VÁRJON Dénes

Vendégművész

Dénes Várjon started studying at the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music in 1984. He received tuition in piano from Sándor Falvai and chamber music from György Kurtág and Ferenc Rados finishing his studies in 1991. Parallel to his studies he was regular participant at international master classes with András Schiff. Dénes Várjon won first prize at the Piano Competition of Hungarian Radio, at the Leó Weiner Chamber Music Competition in Budapest and at the Géza Anda Competition in Zurich.

Dénes Várjon is regular guest at the most prestigious international festivals such as Salzburger Festspiele, Lucerne Festival, Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, Biennale di Venezia, Marlboro Festival (USA), Klavierfestival Ruhr, Kunstfest Weimar, and Edinburgh Festival. He is invited every year to András Schiff’s and Heinz Holliger’s Ittinger Konzerttage in Switzerland.

He has performed with major orchestras such as Camerata Salzburg, Academy of St. Martin-inthe-Fields, Wiener Kammerorchester, Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra, Camerata Bern, Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne, Hungarian State Symphony Orchestra, Tonhalle Orchestra, Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, Budapest Festival Orchestra, Kremerata Baltica, Russian National Orchestra and Concerto Budapest. He has worked with conductors like Sándor Végh, Horst Stein, Heinz Holliger, Georg Solti, Ádám Fischer, Leopold Hager, András Keller, Iván Fischer, Hubert Soudant, Thomas Zehetmair and many more.

Dénes Várjon is deeply committed to chamber music and is partner of artists like Steven Isserlis, Leonidas Kavakos, David Grimal, Miklós Perényi, András Schiff, Jörg and Carolin Widmann, Joshua Bell, Radovan Vlatkovic, Tabea Zimmermann, the Carmina, Takács, Keller, and Endellion Quartets. He also appears regularly with his wife Izabella Simon playing four hands and two pianos recitals together.

He has recorded for the Naxos, Capriccio and Hungaroton Classics labels with critical acclaim. Teldec released his CD with Sándor Veress’s “Hommage à Paul Klee” (performed with András Schiff, Heinz Holliger and the Budapest Festival Orchestra). His recording “Hommage à Géza Anda”, (PAN-Classics) has received important international echoes. His CD of the Sonatas of Robert Schumann recorded with Carolin Widmann was released in 2008. In the same year he recorded for ECM the Holliger Romancendres with Christoph Richter. His recording of Schumann pieces with the cellist Steven Isserlis was released in 2009 on the Hyperion label. His solo CD with pieces of Berg, Janáček and Liszt was released in January 2012 by ECM.

Dénes Várjon is professor at the Ferenc Liszt University in Budapest and was recipient of the Liszt and Sándor Veress Awards. From the 2010/2011 season he is guest professor at Bard College (US).