Photo: Uwe Arens

Zlata Chochieva

PIANO
“Chochieva, though, is the real discovery; …performances of huge emotional scope and intense drama.”

Andrew Clements, The Guardian


Representation: General Management

Hailed by Jeremy Nicholas in the Gramophone magazine as “one of the most consistently inspired, masterfully executed and beautiful-sounding versions I can recall” and being included in Gramophone’s list of 10 greatest Chopin recordings, Zlata Chochieva came to international attention with her disc of Complete Chopin Etudes along with recordings of Rachmaninov. Since then, she has become known for her distinctive voice amongst pianists and appeared regularly at many prestigious concert halls, festivals and with major orchestras and conductors.

In the 2022/23 season, Chochieva returns to Aarhus Symphony Orchestra, Vancouver Chopin Society, and the Berliner Klavierfestival to perform Rachmaninov for the composer’s 150th anniversary year in 2023. Elsewhere, she performs Dvorak’s Piano Concerto with the Hamburg Camerata at the Elbphilharmonie, Hamburg. Last season saw Chochieva make her debut in Singapore, giving a recital in Victoria Hall, and in Taiwan performing Chopin’s first Piano Concerto with the National Symphony Orchestra. As well as making her US orchestral debut at the Bard Music Festival, she returned to the US for a five-recital tour and to venues across Europe, including the Serate Musicali series in Milan, Tilburg, and Brucknerhaus Linz. She also returned to Aachen Symphony Orchestra following from having been “Artist in Focus” there in the 19/20 season.

Chochieva has appeared at many of the world’s most notable concert halls including London’s Wigmore Hall, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Konzerthaus Berlin, Vienna Konzerthaus, Tivoli Concert Hall in Copenhagen, Grand Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, Philharmonie de Paris, Taiwan’s National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts, Casa da Musica Porto, and Teatro La Fenice in Venice. She has performed with numerous major orchestras including the Copenhagen Philharmonic, Munich Chamber Orchestra, Russian National Orchestra, and Orchestre Philharmonique de Nice. Conductors Chochieva has enjoyed working with include Simon Gaudenz, Terje Mikkelsen, Charles Olivieri-Munroe, Mikhail Pletnev, Tugan Sokhiev, Vladimir Spivakov, and Karl-Heinz Steffens.

She has been regularly invited to leading music festivals, including the Miami International Piano Festival where she returns regularly for teaching, masterclasses, and performing, Gilmore Keyboard Festival, “Rarities of Piano Music” in Husum, Zaubersee Festival Lucerne and the Lugano Festival “Il Progetto Martha Argerich”.

Chochieva, now signed exclusively with Naïve records, is set to release her second disc on the label this season. Her first album on the label, Chiaroscuro (May 2022), is a combination of Mozart and Scriabin, coinciding with Scriabin’s 150th anniversary year and was crowned Critic’s Choice in International Piano Magazine. Chochieva’s previous disc (re)creations on Accentus is a collection of piano transcriptions by Rachmaninov, Liszt, and Friedman, winning a Schallplattenkritik award in the keyboard category and was selected as Editor’s Choice in Gramophone.

Chochieva was born in Moscow and is now a resident of Berlin. Her teachers have included Mikhail Pletnev at the Central Special Music School and Pavel Nersessian at the Moscow State Conservatory. Subsequently, Chochieva completed two years of postgraduate studies under Professor Jacques Rouvier at the Mozarteum University of Salzburg where she was his assistant for several years. Having acquired many international competition prizes over the years, Chochieva moves on from competing and often joins the jury, and was part of the esteemed panel for the 15th Geza Anda Competition in Zurich.

Chochieva established the International Festival at Rachmaninov’s estate in Ivanovka and has been Director since 2018.

Artist Website: zlatachochieva.com

Promoters please note: if you wish to include this biography in a concert programme etc, please contact James Brown Management to ensure that you receive the most up to date version.  Email: Imogen Morris

PDF

News

Out now: Zlata Chochieva’s Im Freien

May 19th, 2023

Today, Zlata Chochieva releases Im Freien, her second album on naïve. With this selection of Schumann, Ravel, Liszt, Schulz-Evler and Bartók as well as the lesser known Draeseke, Chochieva presents an exploration of her connection with the natural world. “Zlata Chochieva beautifully inhabits these composer’s very different sound worlds – including superb interpretations of Schumann’s Waldszenen and Ravel’s Miroirs –Read more ›

Read More

Zlata Chochieva at the Elbphilharmonie

April 24th, 2023

Following her return to Aarhus Symphony Orchestra last week, Zlata Chochieva joins the Hamburg Camerata this Wednesday 26 April at the Elbphilharmonie. Under the baton of Gábor Hontvári, Chochieva performs Dvořák’s Piano Concerto in G minor as part of a programme which explores and celebrates the roots of Brahms and Dvořák and the friendship betweenRead more ›

Read More

Zlata Chochieva makes US Orchestral debut

August 11th, 2022

Following her five-recital tour in May, and her return to the International Keyboard Odyssiad® & Festival this month, Zlata Chochieva concludes her appearance in the States this season with her US orchestral debut at the Bard Music Festival this Saturday 13th August. Under the baton of Leon Botstein and with The Orchestra Now, she performsRead more ›

Read More

Zlata Chochieva Makes Taiwan Debut

June 15th, 2022

This week Zlata Chochieva makes her Taiwan debut with National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) of Taiwan. Under the baton of conductor Mei-Ann Chen, Chochieva performs Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in Taipei’s National Concert Hall and Kaohsiung’s Weiwuying, the National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts. In the lead-up to the performances, Chochieva sits down with ChenRead more ›

Read More

Zlata Chochieva: CD release and concert at the Konzerthaus, Berlin

May 20th, 2022

Today Zlata Chochieva releases Chiaroscuro, a daring combination of works by Mozart and Scriabin. ‘[Her] grasp of Scriabin is full of poetry, lean in tone and – like her Mozart – of great clarity.’ – PIANIST magazine, May 2022. Chiaroscuro is Chochieva’s first disc on the naïve label. Listen and order here: Chochieva returns toRead more ›

Read More

Reviews

Chopin and Rachmaninoff recital (Vancouver Playhouse, Vancouver)

It’s interesting to watch how she selects colours and techniques to probe the specifics of what she is playing; there is nothing remotely uniform about what she employs. Nonetheless, her decisions seem natural and convincing, sufficiently so that one forgets her technique and just thinks about the music.

I can think of few finer piano recitals than this. Chochieva never attempts to endow the music with extra drama or interpretation: she just reveals her personal struggle to expose the music as it is. Her probing honesty and imagination place the listener in a multi-layered emotional world which is both evolving and immediate, and one simply feels impelled to follow her.

Read More

Discography

Chiaroscuro

Mozart & Scriabin

NAÏVE (2022)

(re)creations
Piano transcriptions by Rachmaninov, Liszt and Friedman of works by J. S. Bach, Schubert, Mendelssohn, Bizet, Mahler, Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky, Grazioli and Gärtner.

ACCENTUS (2021)

Facebook Instagram Website

Artist Manager

Imogen Morris
im@jamesbrownmanagement.com
+44 (0) 7810 800016