Heinrich Schiff - Cello

Photo Credit: Alexander Basta

Heinrich Schiff studied with Tobias Kuhne and Andre Navarra, and made his debut as a cellist in
Vienna and London in 1971. Whilst establishing his career as a cellist, Schiff also attended
conducting classes with Swarovsky and in 1986 he made his professional conducting debut. Since
then cello performances and conducting have come to play equal roles in his career.
As a cellist, Schiff has performed with many of the leading conductors such as Abbado,
Celibidache, Colin Davis, Dohnanyi, Eschenbach, Gielen, Haitink, Harnoncourt, Jansons, Masur,
Salonen, Sawallisch, Sinopoli, Tennstedt, Welser-Möst, Daniel Harding. Recent engagement
highlights have included opening last year's Salzburg Festival playing with the Vienna Philharmonic
and Daniel Barenboim and, last season, performing with the Vienna Philharmonic with Zubin Mehta
and with the Bayerischer Rundfunk and Mariss Jansons.

Heinrich Schiff has also appeared with the Orchestre de Paris, Orchestre National de Lyon,
Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Tonhalle, Northern Sinfonia, BBC Symphony Orchestra on tour
in Germany. Future engagements include returning to the Orchestre de Paris, and appearing with
the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra with Sir Simon Rattle.

Schiff is a highly respected chamber musician and over the years has appeared regularly with the
Alban Berg Quartet, and in recital with a number of pianists including Leif Ove Andsnes, Lars Vogt,
Till Felner, Oli Mustonen and Elisabeth Leonskaja. He is a regular guest at the Salzburg and
Edinburgh Festivals and at the major European concert halls: the Konzerthaus in Vienna, the
Wigmore Hall and the South Bank Centre in London, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris, the
Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels and the Tonhalle in Zürich. Contemporary music plays an
important part in his artistic work and Schiff has collaborated with and commissioned works by
major contemporary composers such as Berio, Casken, Henze, Lutoslawski and Penderecki.
In March 2004, Heinrich Schiff was appointed Chief Conductor of the Vienna Chamber Orchestra.
He has previously held conducting positions with the following orchestras: Artistic Director of the
Northern Sinfonia 1990-1996, Principal Conductor of the Copenhagen Philharmonic and of the
Musikkollegium Winterthur, and Principal Guest Conductor of the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie
and of the Radio Sinfonie Orchester Stuttgart. He is in demand internationally as a guest conductor
with orchestras such as the Philharmonia, BBC Scottish Symphony, Orchestra of the Age of
Enlightenment, Munich Philharmonic, Dresden Staatskapelle, Orchestre de Paris, Rotterdam
Philharmonic, Santa Cecilia in Rome, Oslo Philharmonic, Camerata Salzburg, Tonhalle Orchestra
Zurich, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Halle, and Los Angeles Philharmonic.

Schiff has released a number of recordings conducting the Northern Sinfonia, the Deutsche
Kammerphilharmonie and the Philharmonia with repertoire ranging from Haydn and Beethoven to
Schreker, Krenek and Lutoslawski. As cellist he has recorded all the major works of the repertoire.
Apart from his prize-winning Bach Solo Suites (EMI) and Shostakovich concertos (Philips), which
won the Grand Prix du Disque, Schiff has also recorded the Dvorak cello concerto with the Vienna
Philharmonic (Previn), the Schumann concerto with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra (Haitink), and
the Brahms Double Concerto with Frank Peter Zimmermann (Sawallisch), the latter being awarded
the Deutscher Schallplattenpreis. In 2000 he released the complete Beethoven works for cello and
piano with Till Fellner on Philips to huge critical acclaim.

Heinrich Schiff plays ‘The Mara’ (Stradivarius 1711) and ‘The Sleeping Beauty’ (Montagnana 1739).
Heinrich Schiff is represented by Jessica Ford at Intermusica, jford@intermusica.co.uk.
January 2008 / 538 words. Not to be altered without permission. Please destroy all previous biographical material.

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