In an age when classical pianists are often shaped by conservatory polish and safe repertoire choices, Cyprien Katsaris has long danced to a different rhythm — and not just metaphorically. The French-Cypriot virtuoso has spent decades charting a singular course through the musical landscape, blending brilliance, irreverence, and historical curiosity in a way few have dared. Pianist, composer, improviser, provocateur — Katsaris is all of these and more.
Born in 1951 in Marseille to Greek-Cypriot parents, Katsaris was a prodigious talent from the start. He gave his first public performance at the age of seven, playing a concerto by Haydn. Trained at the Paris Conservatoire under Aline van Barentzen and Monique de la Bruchollerie, and influenced by the great traditions of Cortot and Cziffra, he quickly earned first prizes in piano and chamber music. But it was clear early on: he was not to be molded by the academy.
“I don’t believe in just reproducing the past,”
“The interpreter must live with the music, reinvent it for today.”Cyprien Katsaris
This belief would lead him to some of the most daring and idiosyncratic projects in the piano world.
The Orchestras at His Fingertips
Perhaps no work defines Katsaris’s ambition and audacity more than his recordings of the complete Liszt transcriptions of Beethoven’s symphonies. These are not just exercises in technical prowess; they are feats of orchestral imagination. Where most pianists shy away from such monumental challenges, Katsaris thrives. His reading of the “Eroica” or “Pastoral” symphonies conjures entire brass sections, woodwinds, and sweeping strings from a single keyboard. He treats the piano as a prism — refracting the symphonic score through sound and soul.
Yet his success in this daunting cycle is not just a technical marvel — it’s deeply interpretative. Katsaris doesn’t merely play notes; he tells stories, balances textures, highlights inner voices, and breathes life into every crescendo. It is Liszt’s vision filtered through Katsaris’s own musical DNA — Romantic, passionate, and uncompromising.
A Taste for the Theatrical
A Katsaris concert is never a sterile affair. There may be humor, improvisation, commentary, even a sudden turn into Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody — reimagined in high Romantic style. His flair for the unexpected is not for show; it is the result of a fearless approach to interpretation, and a belief that the concert stage is a living space, not a museum.
Whether performing Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsodies or Mozart’s variations, Katsaris brings theatricality to his phrasing — a sly wink here, a whisper there, a thunderclap where you least expect it. In a world that often prizes perfection over personality, his performances feel refreshingly human.
“If I can’t surprise myself in concert,”
“how can I expect to surprise the audience?”
Cyprien Katsaris An Archivist of the Unexpected
Over the years, Katsaris has become an unlikely musical archaeologist. His independent label, Piano 21, has released dozens of rare recordings — from forgotten 19th-century gems to reimagined works by Wagner, Mahler, and even film music. He’s brought to light early versions of well-known works and recorded piano music by composers more often associated with other genres.
This curatorial instinct sets him apart. Katsaris is not just a pianist but a passionate advocate for a broader, deeper repertoire. He invites his listeners to explore the margins — the places where history forgot to look.
A Citizen of Many Worlds
Fluent in multiple languages and at home in Europe, Asia, and the Americas, Katsaris has toured the globe for decades. He has performed with leading orchestras, collaborated with conductors from Leonard Bernstein to Kurt Masur, and played in iconic halls from Carnegie to the Forbidden City. Yet, despite international acclaim, he remains something of an insider’s secret — a pianist beloved by connoisseurs, fellow musicians, and risk-taking listeners.
The Unclassifiable Genius
Trying to categorize Cyprien Katsaris is like trying to pin down quicksilver. He is at once a traditionalist and an iconoclast, a scholar and a showman. One moment he delivers a historically informed interpretation of Bach; the next, he improvises a fugue on a theme shouted from the audience. His hands may be rooted in the keyboard, but his mind is in flight — improvising, imagining, and questioning.
If the classical world sometimes fears spontaneity, Katsaris thrives on it. He challenges the orthodoxy not out of rebellion, but out of love for music as a living force. He is, in the deepest sense, an artist who plays in every meaning of the word.
Postlude
To discover Cyprien Katsaris is to rediscover the piano itself — not merely as a polished instrument, but as a voice, a playground, a battlefield, a universe. His recordings open doors to the forgotten, the forbidden, the fantastic. His concerts promise unpredictability, beauty, and the thrilling sense that anything could happen.
For those weary of routine in classical music, Katsaris offers something more: the possibility of magic.
