‘Uchida is, simply, Uchida – an elegant, deeply musical interpreter who strikes an inspired balance of head and heart in everything she plays’
Chicago Tribune

Mitsuko Uchida is a performer who brings to her audiences a deep insight into the music she plays through her own search for truth and beauty. She is renowned for her interpretations of Mozart and Schubert, both in the concert hall and on CD, but she has also illuminated the music of Berg, Schoenberg, Webern and Boulez for a new generation of listeners and her recording of the Schoenberg Piano Concerto with Pierre Boulez and the Cleveland Orchestra won four awards, including The Gramophone Award for Best Concerto. Over the last two years she has been giving performances of Beethoven’s last three piano sonatas and the Royal Festival Hall performance was described by John Allison, The Times critic, as ‘one of the most transporting concerts London has heard all year’; and her peformance of the ‘Hammerklavier’ in the Royal Festival Hall in March 05 was described by Andrew Clements in The Guardian as ‘totally compelling’. Her recording of the last three Beethoven sonatas has just been released by Decca and have received outstanding critical acclaim. Hugh Canning wrote in The Sunday Times ‘This is magical piano-playing: we are lucky to live in an age when Uchida is the medium through which Beethoven’s genius still speaks to us so eloquently.’

Mitsuko Uchida performs throughout the world and with many different partners. She is Artist-in-Residence at the Cleveland Orchestra where she is directing all the Mozart concerti from the keyboard over a number of seasons. She also appears regularly with the Chicago and New York Philharmonic Orchestras and gives regular recitals in Carnegie Hall both as soloist and chamber musician. In 2004/5 she was the subject of Carnegie Hall’s Perspective series.

This season Mitsuko Uchida featured in the Concertgebouw’s Carte Blanche series where she collaborated with Ian Bostridge, the Hagen Quartet, Chamber Orchestra of Europe and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra as well as giving a performance of Schönberg’s Pierrot Lunaire with Barbara Sukowa, the Brentano Quartet, Marina Piccinini and Anthony McGill. These concerts were also the focus of series at the Philharmonie in Cologne and the Barbican in London . In January 2006 she took part in the Mozart birthday celebrations in Salzburg with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Ricardo Muti, as well as performing with the Hagen Quartet and appearing in recital.

Mitsuko Uchida records exclusively for Decca and her recordings include the complete Mozart piano sonatas and piano concerti; the complete Schubert piano sonatas; Debussy’s Etudes; the five Beethoven piano concerti with Kurt Sanderling; a CD of Mozart Sonatas for Violin and Piano with Mark Steinberg and Die Schöne Müllerinwith Ian Bostridge for EMI.

Mitsuko Uchida has demonstrated a long-standing commitment to aiding the developmen of young musicians and is a trustee of the Borletti-Buitoni Trust. She is also Co-director, with Richard Goode, of the Marlboro Music Festival.