KristianBezuidenhout

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  • Fortepiano
  • Harpsichord
  • Piano
  • Conductor

About Kristian

Artistic Director: Freiburger Barockorchester Principal Guest Director: English Concert

Kristian Bezuidenhout has established himself as one of the most versatile and exciting musicians of our time, both as a keyboard player and conductor. Born in South Africa in 1979, he began his studies in Australia, completed them at the Eastman School of Music (Rochester, NY), and now lives in London. After initial training as a modern pianist with Rebecca Penneys, he explored early keyboards, studying harpsichord with Arthur Haas, fortepiano with Malcolm Bilson, and continuo playing and performance practice with Paul O’Dette. Kristian first gained international recognition at the age of 21 after winning the prestigious first prize and audience prize in the Bruges Fortepiano Competition.

Kristian is a regular guest soloist on fortepiano, harpsichord, modern piano with the world’s leading ensembles including Freiburger Barockorchester, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Leipzig Gewandhausorchester, Mozarteum Orchester, Camerata Salzburg, Orchestre des Champs Elysées, Les Arts Florissants, Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century, Concertgebouw Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique, Chicago Symphony Orchestra & the Australian Chamber Orchestra. He has performed with celebrated artists including John Eliot Gardiner, Philippe Herreweghe, Bernhard Haitink, Daniel Harding, Frans Brüggen, Trevor Pinnock, Giovanni Antonini, Jean-Guihen Queyras, Isabelle Faust, Alina Ibragimova, Rachel Podger, Carolyn Sampson, Anne Sofie von Otter, Mark Padmore & Matthias Goerne.

In addition to his work as a soloist, he is increasingly in demand as a conductor, and continues explore the music of the late 17th and early 18th Centuries with groups including the English Concert (Handel Chandos Anthems, Purcell Odes, Bach St. John Passion), Tafelmusik, Collegium Vocale, Juilliard 415, Kammerakademie Potsdam & Dunedin Consort (Bach St Matthew Passion). Kristian is Principal Guest Director of both Freiburger Barockorchester and English Concert.

Kristian’s rich and award-winning discography of over 30 albums - mostly for Harmonia Mundi - includes the complete keyboard music of Mozart (Diapason d’Or de l’AnnéeJahrespreis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik, & Caecilia Prize); Schubert Die schöne Müllerin with Julian Prégardien; the complete Piano Concertos of Beethoven with the Freiburger Barockorchester; an ongoing cycle of the complete Mozart Piano Concertos with the Freiburger Barockorchester (ECHO Klassik); Bach Violin Sonatas with Isabelle Faust; Mozart Violin Sonatas with Petra Müllejans and Beethoven & Mozart Lieder and Schumann Dichterliebe with Mark Padmore (Edison Award). In 2013 he was nominated as Gramophone Magazine’s Artist of the Year. Upcoming releases include two discs of Mozart Piano Concertos with Freiburger Barockorchester, recorded in 2024.

The 2024/2025 season sees Kristian perform as soloist and direct a host of ensembles including Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre des Champs-Élysées, Handel & Haydn Society, Tapiola Sinfonietta, Royal Northern Sinfonia and Irish Chamber Orchestra. He performs recitals in Europe with Anne Sofie von Otter, Sol Gabetta, Isabelle Faust, Julian Prégardien and Consone Quartet.

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Contact

Melanie Moult

Melanie Moult

Associate Director
Philip Keegan

Philip Keegan

Associate Artist Manager

Representation

General Management with Askonas Holt Partner manager: Germany/Austria/Switzerland: Andreea Butucariu, EAS Management

Season Highlights

Sep 2025
Tampere Hall
Mozart Piano Concerto No.24 in C minor, K.491 Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra Jonathan Cohen (conductor)
Oct 2025
Bourgie Hall Montreal
Franz Schubert: Der Winterabend An den Mond Der König in Thule Frühlingsglaube Allegretto in C minor, D.915 (solo piano) Die Sommernacht Die Forelle Erntelied Im Walde D708 Adagio in G major, D.178 (solo piano) Frühlingsbotschaft Ständchen Abschied Der Atlas Das Fischermädchen Die Stadt Am Meer Der Doppelgänger Die Taubenpost Anne Sofie von Otter (mezzo soprano)
Oct 2025
The Glasshouse, Gateshead
Haydn Piano Concerto in D major Royal Northern Sinfonia Giovanni Antonini (conductor)
Jan 2026
Concertgebouw Bruges
J.S. Bach Concerto in G minor, BWV 1058 J.S. Bach Concerto in D major, BWV 1054 J.S. Bach Chaconne from Partita for solo violin, BWV 1004 (arrangement for solo harpsichord by L U Mortensen) J.S. Bach Concerto in D minor, BWV 1052 Kristian Bezuidenhout (harpsichord) Sophie Gent (violin) Tuomo Suni (violin) Kathleen Kajioka (viola) Jonathan Manson (cello) Christine Sticher (double bass)
Mar 2026
Espoo Cultural Centre
Mozart Piano Concerto No.24 in C minor, K.491 Tapiola Sinfonietta Matthew Halls (conductor)
Apr 2026
The Queen’s Hall Edinburgh
J.S. Bach St Matthew Passion Dunedin Consort Kristian Bezuidenhout (harpsichord/director) Carine Tinney (soprano) Reginald Mobley (countertenor) Toby Spence (Evangelist) Drew Santini (Christus)

Photos

News

Press

  • Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat major, Op. 73 'Emperor' with Australian Chamber Orchestra

    Australian Tour
    Mar 2024 - Mar 2024
    • Bezuidenhout makes the instrument sing. In the concerto’s magisterial opening, he answered the orchestra’s heroic chords with arpeggios that glistened at the top, creating vivid excitement when this passage tumultuously returns at the climax. At the appearance of the hushed second theme in Bminor, Bezuidenhout created a pearly tone that glistened delicately against the plucked ACO strings. ...Bezuidenhout articulated phrases of poetic lyricism. In the finale, Bezuidenhout and the ACO maintained excitement through their focus, rhythmic tautness and musical intensity.

    • On Tuesday it was the turn of one of the world’s leading fortepiano virtuosos, Kristian Bezuidenhout, to dazzle concertgoers with an exhilarating performance of Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto with the Australian Chamber Orchestra.

    • Asuperbly curated programme culminating in one of the most sublime achievements of the human imagination – Beethoven’s fifth and final piano concerto – brought the composer’s sound world to glorious life at the Melbourne Recital Centre on Saturday.

    • Bold chords triggered a flurry across the keyboard as the Emperor Piano Concerto rang out on Wednesday at Perth Concert Hall, where Kristian Bezuidenhout and Australian Chamber Orchestra evoked the sound and soul of Beethoven. Bezuidenhout seemed more immersed than any podium conductor, leaning into sustained passages at the keyboard but always on the qui vive for interaction with the orchestra

  • Schubert: Wintereise - Anne Sofie von Otter

    Theater Basel
    Jan 2022
    • Mindestens so sehr aber lebt der Abend auch von Kristian Bezuidenhouts Spiel am Fortepiano: Meisterhaft, wie er mit wenigen Tönen die Atmosphäre vorgibt, zauberhaft, wie er Solostücken mit subtilen Nuancen Leben einhaucht. However, the evening also lives at least as much from Kristian Bezuidenhout's playing on the fortepiano: masterful, how he sets the atmosphere with just a few notes, magical, how he breathes life into solo pieces with subtle nuances.

  • Beethoven Concerto no. 4 - Freiburger Barokorchester

    Album Review
    • Repeated listening has convinced me this is one of the finest, most deeply perceptive and thrilling performances of Beethoven’s Fourth Concerto on record.

  • Haydn: Sonatas

    Album Review
    Mar 2019
    • ...the listener is drawn in by the myriad subtleties of Bezuidenhout’s playing and by the glorious sounds he draws from his instrument...Most important, though, is Bezuidenhout’s playing itself. Technique is obviously not an issue: arpeggios spray notes like Eszterháza fountains; Haydn’s triplet accompaniments are never simply ‘typed’ but come alive with gradations of pressure that always seem instinctive rather than simply applied. Decoration, too, is sparing rather than trowelled on. This is the very opposite of ‘look-at me’ pianism.

  • Haydn: Sonatas

    Album Review
    Mar 2023
    • Here, extra elaboration seems a little intrusive, so perfect is Haydn's writing, but Bezuidenhout's building of the powerfully dissonant climax is masterly.