Constantine Finehouse
BIO:Constantine Finehouse was born in St. Petersburg, Russia, and attended New England Conservatory, Juilliard and Yale. His principal teachers included Fredrik Wanger, Natalia Harlap, Herbert Stessin, Jerome Lowenthal, Boris Berman and Bruce Brubaker. Praised by Rhein Main Presse Allgemeine Zeitung for his "interpretations of depth and maturity,” Finehouse has performed extensively in the US (including in California, Colorado, Connecticut, the Carolinas, Florida, Georgia, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, Rhode Island, Texas, Virginia and Washington) and abroad (including in Lausanne, London, Odessa, St. Petersburg, Mozarteum, Salzburg ,and Trieste). His newest album with cellist Sebastian Bäverstam features the universally-admired Brahms Sonata, Opus 38 for piano and cello, as well as several new works in the High Romantic style by Boston composer, Tony Schemmer. His 2009 solo recording, Backwards Glance [Spice Rack Records 101-01], interweaves music of Johannes Brahms and Richard Beaudoin. The Bolcom Project, made in collaboration with his American Double partner, violinist Philip Ficsor, included a double-CD [Albany Troy 959/960] and a national tour. Fanfare praised the recording as “indispensable to any serious collector with an interest in later 20th-century duo repertoire for violin and piano.” As part of American Double, Finehouse also toured Hungary, performing sonatas by Brahms, Bolcom and Ravel. More recently, he collaborated with violinist Olga Caceànova at the Lausanne Conservatoire and on a 5-concert tour of North Carolina and Georgia, as well as with cellist Sebastian Bäverstam at Weill Recital Hall (Carnegie Hall), Merkin Recital Hall (Kauffman Center) and Mozarteum (Salzburg). In partnership with pianists Ursula Oppens and Christopher Taylor, Finehouse is currently recording Bolcom’s complete piano solo works for Naxos Records. The 2015-16 season brings recitals celebrating William Bolcom's 75th birthday, in which Finehouse will be featured as a soloist as well as in chamber music performances across the United States. Of special note was a highly-praised solo recital at New England Conservatory's Jordan Hall in March, 2014. Finehouse has been awarded the Vladimir Horowitz Scholarship from Juilliard, a 2004 St. Botolph Club Foundation Grant and a 2006 Classics Abroad Project Award. He serves on the faculty of New England Conservatory Preparatory and Extension Divisions in Boston and as Visiting Artist/Faculty at Westmont College, Santa Barbara. For more information visit www.facebook.com/ConstantineFinehousePianist PRESS:Constantine Finehouse is a brilliant musician in every way, with a wide stylistic palette and warmth of tone and interpretation. [Constantine Finehouse] set the tone for the evening's program with a beautifully delineated, powerful and emotional rendering of Chopin's "Polonaise-Fantaisie in A-flat Major." .... the middle movement, beautifully slow and songlike, showed off Finehouse's talents and individual style. It ached, as it should, but it also had brilliant articulation, its phrases carved out decisively. Finehouse’s performance of Alexander Scriabin’s Deux Poemes shows an immaculate understanding of early-20th-century French piano music (which the Russian composer seems to have executed better than most of his French counterparts). The fluidity and warmth of the performance was captivating... Mr. Finehouse....displays grace without flourish, and demonstrates commanding technical authority. His readings of the works [by Brahms and Chopin] were remarkably considered and coherent for a young man.... There was no thrashing of the arms or flashy gestures, just serious concentration on the music, the structure of the works, and the sounds the instrument produced. Most impressive was the concluding A-major Sonata of Franck, which unfolded with dramatic sweep and an intensity not always encountered in this demanding work. ...released by Albany Records in September 2007, this two-CD set [The Bolcom Project] is indispensable to any serious collector with an interest in later 20th-century duo repertoire for violin and piano. American Double's performances on a recent [Bolcom Project] CD are especially rewarding. All four Bolcom violin sonatas are here played with conviction and assurance. The expressive Finehouse is also recording the solo piano works of Bolcom for Naxos. [Finehouse's] artistic intelligence and polish are truly priceless. ...Chopin interpretations of depth and maturity. Wonderfully poetic playing... ...projected the true spirit of Brahms across the four movements of the sonata. The preeminently talented performers played Tchaikovsky's Melodie magically, imbuing it with heartfelt lyricism. ...playing full of grace and flair. |
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