Michel Dalberto

Born in 1955 to non-musician parents, Michel Dalberto began to play a toy at the age of 3 and a half and made his first public appearance two years later. He joined the Paris Conservatory in the class of Vlado Perlemuter, a disciple of Maurice Ravel and Alfred Cortot. He is therefore considered today as the direct heir of the French Piano School founded by Alfred Cortot. His career began when he won two of the most renowned competitions: the Clara Haskil Prize in 1975 and the 1st Prize at Leeds in 1978. He was invited to numerous festivals such as Aix-en-Provence, Edinburgh, Lucerne, Schleswig-Holstein or Wiener Festwochen as well as major orchestras such as the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the London Philharmonia, the Oslo Philharmonic, the Orchestre de Paris, the Santa-Cecilia in Rome, the Czech Philharmonic, the NHK in Tokyo or the Vienna Symphony, conducted by Wolfgang Sawallisch, Sir Colin Davis, Charles Dutoit, Erich Leinsdorf, Yuri Temirkanov, Kurt Masur or Daniele Gatti, etc. His vast repertoire is reflected in an impressive discography of more than 45 CDs for the labels Erato, Warner, Denon, RCA, La Dolce Volta and Aparté. He remains today the only pianist in the world to have recorded the complete piano works of Schubert. Five Beethoven Sonatas were recently released by La Dolce Volta, which earned him the title of Artist of the Year 2019 by Classica magazine . In May 2022, the same label released a Liszt program including his famous Sonata in B minor , which the newspaper Le Monde praised with a full-page interview. Considered an exceptional partner in chamber music, Michel Dalberto has shared the stage with many of the most renowned artists such as Barbara Hendricks, Jessye Norman, Renaud Capuçon, Lynn Harrell and Michel Portal. Teaching and transmission are of paramount importance to him. After teaching at the Accademia Pianistica in Imola, he was appointed professor at the Paris Conservatory in 2011, a position he left in 2022. From 2023, he will teach at the brand new Yehudi Menuhin School that opened in September 2022 in Qingdao (China). He will also be Visiting Professor at the Hochschule Weimar and will give monthly masterclasses at the Rachmaninoff Conservatory in Paris. The French government elevated him to the rank of Chevalier in the Ordre National du Mérite in 1996. Among his various interests, gastronomy occupies a special place (he has been a member of the Club des 100 since 2002). He is also an excellent skier, a certified diver and a lover of classic cars and F1.

Born in 1955 to a non-musical family, Michel Dalberto began playing on a toy piano at the age of 3 ½, made his first public appearance at 5 ½ and entered the Paris Conservatoire at 13 to study with Vlado Perlemuter. Today he is regarded as a direct heir of the great French Piano School founded by Alfred Cortot, who considered Perlemuter to be one of his favorite students. Dalberto's career started after winning two of the most coveted international competitions: the Clara Haskil Prize in 1975 and 1 st Prize of the Leeds International Piano Competition in 1978. Major festivals such as Aix-en-Provence, Edinburgh, Lucerne, Schleswig-Holstein or Vienna Festwochen and prominent orchestras such as Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Czech Philharmonic, London Philharmonia, Oslo Philharmonic, Orchester National de France, Roma Santa-Cecilia, Tokyo NHK and Vienna Symphony have invited him with conductors including Wolfgang Sawallisch, Sir Colin Davis, Charles Dutoit, Erich Leinsdorf, Yuri Temirkanov, Kurt Masur and Daniele Gatti. His vast repertoire is reflected by an impressive discography with over 45 Cds on Erato, Warner, RCA, Denon, La Dolce Volta and Aparté labels. Of note, he is the only living pianist who has recorded the complete piano music of Franz Schubert. He also played and conducted all of the Mozart Concertos. He is currently recording for the label La Dolce Volta which released in the fall of 2019 a double CD featuring five of the most famous piano Sonatas by Beethoven. The album received widely acclaimed reviews, including the rare “Artist of the Year” award given by the magazine Classica . In May 2022 he released an all-Liszt CD (including the B-minor Sonata ) recorded at the Louis Vuitton Foundation, which the daily paper “ Le Monde ” featured in a full-page interview. Respected as an outstanding chamber music partner, Michel Dalberto has shared the stage and collaborated with some of the world's most renowned musicians, including Barbara Hendricks, Jessye Norman, Renaud Capuçon and Lynn Harrell. Teaching is paramount for him – After being on the faculty of the Imola Accademia Pianistica (2006-2009) and at the Paris Conservatory (2011-2022), he has been invited to the new Yehudi Menuhin School in Qingdao to teach Piano and Chamber Music . He is also Visiting Professor at the Weimar Hochschule and gives regular Masterclasses at the Rachmaninoff Conservatory in Paris. The French Government awarded him the title of Chevalier de l'Ordre National du Mérite in 1996. An expert in gastronomy and wine, he is also an avid skier, a certified scuba-diver and passionate fan of vintage cars and auto racing.