Schmidt, Annerose
Schmidt, Annerose
Schmidt, Annerose, German pianist; b. Wittenberg, Oct. 5, 1936. She studied with her father for 12 years, making her debut in Wittenberg when she was 9; then completed her training with Hugo Steurer at the Leipzig Hochschule für Musik (1953–58). In 1954 she was awarded a diploma at the International Chopin Competition in Warsaw, and in 1956 captured first prize at the International Robert Schumann Competition in Zwickau. She toured in both Eastern and Western Europe, appearing with the Gewandhaus Orch. of Leipzig, the Dresden State Orch., the Royal Phil, of London, the Concertgebouw Orch. of Amsterdam, and the Residentie Orch. of The Hague; also appeared at festivals in Salzburg, the Netherlands, Prague, Edinburgh, Berlin, Dresden, and Warsaw. In 1980 she made her U.S. debut as soloist with Kurt Masur and the Gewandhaus Orch. at Carnegie Hall in N.Y. She became a prof. at the East Berlin Hochschule für Musik in 1986. While best known for her performances of Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Schumann, Chopin, and Brahms, Schmidt also plays contemporary works, including those of Siegfried Matthus and Wolfgang Rihm.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire