Richard Goode has been hailed for music-making of tremendous emotional power, depth and expressiveness, and has been acknowledged worldwide as one of today’s leading interpreters of Classical and Romantic music. In regular performances with major orchestras, recitals in the world’s music capitals, and acclaimed recordings, he has won a large and devoted following. His performances consistently receive the highest praise, and the New York Times reflects a response that is frequently expressed by listeners, that “it is virtually impossible to walk away from one of Mr Goode’s recitals without the sense of having gained some new insight, subtly or otherwise, into the works he played or about pianism itself.”
A native of New York, Goode studied with Nadia Reisenberg at the Mannes College of Music and with Rudolf Serkin at the Curtis Institute. His numerous prizes over the years include the Young Concert Artists Award, First Prize in the Clara Haskil Competition, the Avery Fisher Prize, and a Grammy award. His first public traversal of the complete cycle of Beethoven sonatas at New York’s 92Y in 1987/8 was hailed by the New York Times as “among the season’s most important and memorable events” and was later performed with great success at London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall in 1994 and 1995.
Goode continues to perform regularly in the major American centres, both as soloist and recitalist. In 2011/12 his US performances include the Los Angeles Philharmonic/Dudamel, Boston Symphony/ Morlot, and in New York with the Metropolitan Orchestra/Luisi and in recital at Carnegie Hall. Similarly in Europe, Goode has played with the very top orchestras and conductors across the continent throughout his distinguished career, and in recent seasons he has focused increasingly on recital work; as such his 2011/12 season includes recitals at London’s Royal Festival and Wigmore halls, in Paris at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, in Madrid and in Budapest. A regular performer at Europe’s most prominent festivals such as Piano aux Jacobins Toulouse and the BBC Proms, Richard Goode was Artist in Residence at the Edinburgh International Festival in 2004 and 2006. Other residencies have included at New York’s Carnegie Hall throughout the 2005/6 season, entitled Perspectives, and during the 2007/8 season he became an Associate Artist at London’s Southbank Centre.
Following the completion of his Beethoven concerto cycle at London’s Barbican Centre with the Budapest Festival Orchestra and Iván Fischer in 2005, Goode’s recording of the Beethoven concertos for the Nonesuch label was released in 2009 to exceptional critical acclaim, being described as “a landmark recording” by the Financial Times and nominated for a Grammy award. An exclusive Nonesuch recording artist, Goode has made more than two dozen recordings over the years, ranging from solo and chamber works to lieder and concertos. In 1993, Nonesuch released a 10-CD set of his complete Beethoven sonatas cycle, the first-ever by an American pianist, which was nominated for a Grammy and chosen for the Gramophone Good CD Guide. Other recording highlights include a duo recording with Dawn Upshaw, and a series of Mozart piano concertos with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. His second disc of Bach partitas was Gramophone’s Record of the Month in July 2003: “Richard Goode, whose generosity and naturalness as a man are reflected in his comparable qualities as a performer, now brings us his second volume of Bach’s six partitas. It really is a sublime disc.”
Richard Goode is co-Artistic Director with Mitsuko Uchida of the Marlboro Music School and Festival in Vermont (USA). He is married to the violinist Marcia Weinfeld and, when the Goodes are not on tour, they and their collection of some 5,000 volumes live in New York City.
Richard Goode is co-Artistic Director with Mitsuko Uchida of the Marlboro Music School and Festival in Vermont (USA).
Richard Goode is represented by Intermusica.
2011/12 season / 603 words. Not to be altered without permission. Please destroy all previous biographical material.
NDR Hamburg / Mozart Piano Concerto No.17
“From the moment the legendary American pianist Richard Goode played his first note, the orchestra were electrified, and seemed to melt naturally into the wonderful simplicity of Goode’s playing.
Goode was less interested in showy virtuosity than in exploring even the slightest detail with great musicality. He performed the Allegretto Variations in the final movement with playfulness, like a divertimento movement.”
Welt Online, February 2010
Duets with Jonathan Biss / Debussy, Schumann, Beethoven, Stravinsky, Schubert
"There was no clash of egos … when Richard Goode and Jonathan Biss treated die-hard piano fans (who braved treacherous streets and a blizzard warning) to a superlative partnership. As soloists, the two superb pianists offer insightful and profoundly expressive music making; here they proved ideally matched collaborators.
Mr. Biss and Mr. Goode didn’t prettify any of the rough edges, offering a vigorous performance… a witty, sharp-edged rendition of Stravinsky’s two-piano arrangement of his ballet “Agon” … a richly hued, glowing interpretation of Schubert’s Fantasie in F minor”
Vivien Schweitzer. The New York Times, February 2010
Mecklenburg Festival recital with Viviane Hagner / Bach, Ysaye, Chopin, Beethoven
“…[Viviane Hagner’s] appearance on Saturday in Schwerin with the American mega-star pianist Richard Goode from New York was in every sense exclusive. Beethoven’s G major sonata and Ysaye’s solo sonata, in which the Dies Irae theme runs emblematically throughout the movements, were perfectly suited to Viviane Hagner’s intense and profound creative power, and her captivating tone. Goode played Bach’s French Suite and a programme of Chopin pieces in his movingly simple yet well thought-out style, full of marvellous sound structures and a strong sense of the melodic lines.”
Die Welt, June 2009
Budapest Festival Orchestra & Ivan Fischer / Complete Beethoven Piano Concertos (Nonesuch)
“… Goode brings his precise touch to these five works, letting the lyricism sing out while keeping the majestic architecture always clearly in view.”
Independent on Sunday, 5 stars, February 2009
"Goode plays as if he’s submitted each note to hours of careful cognition, yet sounds as spontaneous as a genius improviser. A consistently exemplary set"
Classic FM Magazine , 5 stars, February 2009
“Goode is a model of self-restraint: nothing is interposed between the composer’s intentions and the listener.”
The Independent , 5 stars, February 2009
“This is going to become one of the benchmark recordings of these Beethoven masterpieces… one of the best new CDs of the year so far.”
Sam Jackson (Executive Producer) on Classic FM , April 2009
“A landmark recording of the Beethoven concertos. Goode makes the familiar sound unexpectedly fresh. He plays without mannerism, without stylistic quirks, without making anything sound predictable.”
The Financial Times , 5 stars, May 2009
“Goode’s special gift has always been his selfless artistry: his penetrating intellect, warm heart and nimble fingers are entirely placed at the composers’ service.
“Goode knows just how to balance and weigh conflicting elements: argument and repose, dark and light, struggle and wit… Every landmark phrase or interjection pops up freshly felt, as though newly composed.”
“Throughout, the recording is warm and natural. Buy with confidence.”
The Times, 5 stars, May 2009
Wigmore Hall recital / Chopin, Bach & Schubert
“If only more pianists wore their thoughtfulness so lightly. Richard Goode's ability to clothe the intellectual backbone of his interpretations in playing of airy mercuriality may not be unique, but it is rare and individual enough to make his recitals unmissable.
A substantial Chopin selection that began with some rustic mazurkas also brought playing of a confiding delicacy, and a masterclass in how to make the composer's freewheeling filigree sound integral to the rest of the music.
Listening to Goode is always rewarding, but it is never hard work.”
Erica Jeal, The Guardian, 5 stars, February 2009
London Symphony Orchestra & Colin Davis
“…Richard Goode had been the soloist in Mozart's Piano Concerto No 18 in B flat. Again, Davis revelled in every second of music-making - and well he might, for this was a delectably modest performance of one of Mozart's most modest concertos: entirely Mozartian in its breathing, gentle pathos and mischief, and with Goode's fingers decorating and dancing through the variations of its central song as if eavesdropping with delight on the caprices and follies of Figaro.”
Hilary Finch, The Times, February 2009
“The first half, a performance of Mozart's Piano Concerto No 18 in B flat, K456, was outstanding. Davis frequently turned round to face his soloist, Richard Goode, and their view of the music proved to be in perfect alignment.
Goode combined immaculate fingerwork with a heightened sensitivity to the character of every phrase that was matched by the detailed insights provided by Davis and the LSO players.”
George Hall, The Guardian , February 2009
Recital with Jonathan Biss at the Queen Elizabeth Hall
“Richard Goode had invited Jonathan Biss to join him for the final appearance of his South Bank mini-residency, and so on the platform were perhaps the finest two US pianists of their respective generations.
This partnership is too rewarding to be a one-off.”
The Guardian , 5 stars,June 2008
“…a recital which is certain to prove a highlight of the year's music-making in London.“
ClassicalSource.com, June 2008
Recital at the Theatre des Champs-Elysees, Paris
“Goode plays Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata with a breath-taking perfection - bringing out the important details, separating the wheat from the chaff.
… he has a very personal approach to Chopin which is reminiscent of the sound world of Horszowski, with a control that doesn’t rule out passion, and a capacity to delve into the scores and bring out aspects never before heard.
He represents a cultural exception in a world where flamboyance and illusion are the norm.”
Altamusica, May 2008
Recital at the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam / Bach, Beethoven, Chopin and Debussy
“The ‘Homage to Chopin’ started with a remarkable romantically moving and breathing Bach. With a clear focus Goode gave Bach’s Prelude and Fugue in C a great melodical freedom and provided four Sinfonias with fast tempo movements and generous dynamics, which combined with great lyricism achieved a comforting, nearly healing effect.
Goodes message was evident: he allows the listener to be fully aware of the deepest layers of Chopin’s intimacy for which he neither requires bloated technique nor exaggerated bravura.”
Noordhollands Dagblad, May 2008
San Francisco Symphony Orchestra and Alan Gilbert / Mozart Piano Concerto No.18
“Goode led by example, playing with clarity and a sense of expanding freedom, exuding his appreciation for the music and inspiring his colleagues onstage. The result was a performance in which all parties became equal collaborators.
This was the highlight of the program.
Goode's cadenza in the first movement had a harpsichord zippiness, then settled into pearly note-streams, then grew brilliant and rhythmically dashing.”
Oakland Tribune, March 2008
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and Ivan Fischer / Beethoven
"Through his clear ideas and gestures Fischer lets a simple series of repeated notes sound in rhetorical barrage. This power of expression also characterizes pianist Richard Goode, who exposed Beethoven’s both lively and profound aspects with colourful and relaxed playing. One could hear from the dialogue in the Adagio that it is not the first time that Goode and Fischer work together in Beethoven; this will also result in a CD recording to be issued shortly (Nonesuch)."
NRC Handelsblad, March 2008
Solo recital at the Queen Elizabeth Hall / ‘Homage to Chopin’
“Each time Goode returned to Chopin, it was like a homecoming. He found insight in the relative simplicity of the mazurkas, and even virtuoso works didn’t sound like tricky showpieces”
“The first of two Debussy Etudes was dispatched with a melting fragility that made one wonder whether this leonine player could really be making such a delicate sound.
This was mellow, mature playing, its emotion strongly felt but only sufficiently signalled. It takes a classy pianist to achieve that.”
The Guardian, February 2008
“This was a superb evening – Goode at the height of his powers…”
ClassicalSource.com, February 2008
Recital in Washington / Debussy
"Pianist Richard Goode brought his customary clarity of thought and finger work to a meaty program of masterworks... In a set of Debussy preludes, Goode was a master tone painter, summoning up the widest palette imaginable on the instrument. In Ondine, he limned a shimmering, darting portrait of the water nymph, and in the climax of La Cathedrale Engloutie the walls veritably shook from the force."
Washington Post, 16 October 2007
Recital at the Wigmore Hall, London / Brahms, Fauré, Debussy & Haydn
"Goode's handling of Haydn's fragmentary D major sonata of 1773 was light, bright and poised, but there was tonal weight in the broad arc of the adagio and glittering technique in the disconcertingly abrupt finale. The same clarity produced real revelations in Brahms's Fantasias, op. 116. Too often slurred and sweeping in less imaginative hands, the seven miniatures were here pared back, allowing Brahms's characteristic economy and harmonic daring to shine forth. The sixth Nocturne by Fauré, the intellectual pianist's dream composer, allowed Goode to show off a weightier side of his virtuosity. But the second book of Debussy's Preludes took us deepest into his pianism. Debussy's enigmatic qualities make him in many respects the ideal composer for Goode."
The Guardian, May 2007
Recital in Buffalo / Brahms & Bach
“What Goode does at the piano is warm, engaging and marvelously subtle – mesmerizing. ...In the hands of a fine pianist like Goode, the colors are never pale or blurred. They're vivid and interesting.”
Buffalo News, February 2007
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