantent.

Mihai Ritivoiu ... doit certainement son art de timbrer et de phraser à Valentin Gheorghiu, il aura hérité de ce pianiste pour les musiciens la grande technique classique, celle-là même que montrait Dinu Lipatti, y ajoutant cette capacité typiquement roumaine d’imaginer le clavier comme une palette de couleurs.'

Musical opinion

'When it came to Chopin's Polonaise - Fantasy, Op. 61, Ritivoiu totally conveyed the dreaminess of this work, coupled with the excitement of the melodic and harmonic dance sections that Chopin is so passionately remembered for. ... The exquisite Pavane from the 2nd Piano Suite, Op. 10 [by Enescu], allowed Ritivoiu to display his mastery of temporal pacing and the control of vague harmonies in this evocative work.'