Bios & promo — benchmark artistes

Boris Giltburg is lauded across the globe as a deeply sensitive, insightful and compelling interpreter for his narrative-driven approach to performance. Critics have praised his "interplay of spiritual calm and emphatic engagement" as "gripping... one could not wish for a more illuminating, lyrical or more richly phrased interpretation" (Suddeutsche Zeitung). During the 2025/26 season, Giltburg appears with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Frankfurt Radio Symphony, Philharmonia Orchestra, Helsinki Philharmonic, Salzburg Mozarteum, Warsaw Philharmonic, Essen Philharmonic, Basque National and Taipei Symphony orchestras. Throughout the season, Giltburg is Artist-in-Residence at the Dresdner Philharmonie and returns to the orchestra on three occasions, and embarks on a tour to Italy. This season sees Giltburg collaborating with leading conductors including, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Krzysztof Urbański, Dima Slobodeniouk, Dalia Stasevska, Kahchun Wong, Jun Märkl and Anja Bihlmaier. Giltburg's long list of orchestral collaborators extends to the Czech Philharmonic, Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Finnish Radio Symphony, Orchestre National de France, Oslo Philharmonic, Philharmonia Orchestra, NHK Symphony and Seoul Philharmonic, among others. Giltburg regularly gives recitals in the world's most prestigious halls, including Concertgebouw, Amsterdam; BOZAR, Brussels; Elbphilharmonie, Hamburg; Southbank Centre and Wigmore Hall, London; Carnegie Hall, New York; Rudolfinum, Prague; and Konzerthaus, Vienna. Following the success of his Beethoven Piano Sonatas cycle across eight sold-out concerts at the Wigmore Hall, he continues the project at Flagey, Brussels, Palau de la Música, Valencia and Teatro Municipal in Santiago de Chile. In recent years Giltburg has also engaged in a series of in-depth explorations of other major composers such as Ravel and Chopin. Giltburg is widely recognized as a leading interpreter of Rachmaninov: "His originality stems from a convergence of heart and mind" (Gramophone). This season sees Giltburg perform the complete Rachmaninov Preludes during the opening weekend of the Southbank Centre's 25/26 season and Rachmaninov's 3rd Piano Concerto with the Philharmonia Orchestra at Bold Tendencies. In 2025 Giltburg released an album of Rachmaninov's landmark Piano Sonatas nos. 1 and 2 alongside his own version of The Isle of the Dead, which received the Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik / German Record Critics' Award. A consummate recording artist, Giltburg has recorded exclusively for Naxos since 2015. He was awarded the Opus Klassik Award for Best Soloist Recording of Rachmaninov's concerti and Etudes Tableaux and a Diapason d'Or for Shostakovich concerti and his own arrangement of Shostakovich's Eighth String Quartet. Among others, he has won a Gramophone Award for the Dvořák Piano Quintet on Supraphon with his regular collaborators, the Pavel Haas Quartet, as well as a Diapason d'Or and Choc de Classica for their joint release of the Brahms Piano Quintet. Giltburg feels a strong urge to engage audiences beyond the concert hall. His blog "Classical Music for All" is aimed at a non-specialist audience, which he complements with articles in publications such as Gramophone, BBC Music Magazine, The Guardian and The Times.

my name is Boris Giltburg and I am a classical pianist. I was born in Russia but grew up and live in Israel, where I moved with my family at the age of five. I started playing just before leaving Moscow, badgering my mum to teach me until she finally relented (she felt we had enough pianists in the family as it was – both my grandma and great-grandma were pianists and piano teachers too). And, well, I've been playing ever since. classical music is one of my biggest passions and I wanted to give people who are not so much acquainted with it the opportunity and the tools to listen to various works with a classical musician's ears; my plan was to write detailed listening guides, showing as many aspects of the works as possible, with the hope that understanding the inner workings of a piece may make it less daunting and complex and thus, more accessible. And the big hope, of course, is to share this extraordinary world of classical music, which I love dearly ( = I'm a totally hardcore fan), with as many other people as possible.

Boris Giltburg is a Russian-born Israeli pianist who resides in Amsterdam. He has undertaken significant musical challenges, including recording cycles of demanding repertoire such as Liszt's Transcendental Etudes, Schumann's Davidsbündlertänze, and multiple Rachmaninov works. Beyond his concert career, Giltburg is distinguished by diverse interests. He is an accomplished hobbyist photographer whose work appears on his blog and Instagram account. He also collaborates with documentary filmmaker Stewart French on performance films recorded during all-night sessions in piano showrooms. Giltburg was born in Moscow and moved to Israel at age five. He maintains strong connections to Russian cultural heritage through language, literature, and music, particularly compositions by Rachmaninov, Shostakovich, and Prokofiev. He has even arranged two Shostakovich string quartets for piano. The pianist is an outdoor enthusiast who enjoys hiking in challenging environments, including Patagonia, England's Peak District, and Italy's Gran Paradiso. He describes himself as a "night owl" and has undertaken major projects including recordings of Beethoven concertos with the Liverpool Philharmonic and a complete cycle of all 32 Beethoven sonatas for release beginning January 1, 2020.

Boris Giltburg is an internationally acclaimed pianist recognized for his narrative-driven interpretations and deep musical insight. He performs regularly with major orchestras worldwide and gives recitals in prestigious concert halls. Particularly celebrated as a leading interpreter of Rachmaninov and for his complete Beethoven Piano Sonatas cycle. A prolific recording artist with Naxos since 2015, winner of multiple Gramophone Awards, Opus Klassik, and Diapason d'Or honors.