Labyrinth Khatia Buniatishvili

• Ennio Morricone (1928 - 2020):
• 1Deborah's Theme (From "Once upon a Time in America")05:22
• Erik Satie (1866 - 1925):
• 23 Gymnopédies: No. 1, Lent et douloureux03:31
• Frédéric Chopin (1810 - 1849):
• 3Prelude, Op. 28, No. 402:48
• György Ligeti (1923 - 1849):
• 4Etudes, Book 1: No. 5, Arc-en-ciel04:07
• Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 - 1750):
• 5Badinerie from Orchestral Suite No. 2 in B Minor, BWV 1067 (Arr. for Four Hands)01:20
• 6Air on the G String from Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D Major, BMV 106805:19
• Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873 - 1943):
• 7Vocalise, Op. 34, No. 1406:18
• Serge Gainsbourg (1928 - 1991):
• 8La Javanaise03:23
• Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887 - 1959):
• 9Valsa Da Dor05:21
• François Couperin (1668 - 1733):
• 10Les Barricades Mystérieuses02:24
• Johann Sebastian Bach, Antonio Vivaldi (1678 - 1741):
• 11Sicilienne from Concerto in D Minor, BWV 59602:53
• Johannes Brahms (1833 - 1897):
• 126 Klavierstücke, Op. 118: No. 2, Intermezzo07:35
• Arvo Pärt (b. 1935):
• 13Pari intervallo07:50
• Philip Glass (b. 1937):
• 14I'm Going to Make a Cake (from "The Hours" Soundtrack)03:05
• Domenico Scarlatti (1685 - 1757):
• 15Sonata in D Minor, K. 3204:43
• Franz Liszt (1811 - 1886):
• 16Consolations, S. 172: No. 3, Lento placido05:13
• John Cage (1912 - 1992):
• 174'33"04:34
• Johann Sebastian Bach, Alessandro Marcello (1673 - 1747):
• 18Concerto in D Minor, BWV 974: II. Adagio03:51
• Total Runtime01:19:37

Info for Labyrinth

Sony Classical presents Buniatishvilis eagerly-anticipated new album Labyrinth.' As befits this dazzling, passionate and mercurial performer, Labyrinth will cover a range of beautiful and haunting works for piano by composers ranging from Bach, Vivaldi and Scarlatti, to Chopin, Brahms and Satie to Glass, Ligeti and Gainsbourg. Labyrinth was recorded in France at La Grande Salle Pierre Boulez, Philharmonie de Paris. Khatia Buniatishvili is a French-Gregorian concert pianist who studied in Tbilisi with Tengiz Amiredijibi and in Vienna with Oleg Maisenberg. She has been a Sony Classical exclusive artist since 2010.

Following the success of her previous album ‘Schubert’, the sensational pianist, Khatia Buniatishvili returns with her breathtaking new album ‘Labryrinth’. ‘Labyrinth’ includes diverse and easy listening tracks with an appeal to a broader audience. With favourites ranging from Bach, Vivaldi and Scarlatti, to Chopin, Brahms and Satie to Glass and Gainsbourg.

Khatia is one of the today’s leading classical pianists, having performed at the most prestigious venues and events including New York’s Carnegie Hall, the BBC Proms at London’s iconic Royal Albert Hall and the Salzburg Festival. Gramophone noted of the critically acclaimed pianist’s previous recordings “Buniatishvili produces the most ravishing, velvet-toned pianissimo” (‘Motherland’) and “Right from the concerto’s opening moments, there’s tremendous power to Buniatishvili’s playing, and her massive technique overcomes every hurdle with ease” (Rachmaninov).

“The labyrinth – our fate and creation; our impasse and deliverance; the polyphony of life, sense, reawakened dreams and the neglected present; unexpected and expected turnings of the said or unsaid... The labyrinth of our mind.” (Khatia Buniatishvili)

Khatia Buniatishvili, piano
Gvantsa Buniatishvili, piano

Khatia Buniatishvili
Born on 21 June 1987 in Tbilisi, Georgian pianist Khatia Buniatishvili and her elder sister Gvantsa were introduced to the piano at an early age by their mother, an enthusiastic music lover. Playing four handed remains one of the sisters’ favourite activities.

Khatia’s extraordinary talent was recognized when she was very young. Aged six, she gave her début performance as soloist with an orchestra, and was subsequently invited to give guest performances in Switzerland, the Netherlands, France, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Austria, Russia, Israel and the USA.

Khatia prefers not to be regarded as a child prodigy: virtuosity for its own sake does not appeal to her. Above all, she embraces pianists from earlier generations such as Rachmaninoff, Richter and Gould. She admires her “favourite pianist”, Martha Argerich, for her uniqueness and, as a consequence, does not view Argerich as someone she should try to emulate. And since she regards herself as “wholly a person of the 20th century”, Khatia does not identify so much with pianists of today.

Khatia’s warm, sometimes sorrowful playing may reflect a close proximity to Georgian folk-music, which, she attests, has greatly influenced her musicality. Critics emphasize that her playing has an aura of elegant solitude and even melancholy, which she does not feel to be a negative attribute. “The piano is the blackest instrument,” she says, a “symbol of musical solitude”, which even a pianist must become accustomed to. “I have to be psychologically strong and forget the hall if I want to share it with the audience.”

During her studies at Tbilisi’s State Conservatoire, Khatia won a special prize at the Horowitz International Competition for Young Pianists in Kiev in 2003 as well as first prize at the Foundation to Assist Young Georgian Musicians competition set up by Elisabeth Leonskaya.

At the 2003 Piano Competition in Tbilisi, she became acquainted with Oleg Maisenberg, who persuaded her to transfer to Vienna’s University of Music and Performing Arts. Winner of the Bronze Medal at the 12th Arthur Rubinstein Piano Master Competition in 2008, she was also distinguished as the Best Performer of a Chopin piece and as Audience Favourite.

Khatia Buniatishvili has given critically acclaimed solo recitals and chamber music concerts at such renowned venues as London’s Wigmore Hall, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw and the Musikverein in Vienna. In 2008 she made her US concert début at Carnegie Hall (Zankel Hall), performing Chopin’s Second Piano Concerto.

In 2011 Khatia Buniatishvili made her recording debut with a Liszt recital on Sony Classical, following now with her first recording accompanied with orchestra for a Chopin album. Khatia Buniatishvili has been invited to play with, among other orchestras, the Orchestre de Paris under Paavo Järvi, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestre National de France under Daniele Gatti and the Philharmonia Orchestra in London. She can also often be heard in performances of chamber music: in a trio with Gidon Kremer, with Renaud Capuçon or also with her sister Gvantsa.

In 2010 Khatia received the Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award and was included in the BBC series on New Generation Artists. The Vienna Musikverein and Konzerthaus nominated her as Rising Star for the 2011–12 season. A great acclamation in 2012 was the selection of Khatia Buniatishvili as Best Newcomer of the Year in the Echo Klassik awards.

In 2013–14 Khatia is part of the breathtaking show Art on Ice. In addition to recitals in the Vienna Musikverein, Salle-Pleyel in Paris, the Philharmonie in Berlin and the Wigmore Hall in London, her highlights of 2014 will include tours in China and North America in spring, and concerts with the Munich Philharmonic and Lorin Maazel.

Booklet for Labyrinth