In 1991, in the International Mozart Competition in Salzburg, a young Russian pianist won the Grand Prize – which was the first time since 1956 that the Grand Prize had been awarded in this competition. It was Andrei Pisarev.
On October 10, 2006 the reviewer Gunilla Boström wrote in Swedish newspaper Helsingborgs Dagblad: “In April 2004 I believed that Andrei Pisarev was the best pianist I have ever heard, and this opinion remains after his recital… The expression World pianist is not an exaggeration regarding him… ”
Besides Mozart Competition, Andrei Pisarev won 1st Prize in the Rachmaninoff Piano Competition (Moscow 1983) as well as 1st Prize in the Unisa Transnet International Piano Competition and Special Prizes for the best performances of a classical sonata and a Mozart Concerto (Pretoria 1992).
The German newspaper Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung wrote about Mr. Pisarev: “His performance cannot be forgotten… The pianist presented such impressive music, that is rarely heard. The fact that his playing is distinguished for virtuosity – is of no doubt. Because that is the basis for transparent sounding of music by Debussy, Liszt, Chopin and Kreisler/Rachmaninoff. His performance was really transparent. The sounds of the Sonata by Scarlatti sparkled like clear radiant water drops. The Suite Bergamasque by Debussy sounded as a canvass painted with clear bright colours.”
Mr. Pisarev has a wide repertoire and feels equally at home when he performs Bach, Mozart, Liszt, Chopin, Rachmaninoff, Debussy, Prokofiev, Shostakovich.
All those competitions opened the doors of the most prestigious concert halls for the artist and brought engagements from the world’s best symphony orchestras, such as Japan Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra, RAI Orchestra Milan, Cape Town Symphony Orchestra, Russian National Orchestra, St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra. Both solo recitals and concerts with the orchestra were acclaimed by the audience and critics in the USA, South and Central America, Europe, Japan, China, South Korea, Taiwan, besides all Russia.
