Dimitris Sgouros: A Photographic Portrait

DIMITRIS SGOUROS: A PHOTOGRAPHIC PORTRAIT

A JOURNEY THROUGH TIME: PHOTOS FROM DIMITRIS SGOUROS' PRIVATE COLLECTION AND OTHER CONTRIBUTORS

[Click on an image to enlarge]

Programme for the first ever concert given by Dimitris Sgouros, on 20th May 1977, aged SEVEN !! He played two of his own original compositions as well as works by Beethoven, Kuhlau, Clementi, Mozart, Chopin, Liszt, etc.

Dimitris with Chopin and brother Costas

Gold medal of the Senigallia Competition (1980)

Tie given by Rostropovich to Dimitris Sgouros at his 1982 Carnegie Hall debut (originally a present to Rostropovich from the great Dimitri Mitropoulos!). Gold watch was a gift from Artur Rubinstein in Geneva, two months before his death. Dimitris Sgouros' Diplomas and Honours Medallions, plaques, and prizes

Dimitris Sgouros in Utrecht With Martha Argerich

(photo courtesy of Gustav Alink)

July 1984 From left to right:

John Pattrick, Vice President of Angel Records L.A.; Erick Friedman ; Jean-Philippe Collard ; Dimitris Sgouros ;

Dr. Mark P. Malkovich, III, Director Newport Festival, Rhode Island ; Anthony Caronia, Angel Records New York

Mischa Maisky and Dimitris Sgouros at Beechwood (1984)

Mark Malkovich IV, Erick Friedman and Dimitris Sgouros (1984)

Dr Mark P. Malkovich III, Dimitris Sgouros and Erick Friedman (1984 Newport Music Festival)

[special thanks to Joan Malkovich & Mark Malkovich IV for these photos, drawn from the personal collection of Dr Mark P. Malkovich III]

Dimitris Sgouros receives rapturous standing ovation at Gala Opening Recital of the 2011 Newport Music Festival

Dimitris Sgouros with Claudio Abbado

Gramophone Magazine (January 1984)

EMI SGOUROS EXCLUSIVE

In homage of the Franz Liszt Anniversary Year in 2011, EMI/Warner Classics proudly announces a new double-CD set entitled "Essential Liszt" with landmark recordings by Dimitris Sgouros and other featured Liszt exponents of the modern era

"Essential Liszt" - the highly-anticipated new Warner/EMI Classics album (worldwide release July 2011)

"We warmly invite you to perform a solo recital at Mann Auditorium, Tel Aviv, to mark the 97th anniversary of Arthur Rubinstein's birthday.

On this occasion you will be awarded the prestigious Arthur Rubinstein Gold Medal designed by Picasso."

Marianthi Sgouros, Artur Rubinstein, Sotiris Sgouros, Dimitris Sgouros (October 1982, Geneva)

Above: Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley honors Dimitris Sgouros for his Olympian Performance, July 18, 1984, Los Angeles

Below: Sgouros with members of his extended family in Los Angeles

Royal Command Performance for His Serene Highness Rainier III, Prince of Monaco at the Prince's Palace, Monaco

July 22, 1984, Palais de Monaco

Above: Dimitris Sgouros at the 1985 Lucerne Festival

Below: Dimitris Sgouros with Herbert von Karajan

>> Click for review of Sgouros in Lucerne <<

With Lorin Maazel

With Princess Martha Louise & Crown Princess Sonja of Norway (future Queen Sonja of Norway)

QUIZ QUESTION - is Dimitris Sgouros in the presence of....

With His Imperial Highness Prince Mikasa of Japan

(i) Prince Rainier III of Monaco

(ii) King Olav V of Norway, or

(iii) None of the above?

Marianthi Sgouros with His Imperial Highness Prince Mikasa (brother of Japan's Emperor Hirohito) in Tokyo 1984 Perth Airport, 1987 Australian tour Dimitris Sgouros with Australia's Governor-General Bill Hayden in Government House, Canberra 1989

With Chinese Cultural Consul Lou Xiaoyan in Sydney 1989 Duo recital with Salvatore Accardo With the King and Queen of Sweden at St James's Palace, London 1995

With His Royal Highness the Duke of Kent With Joan Collins

Sgouros having his portrait painted by June Mendoza at her studio in London

(June Mendoza, the only woman member of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters, is portrait artist to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, HRH The Prince of Wales, HRH The Duke of Edinburgh, Princess Diana, and many other heads of state and celebrities)

Sgouros with Leonard Bernstein

With Sir Charles Mackerras in Prague Accompanying Yo-Yo Ma in London, in the presence of mutual friend Tony Shalit, a great patron and connoisseur of the arts Break during filming of "Dimitris at 14" - from left to right: John Fraser (EMI producer) ; Anthony Shalit ; a member of film crew ; François Reichenbach (Oscar-winning director) presiding at head of table

With Alicia de Larrocha With Placido Domingo With Agnes Baltsa

With Montserrat Caballé With Hildegard Behrens

With Yuri Simonov in Berlin With Yannis Hallecker & Christopher Warren-Green Sgouros in Vienna

With Eliahu Inbal With Leonidas Kavakos in Finland Sgouros with Australian pianist Geoffrey Tozer in Canberra

In London with Professors Timothy Baxter and Guy Jonson etc.

At the Royal Academy of Music in London

With Erick Friedman in Dallas

In Florence with James Judd (assistant to Maestro Claudio Abbado), preparing for a concert with the European Community Youth Orchestra

With Henry Fogel, President of Chicago Symphony

Dimitris Sgouros with renowned Israeli violinist Shlomo Mintz

Shlomo Mintz and Sgouros at the Athens Megaron Concert Hall 1998

With Yo-Yo Ma in Budapest 2001

With Mstislav Rostropovich at the Budapest Spring Festival 2001

Dimitris Sgouros at Carnegie Hall, April 2000

Official invitation (in Greek and Spanish) for Dimitris Sgouros to attend a VIP function presided over by Her Majesty Queen Sofia of Spain (May 19, 2010)

Her Majesty Queen Sofia of Spain in Athens on May 19, 2010 (photo courtesy of Life Magazine)

Solo recital in Halkidiki, Greece, 2004

(photos courtesy of K. Giannakidis & C.O. Music Instruments)

Concert poster for Carnegie Hall gala recital of June 1, 2005 to benefit

victims of the Tsunami disaster

In the limelight - Sgouros with UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador Marianna V. Vardinoyannis

Sir Peter Ustinov (UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador) with Dimitris Sgouros at the UNICEF 40th Anniversary Gala Concert (The Hague, Holland)

>> Watch this clip on youtube <<

Dimitris Sgouros awarded UNESCO Prize, for his distinctive contributions to the Arts, Sciences and Literature

Gold-plated relief of the Greek god Apollo presented to Dimitris Sgouros by UNESCO in May 2014

Dimitris Sgouros in the Golden Globe-winning film "Madame Sousatzka" (starring Shirley MacLaine)

Also winner of the Volpi Cup at the prestigious Venice Film Festival, etc.

Performance of the Brahms Piano Quintet

".. the Brahms Piano Quintet in F minor was given a poised and coherent reading that showed all parties concerned to be

on the same wavelength. Sgouros must be commended for highlighting the inner lines of the score. The concert ended

with a brilliant rendition of the Scherzo from Dvorak's Piano Quintet Op 81. The audience applauded warmly."

December 2004 with Vladimir Ashkenazy and the London Philharmonia,

performing Rachmaninoff's 2nd Piano Concerto

(Ashkenazy is a naturalised citizen of Iceland)

January 1983 with President of Greece Konstantinos Karamanlis

January 1983 with the President of Greece Konstantinos Karamanlis, a towering figure of Greek politics

The President of Iceland, Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson

requests the pleasure of the company of Mr Dimitris Sgouros

at a reception in honour of His Excellency Constantinos Stephanopoulos, President of Greece

Dimitris Sgouros featured in People Magazine [click to enlarge]

Clavier Magazine - "Sgouros, on the basis of this performance, seems to have the makings of one of the century's great pianists"

Ovation Magazine Special Tribute Edition

Dimitris Sgouros awarded First Prize for his recordings, "strikingly outdistancing the competition..."

"Dimitris Sgouros is surely on his way to recording all the standard repertoire. But for once I don't mind the duplications.

What a piano player he is! I can't wait to hear his next recording."

- Roger Milton, Beverly Hills, CA [High Performance Review]

Performing Liszt in Carnegie Hall

Performing a Mozart Concerto & Beethoven Choral Fantasy in Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall (New York)

With Dame Kiri Te Kanawa and the BBC Orchestra

Gala concert in Zurich (Swiss TV feature)

Concert in the Berlin Philharmonie (German TV report)

Sgouros on NBC TV - unwinding with a game of baseball!

Guest appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (NBC TV)

Above: With Bob Hawke (Prime Minister of Australia) and Reuben Fineberg

Below: Group photo with Bob Hawke

LEFT: Sgouros with Paul Keating (Treasurer & future Prime Minister of Australia) and wife Annita

RIGHT: Sgouros with Australia's Governor-General Bill Hayden in Government House

With Ray Martin on Australian television (Channel 9)

Performing in The Hague, Netherlands (Dutch TV program)

Sgouros and Zubin Mehta - joint TV appearance

Sgouros in Russia - Rachmaninov 3rd Piano Concerto with the State Philharmonic Capella of Russia

conducted by Valery Polyansky (September 7, 1997, Great Hall of Moscow Conservatory)

Life in the fast lane: Sgouros cruising a German Autobahn in his Porsche

Syros Island International Festival, Greece, August 2006

Dimitris Sgouros & Mischa Maisky

Menton-St Petersburg Orchestra/Jean-Bernard Pommier

Concert in honour of Mstislav Rostropovich

August 2007, Menton Festival (France)

2008 Beijing Olympic Cultural Celebrations - Dimitris Sgouros performs Rachmaninoff 3rd Concerto

with the Beijing Symphony Orchestra at Beijing Conservatory Hall

Steinway & Sons - Rebuilding the Legend Exhibition

STEINWAY GRAND PIANO NO. 1 (1836)

$3 million replica - Worldwide Tribute Tour

March 2008, Perth Concert Hall - exhibition of $3 million replica of the first Steinway piano built in 1836

"The original instrument has been painstakingly recreated by renowned Flemish pianoforte builder Chris Maene"

"The Perfect Tribute To A Great Legend"

(photos courtesy of cvxmelody)

Performing on a Fazioli piano

Dimitris Sgouros discusses the challenges of the Brahms Piano Concertos:-

Sgouros concerts in Oxford University (where he pursued studies in post-graduate mathematics)

Graduation from Oxford University

Sgouros with Rostropovich and Cecile Ousset at the Harrogate International Festival - "International Celebrity Concerts"

BBC Radio 3 broadcast (February 2011) - Beethoven's 3rd Piano Concerto with the BBC Symphony under Jiri Belohlavek

Dimitris Sgouros featured in Gramophone Magazine (June 2012)

The Insider's Guide

Gramophone selects June's unmissable musical events

Top picks - Dimitris Sgouros, Pinchas Zukerman, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Maria Joao Pires, New York Philharmonic

"UNMISSABLE!"

The Athens State Orchestra performs works by Beethoven, Prokofiev and Stravinsky with piano soloist Dimitris Sgouros under conductor Vassilis Christopoulos

Dimitris Sgouros awarded a Diploma from Poland's Minister of Culture and National Heritage "for outstanding contribution to the legacy" of Chopin (April 2011)

Above: May 2013 in Rome with Ivan Fischer and the Budapest Festival Orchestra, performing Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No 3

Below: 2015/2016 European tour embracing Holland, Spain, Hungary and Greece with the monumental Brahms Piano Concerto No 1


February 2016 in the spectacular Auditorio de Tenerife "Adán Martín" © Tino Armas
Critical praise for Sgouros' rendition of the Brahms 1st Piano Concerto in Tenerife (published February 15, 2016 in Doce Notas)
	“Dimitris Sgouros played with subtlety... keeping up a balanced dialogue with the orchestra, blending in with the great ensemble, faithful to the score and intentions of Brahms... he caressed the piano, striding across the keys with velvety slippers... a special, delicate and fresh sound that stood out in the course of the whole work.”

BELOW: The evocative seaside ambience of the Auditorio Alfredo Kraus in Las Palmas, Spain (Canary Islands Music Festival)