CHRISTOPHER ATZINGER

DEBUT
JS BACH ~ BEETHOVEN
BARBER ~ FRITZE

$14.95  ~  MS1189

"...[Atzinger] is blessed with abundant energy, powerful fingers, a big sound and natural musicality. He makes the best possible case for Gregory Fritze's well made...1989 Sonata, moulding the jagged, proclamatory unison motifs and fuill-throated chords in contrary motion with immense authority, taking great care with the slow movement's inside-the-piano strumming and plucking...Atzinger more than holds his own against the Barber Sonata's finest recorded practitioners (Horowitz, Cliburn, Browning and Wild)...Atzinger benefits from MSR's warm, roomy and most attractive engineering."
Gramophone ~ July 2008

"Atzinger proves himself to be a master of the fugue in his debut recital...we are treated to a great overview of this form. Atzinger uses excellent articulation and a wide array of pianistic colors to assist us [hear the fugues]. Here we have a pianist not only with the technique, but the brains to put all of this together. Please don't think that this is a purely academic recording-the virtuosic bravura on display here is visceral. [Fritze] has written a very enjoyable work and couldn't ask for a better performance. There are no weak moments [in this release], only wonderful music-making. Christopher Atzinger is surely a pianist to keep a watch for."
American Record Guide ~ May / June 2008

"After a solid presentation of the Bach…Atzinger instigates a serious, measured realization of Beethoven’s A Major Sonata...The aggressive march has Atzinger throwing sparks, glitter, and occasional thunderbolts...The Barber Sonata seems to be an Atzinger calling-card, with its high-flown, percussive lyricism. Atzinger bestows upon the opening Allegro energico the same taut, hard-edged patina we know from the Horowitz and Browning versions of this piece. The second movement Scherzo might be Barber’s equivalent of a Liszt etude, according to Atzinger’s playful fingers. The fugal last movement has Atzinger in molten form, providing ardent, scintillating evidence of his technical and sympathetic commitment to this music."
Audiophile Audition ~ February 2008

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Pianist Christopher Atzinger, a native of Jackson, Michigan, has performed in Austria, Italy, France, Spain and Canada in addition to performances in the United States highlighted by concerts in New York at Carnegie-Weill Hall, New York University, St. Paul’s Chapel, Liederkranz Hall; in Chicago in the Dame Myra Hess series; and in Washington, D.C. at the Phillips Collection. His artistry has also been broadcast on Live from WFMT, Chicago’s main classical radio station and Live from FM 91 on WGTE in Toledo, Ohio. He has performed at the Banff International Keyboard Festival, Brevard Music Festival, and Chautauqua Institution, in addition to giving lectures and master classes across the county.

Atzinger was the gold medalist of the 50th annual Nina Plant Wideman International Piano Competition and winner of the 2005 National Federation of Music Clubs Artist Competition in addition to receiving honors from the Frinna Awerbuch International Piano Competition, National Society of Arts and Letters, and MTNA. He has also received grants and fellowships from the Theodore Presser Foundation, American Composers Forum, Foundation La Gesse, and Joyce Dutka Arts Foundation. Gravitating to the music of Samuel Barber, Atzinger won the Premio Città di Ispica prize with special recognition for his performance of the Sonata, Op.26 and the Concerto, Op.38 at the Ibla Grand Prize Competition in Ragusa-Ibla, Italy. His recording of the Sonata also received acclaim at the 8th annual International Web Concert Hall Auditions.

In addition to degrees from the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Michigan, Atzinger earned the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in piano performance from the Peabody Conservatory of Music at Johns Hopkins University in Baltmore, Maryland. He counts among his teachers Julian Martin, Robert McDonald, Anton Nel, David Renner, and Carolyn Lipp, among others. Prior to his faculty appointment at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota, he taught at Dickinson College in Pennsylvania.