Andreas Staier

Biography

“His interpretations testify to his psychological and intellectual insight into the repertoire and to an unfailing ability to realise his ideas masterfully and with natural effect.”

Andreas Staier first gained worldwide fame as a harpsichordist. After studies with Lajos Rovátkay and Ton Koopman, he spent three years performing with Musica Antiqua Köln. Yet Staier is far more than a virtuoso representative of what is known as historically informed performance practice. Rather, he could be described as an avid seeker of sonorities. He has opened wholly new avenues of interpretation and made surprising listening experiences possible. To this end, he also works with instrument makers to explore specific nuances of sound production – be it 16th-century repertoire such as the English virginal school, J.S. Bach’s “Goldberg Variations,” Beethoven’s “Diabelli Variations,” or the late piano works of Brahms. Staier has also always been drawn to lesser-known composers, in whose music he discerns a certain originality, such as Sebastián de Albero and Josef Antonín Štěpán.

His commitment does not end with the music of the 19th century. This is shown by Staier’s collaboration with French composer Brice Pauset (b. 1965), from whom he has commissioned several compositions. The “Kontra-Sonate” (2000), a hybrid of Schubert’s Sonata in A Minor, D.845 and Pauset’s “Kontra-Kompositionen,” is a prime example. Staier made use of the many months of the COVID-19 pandemic to complete his composition “Anklänge – Six Pieces for Harpsichord,” which he juxtaposes with Bach’s Prelude and Fugue in E Major from Book 2 of “The Well-Tempered Clavier.” The work was premiered at the Cologne Philharmonie in January 2023, and the accompanying recording titled “Méditation” was released by Alpha Classics (Outhere Music) in 2024. The sheet music is published by Éditions Henry Lemoine.

In 2024, he was awarded the prestigious Bach Medal of the City of Leipzig. He was Artist-in-Residence at the AMUZ in Antwerp from 2012 to 2016 and also at the Opéra de Dijon between 2011 and 2021.

Performing both on the harpsichord and on the fortepiano, Staier is featured by ensembles such as the Freiburger Barockorchester, Concerto Köln, the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, and the Orquestra Barroca Casa da Música Porto (with which he recorded “À Portuguesa” for harmonia mundi in October 2018). The wealth and diversity of his interests can be heard in his many recordings for harmonia mundi. Thus, in the Beethoven jubilee year 2020, Staier presented his album “Beethoven – Ein neuer Weg,” centred on the three piano sonatas of Op. 31 and the Variations Opp. 34 and 35, which received rave reviews. His reading of Book 2 of “The Well-Tempered Clavier” is considered a reference recording. Together with Roel Dieltiens, he has also recorded Beethoven’s Cello Sonatas Op. 102, paired with the Bagatelles Opp. 119 and 126.

His longtime musical partners include pianists Alexander Melnikov, Christine Schornsheim, and Tobias Koch, violinists Isabelle Faust and Petra Müllejans, as well as tenor Christoph Prégardien. Andreas Staier enjoys a close partnership with violinist Daniel Sepec and cellist Roel Dieltiens, with whom he has made a notable recording of the Schubert piano trios.

A much sought-after educator, Staier presents masterclasses throughout the world and has taught harpsichord and fortepiano performance at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis from 1987 to 1995. In the 2017/18 season, he was a Fellow at the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin. For a number of years now, Staier has also been appearing as a conductor and orchestra leader.