Stephen Kovacevitch

Stephen Kovacevich born October 17 1940 is an American classical pianist and conductor He is particularly celebrated for his recordings of works by Beethoven Bartók and Schubert and is known for technical skill clarity of playing and an intelligent approach to interpretation Stephen Kovacevich was born in San Pedro Los Angeles California to a Croatian father and an American mother When his mother remarried his name was changed to Stephen Bishop the name under which he performed in his early career He later discovered that he was often being confused with the singer and guitarist Stephen Bishop To avoid the confusion he began performing as Stephen BishopKovacevich and later simply as Stephen Kovacevich He made his concert debut as a pianist at the age of 11 then at the age of 18 he moved to London to study under Dame Myra Hess on a scholarship and has been a London resident ever since currently living in Hampstead In 1961 he made a sensational European debut at the Wigmore Hall playing the Sonata by Alban Berg three Bach Preludes and Fugues and Beethovens Diabelli Variations He also toured Britain with Jacqueline du Pré In 1967 he made his New York debut and since then he has toured Europe the United States the Far East Australia New Zealand and South America As a soloist and conductor he has frequently performed and recorded works by amongst others Mozart Beethoven Schubert Brahms and Bartók In more recent years he has performed works by Rachmaninoff Kovacevich often performs chamber works his chamber music partners have included Jacqueline du Pré Martha Argerich Steven Isserlis Nigel Kennedy Lynn Harrell Sarah Chang Gautier Capuçon Renaud Capuçon and Emmanuel Pahud Aside from his performing career Kovacevich has given master classes and recitals at Dartington International Summer School for many years From 1961 to 1967 Kovacevich was married to novelist and psychotherapist Bernardine Bishop née Wall who died in 2013 They had two sons Matt Bishop and Foff Bishop Kovacevich had a relationship with pianist Martha Argerich with whom he still performs They have one daughter Stéphanie Source Article Stephen Kovacevich from Wikipedia in English licensed under CCBYSA 30