“Music has the unique power to heal wounds as no medicine can. It crosses borders and unites people where words and politics fail entirely,” declares the great German pianist and conductor CHRISTOPH ESCHENBACH (b. 1940), who for more than six decades has stood at the forefront of the world’s musical life.
He began his professional career as a gifted pianist, graduating from the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg. Two years after winning the prestigious ARD International Music Competition in Munich, the 24‑year‑old Eschenbach signed his first recording contract with Deutsche Grammophon, dedicated to works by Mozart. The following year he won First Prize at the Clara Haskil International Piano Competition (1965), a success that launched his international career with engagements throughout Europe and the United States.
After 1970 he increasingly turned to conducting. His mentors in this new field were George Szell and Herbert von Karajan. He made his conducting debut in 1972 with Bruckner’s Third Symphony, and from 1979 to 1981 served as chief conductor of the Rhineland‑Palatinate Philharmonic Orchestra.
Eschenbach subsequently held leadership positions with several major orchestras: the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich (1982–1985), the Houston Symphony Orchestra (1988–1999), the NDR Symphony Orchestra in Hamburg (1998–2004), the Philadelphia Orchestra (2003–2008), and the Orchestre de Paris (2000–2010). He has toured across multiple continents with leading ensembles including the Vienna Philharmonic, the Berlin Philharmonic, the London Symphony Orchestra, the Staatskapelle Dresden, the New York Philharmonic, the NHK Symphony Orchestra (Tokyo), and many others.
Until 2017 he served as Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, D.C., and of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. From 2019 to 2023 he was Chief Conductor of the Konzerthausorchester Berlin. The music festivals in Ravinia and Schleswig‑Holstein have also flourished under his artistic leadership.
After more than eighty years, Eschenbach has returned to his native city of Wrocław (formerly Breslau). In 2024 he assumed the position of Artistic Director of the NFM Wrocław Philharmonic.
Eschenbach’s discography as both pianist and conductor is extensive and distinguished, encompassing a wide repertoire from the Baroque to contemporary music. He has recorded for many of the world’s leading labels — Deutsche Grammophon, Decca, EMI, Koch, Ondine, among others. Among his major recording projects are a complete cycle of Mahler symphonies, the violin concertos of Alfred Schnittke with Gidon Kremer, and numerous recordings of symphonic works by Bruckner and Brahms. Several of these releases have earned him nominations and awards, including a Grammy Award in 2014 in the category Best Classical Compendium (Paul Hindemith), BBC Music Magazine Disc of the Month, Gramophone Editor’s Choice, and the German Record Critics’ Award. His recording of works by Kaija Saariaho with the Orchestre de Paris received the MIDEM Jury Award in 2009.
Eschenbach is a passionate advocate for contemporary music. He commissions, champions, and conducts works by leading composers of the 20th and 21st centuries, continually expanding the modern repertoire.
He performs and records with many of the world’s foremost soloists, including Sviatoslav Richter, Dietrich Fischer‑Dieskau, Renée Fleming, Peter Schreier, David Aaron Carpenter, Midori, Matthias Goerne, Dmitri Masleñikov, Ray Chen, Leonidas Kavakos, and many others. Although he no longer appears as a solo pianist, he frequently performs in piano duo with Tzimon Barto and continues to accompany singers.
A personal career is no longer Eschenbach’s artistic priority; his focus is on passing his knowledge and experience to the next generation. Among the musicians he has supported are pianists Tzimon Barto and Lang Lang, violinist Julia Fischer, cellists Daniel Müller‑Schott and Leonard Elschenbroich, and soprano Renée Fleming. He gives masterclasses at the Manhattan School of Music, the Kronberg Academy, the Schleswig‑Holstein Music Festival, and other institutions.
Eschenbach holds numerous awards and distinctions, including: Chevalier of the Légion d’honneur, Commandeur de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (France), the Cultural Prize of Silesia (Lower Saxony), the Grand Federal Cross of Merit with Star (Germany), the Leonard Bernstein Award, the Order of Merit of the State of Schleswig‑Holstein, the Ernst von Siemens Music Prize, the Hindemith Prize of the city of Hanau, and many others.
