Episode 32 co-hosted with Dr. Elias-Axel Pettersson - The Beethoven Sonatas: Professor Daniel Shapiro

This was a treat! Dr. Pettersson and I interview the wonderful pianist Prof. Daniel Shapiro. Prof. Shapiro was kind enough to spend a few minutes discussing his THIRD complete cylcle of the Beethoven piano sonatas. We talk on a range of subjects and celebrate the greatness of Beethoven's work.   DANIEL SHAPIRO continues to gain recognition as a leading interpreter of Schubert, Beethoven, Mozart, Schumann, and Brahms, and as a teacher and coach at the Cleveland Institute of Music.  He has given critically acclaimed performances across the United States, in Brazil, Britain, Ireland, Spain, France, Italy, Korea, and China, at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, and at Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles.  This season he performs his third complete cycle of the 32 Beethoven piano sonatas; previous live performances of all the sonatas can be found on this website. His DVDs of all of Schubert's major piano sonatas and his CD of Beethoven’s “Diabelli” Variations have received enthusiastic reviews.    He has taught at CIM for the past twenty-three years, during which time he has become known as an inspiring teacher who helps students achieve profound understanding and develop vivid interpretations of the great masterworks. His students have won important competitions and obtained teaching posts at prestigious universities and schools of music.   As a chamber musician,  Shapiro has had the great fortune of collaborating with some of the world’s leading musicians, including Jaime Laredo, Shmuel Ashkenasi, Joseph Silverstein, Cho-Liang Lin, Roberto Diaz, Ronald Leonard, Franklin Cohen and Frank Rosenwein.  He has performed regularly with members of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Chicago Symphony and the Cleveland Orchestra.  He has also performed with the Cavani, Mirò, Linden and Rossetti Quartets, and has released chamber music CDs on the Harmonia Mundi and ASV labels. His Beethoven sonata collaborations with violinist Jaime Laredo can be found on youtube.com.   His musical scope also includes the study of conducting: he has worked with Daniel Lewis, Victor Yampolsky, Fritz Zweig, and Gustav Meier. He made his conducting debut at sixteen at Tanglewood, and  conducted Mozart’s Don Giovanni with the Akron Lyric Opera.   His musicianship has  been enhanced and deepened by extensive collaboration with singers: listening to and working with them has been a source of tremendous inspiration.  He studied art song with Gwendolyn Koldofsky and opera with Natalie Limonick, and was an opera and art song coach at UCLA.    A native of southern California, Shapiro began the study of piano at the age of six.  His teachers included Leon Fleisher, John Perry, Russell Sherman, Joanna Graudan, and Reginald Stewart.  He studied at the University of Southern California and at the Peabody Conservatory, where he received his doctorate.   Shapiro is an expert Scrabble player--he is one of the top ranked players in Ohio, having won or placed in several tournaments.  He lives with his family in Cleveland Heights.