Vanessa
Wagner's performances and recordings have promted critics in search of parallels
to call up such names as Lupu and Guterriez. Yet her musicianship, while it
challenges comparison with these masters, is riviting and unique individual
in style.
Mrs. Wagner was born in Rennes in 1973
At the age of fourteen she was awarded a place through an unanimous vote under
the teachings of Dominique Merlet at the Conservatoire National Supérieur
de Musique in Paris, where she gained her Premier Prix. From here, she moved
on to higher studies and was top of the entry list to join Jean-François
Heisser's 'Cycle de perfectionnement'. She later studied piano with Alain
Planès.
On the occasion of a masterclass she was noticed by Leon Fleisher,
and at his instignation she enrolled at the prestigious Academy of Cadenabbia
in Italy, which she joined in September 1995. She was taught by some of the
world's finest teachers such as Karl-Ulrich Schnabel, Dimitri Bashkirov, Murray
Perahia and Alexis Weissenberg.
Since
then, she has performed with major orchestras with conductors including C.
Dutoit, M. Plasson, G. Albrecht, C. Warren-Green, and S. Sanderling, H.Shelley...
She regularly plays recitals in the major halls all over the world and has
been a frequent quest at many international festivals such as, Les Folles
Journées, Piano aux Jacobins, Klavier Ruhr Festival, Wiltz Festival,
Musica in Strasbourg, International Festivals of Colmar, Sintra, Saint-Denis,
Radio-France Montpellier Festival and La Roque d'Anthéron, where she
has appeared more than once.
Recent and upcoming performance highlights includes engagements
with the Orchestre National de France, Capitole de Toulouse, Müncher
Philharmoniker, Budapest Philarmonik; appearances in Salle Pleyel,Théâtre
des Champs-Elysées, Théâtre du Châtelet, Théâtre
Mogador, Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord, Oriental Art Center in
Shangaï, the Franz Liszt Academy and Opera in Budapest, the Herkulessaal
and the Philharmony in Munich.
Mrs. Wagner has been drawn to the broad spectrum of musical
repertoire,including standard works to a particular interest in the neclected
domains of music and new music. She collaborates with contemporary composers
such Dusapin, whose works "Etudes" No. 3 and No.7 were given their
first public performance by Vanessa Wagner and which were dedicated to her.
Vanessa Wagner has recorded for the Lyrinx, Naïve and
Ambroisie labels and these recordings received the highest critical acclaim
from the international press. In recognition of her chievements and contribution
to music she was awarded a 'Victoire de la Musique' for her 1998 recording
of works by Scriabin.
Additional recordings of works by Rachmaninov (1996), Mozart
(2000) and Schumann (2002), have further reinforced her status as an artist
of the utmost distinction and individuality. In 2003, Naïve presented
her recital at the well-known festival La Roque d'Anthéron with a DVD
filmed by Chloé Perlemuter and broadcasted by Arte.
Vanessa Wagner's most recent recording is a all-Debussy disc
for Ambroisie