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Martin James Bartlett

Piano
Prix Serdang, 2022

  • Martin James Bartlett possesses a fearless technique and plays with a maturity and elegance far beyond his years. The British pianist is the inaugural recipient of the Prix Serdang in 2022, a Swiss prize curated by Rudolf Buchbinder in recognition of the achievements of a promising young pianist while forging an international solo career.

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  • Highlights of Bartlett’s 2024/25 season include debuts at the Lucerne and Moritzburg summer festivals, a return to the Concertgebouw, and two chamber music recitals at the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg. He returns to the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and Nordwestdeutsche Philhamonie, and, in April 2025, embarks on a 2-week tour of the US, which features solo appearances in Cincinnati and San Francisco.


    Recent concerto highlights include a UK tour with the Sinfonia of London under the baton of John Wilson, and a European tour with the LGT Young Soloists, performing Philip Glass’s ‘Tirol’ piano concerto at the Berlin Konzerthaus, Vienna Musikverein and Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, culminating in a gala performance for the Prince and Princess of Liechtenstein in London.


    Past seasons have seen Bartlett in recital at the Wigmore Hall, Wiener Konzerthaus, The Concertgebouw, Alte Oper Frankfurt, Salle Cortot Paris, Stadtcasino Basel, Festival International de Piano de La Roque d'Anthéron and the Grafenegg, Rheingau, International Chopin Piano, Merano and Dresden Music Festivals. Bartlett’s debut US tour in February 2022 in the Young Concert Artists Series included debut performances in New York and The Kennedy Centre, Washington DC. 


    An exclusive recording artist with Warner Classics, Bartlett has released three widely acclaimed albums on the label. La Danse (2024) focuses on solo works by Couperin, Debussy, Hahn, Rameau and Ravel, and received 5-star reviews in The Times, as well as Editor’s Choice on Gramophone. Rhapsody (2022), recorded with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Joshua Weilerstein and featuring concerti by Rachmaninoff and Gershwin, was released to critical acclaim, also receiving Gramophone’s Editor’s Choice accolade and a 5-star review in BBC Music Magazine. His debut recital album Love and Death (2019) also received outstanding reviews in The Times, The Guardian and The Sunday Times.


    Bartlett’s early public success was as the winner of the BBC Young Musician of the Year in 2014. This led to engagements with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and Ulster Orchestra and, in 2015, his BBC Proms debut performing Gershwin Rhapsody in Blue with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. For Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth’s 90th Birthday, he performed at the National Service of Thanksgiving, which was broadcast live on BBC One from St. Paul's Cathedral. 


    In August 2020, Bartlett was announced as the winner of the Virtu(al)oso Global Piano Competition by Piano Cleveland. In 2018 he was awarded 2nd prize and the Audience Award at the Kissingen Piano Olympiad. In 2021 he was awarded the Queen Mother Rosebowl by HRH Prince Charles and graduated with a first-class Bachelor’s degree, Master’s degree and an Artist’s Diploma from the Royal College of Music, having studied under Professor Vanessa Latarche. From 2020 to 2022, Bartlett was the RCM Benjamin Britten Piano Fellow, and made his play-direct and conducting debut with the London Mozart Players at the Cheltenham and Ryedale festivals in 2022 leading works by Pärt, Mozart and Britten. In 2019, Bartlett was awarded first place at the 2019 Young Concert Artists International Auditions in New York.

    2024/25 season / 549 words. Not to be altered without permission of Intermusica.

Performances

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Concerto Repertoire

Bach
Keyboard Concerto No.1 in D minor, BWV.1052


Beethoven
Piano Concerto No.1 in C major, Op.15
Piano Concerto No.2 in B flat major, Op.19
Piano Concerto No.5 in E-flat major, Op. 73 'Emperor'


Britten
Young Apollo, Op.16


Gershwin
Piano Concerto in F major
Rhapsody in Blue


Mozart
Piano Concerto No.7 in F, K.242
Piano Concerto No.9 in E-flat major, K.271 'Jeunehomme'
Piano Concerto No.12 in A major, K.414
Piano Concerto No.20 in D minor K.466
Piano Concerto No.22 in E-flat major, K. 482
Piano Concerto No.23 in A major, K.488
Piano Concerto No.24 in C minor K.491
Piano Concerto No.27 in B-flat major, K.595


Prokofiev
Piano Concerto No.3, Op.26


Rachmaninov 
Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op.43
Piano Concerto No.2, Op.18


Ravel
Piano Concerto in G major, M.83


Shostakovich
Piano Concerto No.2


Tchaikovsky
Piano Concerto No.1, Op.23

Recital programme

Programme 25/26 (with accompanying programme note)


Rameau: Les Tendres Plaintes
Scarlatti: D major, K. 119 ‘Les Oiseaux’
Couperin: Les Barricades Mystérieuses
William Byrd: The Woods So Wild
Beethoven: Pathétique Sonata
Interval
Liszt: Vallée d’Obermann
Liszt: Au Bord d’une Source
Wagner/Liszt: Tristan und Isolde
Debussy: Estampes, no. 2 La soirée dans Grenade
Scriabin: Sonata no. 4, Op. 30


 

Martin James Bartlett is not only a prodigy of the piano but an accomplished artist who counts among the greats of his generation.

Nice Matin

Martin James Bartlett brought maximum feeling to the music and played with astonishing delicacy and punch.

Daily Telegraph

The wit and colour in pianist Martin James Bartlett’s playing was thrilling.

Times

Intermusica represents Martin James Bartlett worldwide.

Bridget Emmerson
Deputy Chief Executive / Joint Head of Artist Management
+44 20 7608 9916
bemmerson@intermusica.com

Jessica Barra
Artist Manager
+44 20 7608 9942
jbarra@intermusica.com

Laura Mayo
Assistant Artist Manager
+44 20 7608 9906
lmayo@intermusica.com

All artists

Chansonnier

HK Gruber

Counter-tenor

Tim Mead

Harpsichord

Richard Egarr

Piano accompanist

Roger Vignoles

Saxophone

Jess Gillam

Contralto

Avery Amereau