Lars Voigt, a sensitive and communicative pianist whose warmth as a collaborator turned into an outstanding chamber musician and a growing conductor, died Monday at a clinic in Erlangen, Germany. he was 51 years old.
His manager, Celia Willis, said the cause was esophageal cancer, which Voigt learned in March 2021.
“Music is really great, and it’s even more so during this time when you’re spending a lot of time with hospitals and doctors and of course wondering how things are going,” Vogt said. Said In an online interview with pianist Zsolt Bogner in July, “Still, music takes you into this world where you forget everything”.
Mr. Voigt created and shared those worlds in sublimely free and highly personal detail. He had little interest in show for show’s sake. He had an “affectionate” approach to the piano. Said 2016 Pianist magazine, “Those who tried to make a sound” of keyboard instead of into the that. “
The results may seem peculiar at times, but like New York’s Alan Corzin, he played at his best with “perfect sense of balance, a balance of simple, natural-sounding lines”. The Times wrote in its 2006 review of the recital.
For Voigt, technique was a means of expression, not an end in itself. He avoided a repertoire that required mere virtuosity. album He wrote some of the pieces that were written for children — and he finally relieved pianists from the pressure of memorizing pieces they had learned, allowing them to perform on stage without the tension they had felt for so long. became.
He took the time to become deeply involved in the pieces he performed solo. It comes mostly from the high Germanic tradition, all the way up to Bach. “Goldberg” Variations He recorded to honor contemporary composers such as Thomas Larcher. But for its melancholy solace, it was Brahms’ music that always came closest to Mr. Vogt.
Voigt’s last public appearance was when he played Brahms in June. spannungen, A chamber music festival held in the Art Nouveau hydroelectric power plant in Heimbach, Germany, founded by him in 1998. (His name translates to “voltage” and “tension.”) And he excelled in chamber music, especially with violinist Christian Tetzlaff and his sister, cellist Tanya Tetzlaff. did.
Recorded by Voigt Brahms When Dvorak With Tetzlaff as a trio, and with Mr. Tetzlaff, wrote down an impassionedly expressive description of the violin sonata. Mozart, Schumann When BrahmsThese elaborate recordings made for the Ondine label were intended, or appeared to be, to be the final word in the work involved, but because of the audible generosity of their partnership. It was widely judged worthy of reference because it created a unique focus and intensity.
Critic Richard Bratby wrote of their recording: beethoven opus 30 Last year’s Gramophone Sonata “is impossible to listen to without feeling a renewed love and admiration for the music and the performers”.
Mr. Voigt took the lead not as a stronger leader, but also as a professed collaborator. He decided to explore after a hastily stepped in to conduct Beethoven from keyboards at his Camerata Salzburg in the early 2010s.
“There was no conductor, just a very good concertmaster.he said, “I requirement To see how far this could go. It doesn’t matter which orchestra you play with.
Hired for one concert, in 2015 Voigt became Music Director of the Royal Northern Sinfonia based in Newcastle, England.together they recorded of Beethoven concerto Glittering suppleness and of Brahms with extraordinary kindness. He took up the same post with the Paris Chamber Orchestra in 2020 and remained there until his death.
Conducting is “like chamber music,” Voigt told Gramophone. “I want to encourage the character of music, encourage people to reach their limits of expression, and ideally push them to their own limits. I want For that, enjoy exploring deeply. “
Lars Vogt was born on September 8, 1970 in Düren near Cologne, the third child of secretary Marie-Luise Vogt and engineer Paul Vogt. He and his brother studied music as one of many youth activities, including football.
But Mr. Voigt’s first piano teacher, who took up piano at the age of six, quickly found promise. At the age of 14 he won the National Competition for Young Musicians and at the same time at the Hannover Music Academy the renowned pedagogist Karl-Heinz he began studying with Koemerling. and drama (currently Hannover University of Music, Theater and Media). Their lessons continued informally until his death in 2012, Mr. Kämmerling. Mr. Vogt then took over his teacher as professor of piano at the university.
Adequately strengthened technically under Mr. Kemmerling’s rigorous tutoring, Mr. Voigt won second prize at the Leeds International Piano Competition in 1990.
Mr Voigt’s introverted case intelligence on the Leeds final podium read of Schumann Piano Concerto British master Simon Rattle. Their partnership has become one of many friendships that make pianists successful musically. Pianist in Residence At the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra led by Mr. Rattle.
Rattle also sowed the seeds that would blossom into Vogt’s podium career. After a joint appearance with his Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra at his bowl in Hollywood in 1991, John Henken after his American debut in Beethoven, in which the pianist “conducted with character and composure” told him as he wrote in his Times of Los Angeles. He will be a conductor within ten years.
The comment “hit me like lightning because I never thought about it,” Vogt said. Said 2015 Scotsman. I was fascinated by what miracles could be accomplished with something that was ideally silent. “
Voigt’s first marriage to a composer Tatiana Komarova, ended in divorce.he married a violinist Anna Rezniak, concertmaster of the Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra in 2017. His brother Karsten Vogt and he Ilka Fischboeck. his daughters Emma Voigt, Charlotte Kuhn and actress Isabel Voigt. Recorded Schumann and Strauss melodrama.
“He was the wildest and most sensitive musician I ever knew,” said Tetzlaff, who had performed with Voigt for 26 years and considered him his “closest comrade,” of the pianist. interview Shortly after Mr. Vogt’s death, with Van magazine.
“I’ve met a lot of musicians who seem to have no doubts, talking about themselves and presenting themselves well has made them very successful,” Tetzlaff continued. “But I’ve learned that music can only fully speak in freedom and love. This is something that very few musicians and artists can experience with Lars.”