“An die ferne Geliebte”and “Schwanengesang” presented by Alexander Grassauer and Alejandro Picó-Leonís
On the 24th of October 2018, the Beethoven Society For Music And Research will have the pleasure to welcome Alexander Grassauer and Alejandro Picó-Leonís. The duo will perform “An die ferne Geliebte” by Ludwig van Beethoven and “Schwanengesang” by Franz Schubert.
More details here!
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Biography of Alexander Grassauer
The young Austrian Bass-baritone had his first musical experiences at the piano, organ and in the church choir. He took his first singing lessons with Sigrid Rennert in his home town. First stage experiences and a first price at the youth music competition Prima la musica followed.
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In October 2015 he began his studies with Prof. Karlheinz Hanser at the University of music and performing arts in Vienna. In April 2016 he made his opera debut as Masetto in Don Giovanni at the Stadttheater Baden bei Wien.
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Grassauer has made his recital debut in Vienna with Schubert´s Schwanengesang and sang as Soloist in Bach´s Johannes-Passion in the Wiener Konzerthaus. He also sang the baritone-solo in Beethoven´s 9th Symphony with the Thailand Philharmonic Orchestra in Bangkok.
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Alexander Grassauer has won several prizes at international competitions, such as the 1st Prize at the Hariclea Darclée Singing Competition 2017 in Romania, the 1st Prize at the international Brahms competition 2017 in the section Lied, the 1st Prize at the 24th Ferruccio Tagliavini Competition and the prize for the best young talent at the 4th international Otto Edelmann Singing Competition in Vienna.

Biography of Alejandro Picó-Leonís
Alejandro Picó-Leonís was born in the Spanish port city of Alicante. He graduated at the City University of New York in the class of Ubaldo Díaz-Acosta (a pupil of Alicia de Larrocha and Claudio Arrau) and visited masterclasses by Karl Ulrich Schnabel. After winning the Artists International Competition, he made his Carnegie Hall Debut in 2002, and was acclaimed by the press for his “enormous musical seriousness, his sense of style full of multiple colors and his beautiful sound” (El Diario). More performances followed at Carnegie Hall and among others, at the Auditorium of the United Nations. In Europe, he has performed in Austria (Graz, Salzburg, Musikverein Wien), France (Aix-en-Provence), Germany (Leipzig, Gasteig Munich), Spain and other countries.
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His career path took him to Vienna, where he studied with Norman Shetler and participated in masterclasses in Lied accompaniment by Graham Johnson. Alejandro Picó-Leonís was assistant of Gerold Huber in his Lied class at the Hochschule für Musik in Würzburg. He has performed with well-renown artists such as Francisco Araiza, Gerold Huber, Angelika Kirchschlager, Dame Felicity Lott and Miklós Perény. He is regularly heard in recital with artists of the “new generation” such as Manuel Walser, Bibiana Nwobilo, Yury Revich, Lisa Rombach and Gabriel Ureña. He has presented these artists and many others at his concert series “Lied im Schubert Geburtshaus”, as well as in other historical venues around Vienna. During 2014 and 2015 Alejandro Picó-Leonís was Artist-in-Residence of the Beethoven Festival Vienna. He has given Masterclasses in Spanish Art Song at the MUK Privatuniversität Wien. Since 2013 he has been Lecturer at the Wiener Meisterkurse. His first solo CD “Variations” was released in 2011 by Oehms Classics. Further recordings for Oehms Classics and Odradek Records, including with violinist Yury Revich, have followed. In 2012, his Oehms Classics recording with piano works by Mozart and Beethoven received the “Supersonic” Award from the classical music magazine PIZZICATO.

In February 2017, Alejandro Picó-Leonís performed Manuel de Falla’s “Noches en los jardines de España” with the Brno Philharmonic at the Janáček Opera Theater in Brno (Czech Republic) and MuTh in Vienna (Austria). Upcoming concerts in Vienna include recitals at the Ehrbar-Saal, among others, with the Swiss baritone Manuel Walser, and a recital with the Spanish soprano Susana Cordón, “Das Alte Spanien”, which will close this year’s Fazioli Concert Series at the Old-Town-Hall. This summer Alejandro Picó-Leonís will perform at the Carinthian Summer Music Festival and will be Lecturer at the European Music Institute Vienna at the Laudon Palace.