Hüseyin Sermet
Jasper Parrott
“Most impressive was Sermet’s delicacy and his remarkable ability to terrace his tone to elucidate textures… A remarkable, memorable recital.”
(International Piano)
Turkish pianist and composer Hüseyin Sermet’s thirty-five-year career reflects his wide-range musical interests and intensely personal vision encompassing a large eclectic repertoire and pianistic versatility.
Sermet has performed around the world with important orchestras including London Philharmonic and Royal Philharmonic, Orchestre de Paris, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Luzerner Sinfonieorchester, Bamberger Symphoniker, and NHK, Shanghai, Tokyo and Detroit symphony orchestras; with renowed conductors such as Vladimir Jurowski, Semyon Bychkov, David Robertson, Lawrence Foster, Pablo Heras-Casado, Jonathan Nott, James Gaffigan and Hans Graf, and instrumentalists Maria João Pires, Gautier and Renaud Capuçon.
Sermet has given solo recitals at major series and venues worldwide, including London’s International Piano Series, Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, Paris’ Cité de la Musique, Munich’s Cuvilliés-Theater, Lisbon’s Dias da Musica, Copenhagen’s Tivoli and the Oxford and Lille Piano festivals. Last season he made his recital debut at the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing.
Equally active as a composer, Sermet’s first major composition Réminiscènce 1 was premiered at the Empéri Festival in 1997 and broadcast live by France Musique. A commission from Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, Dream and Nightmare, was premiered in 2004, and in 2006 there followed Sculptures 1, commissioned by İş Bank. Following these successes, Réminiscènces II received its premiere in Istanbul in May 2012.
Show More
A devoted mentor of young talent and highly regarded for his many appearances in Japan, Sermet was filmed by NHK TV for a series of 15 televised masterclasses with young pianists broadcast throughout Japan.
Many of Hüseyin Sermet’s numerous recordings for Naïve, harmonia mundi and Erato have won major international prizes, including his disc of Ravel’s solo piano works, three discs devoted to Alkan (all winning a Diapason d’Or de l’Année), a selection of Schubert’s works for four hands with Maria João Pires and a recording of Liszt’s Piano Sonata and late works.
Hüseyin Sermet was born in Istanbul in 1955 and began his education at the Ankara State Conservatoire. He continued his studies at the Paris Conservatoire and later at the Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris Alfred Cortot with Thierry de Brunhoff, Nadia Boulanger and Maria Curcio. He also studied composition with Olivier Messiaen and received the Lili Boulanger Award for his early string quartet.
“Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4 is the realm of lyricism and detail — Sermet interprets its transparencies with liquid tone and great agility. The scales flow luminous and light; here and there the startling chords, played with strength, are like signposts, elements of contrast — to then quickly return to the gentle game of lightness and cantabile playing. Rock solid trills, amazing sudden pianos in those passages where Beethoven’s piano becomes as light as a musical box, tinkling as if by magic”
“Most impressive was Sermet’s delicacy and his remarkable ability to terrace his tone to elucidate textures… A remarkable, memorable recital.”
