Anna Gourari
The marvel of Gourari’s playing is the combination of intuitive pacing, propulsive phrasing and rhythmic inflection that makes music spring to life with explosive power. The melding of physicality and thoughtfulness arises again and again – every note has a purpose. – Fanfare

Anna Gourari was born in Kazan (Republic of Tatarstan) and has been based in Germany since 1990. A musician steeped in the venerable Russian piano school, the pianist had already garnered many accolades, including winning the Clara Schumann piano competition in 1994 (with Martha Argerich, Vladmir Ashkenazy, Nelson Freire i.a. in the jury), and released a number of recordings for Decca, Edel and Koch Classics before she made her ECM debut with 2012’s Canto Oscuro – a set of “dark songs” with music by Bach, Hindemith and Sofia Gubaidulina. Further recordings followed with 2014’s Visions Fugitives and Elusive Affinity from 2019, spanning works from multiple centuries, including music by Giya Kancheli, Arvo Pärt, Alfred Schnittke, Prokofiev, Medtner, Chopin etc. Anna is a revered international performer of both chamber music and as a soloist and has collaborated with conductors Sir Colin Davis, Iván Fischer, Lorin Maazel, Kirill Petrenko and many more. Composers Rodion Shchedrin and Jörg Widmann have written and dedicated compositions to her.