Giorgio Koukl is a highly accomplished pianist known for his expressive performances, exceptional technique and profound musicality. With a passion for both traditional repertoire and contemporary works, Koukl continues to captivate audiences worldwide through his performances and recordings.

A renowned specialists in Parisian music of the 1920s and ‘silver age’ composers from St Petersburg, he is also considered one of the world’s leading interpreters of Martinů’s piano music, having recorded that composer’s complete solo piano music, together with five albums of Martinů’s vocal music and two albums of his piano concertos for Naxos. His discography also includes an acclaimed series of the complete solo piano music of Alexander Tcherepnin, and lauded recordings of works by Vítězslava Kaprálová, Paul Le Flem (awarded a Diapason d’Or), Carl Maria von Weber, Johannes Brahms and Alexandre Tansman. He has also made world première recordings of works by Witold Lutosławski, Arthur Lourié and Tibor Harsányi.

Koukl performes extensively throughout Europe, North America and Asia, and collaborates with renowned orchestras and conductors in solo performances and chamber music concerts.

www.koukl.com

The composer Artur Lourié (1892–1966) enjoyed an eventful career in pre-war Russia, through the early years of the Soviet Union then Paris between the wars, before settling in New York. Often (unfairly) seen as an epigone of Stravinsky, his mercurial character is to the fore in The Mime (1956), dedicated to Charles Chaplin.

— Richard Whitehouse