New York, NY (Top40 Charts) "A packed house...was lavish in its applause. And rightly so, for Janis is unquestionably one of the best pianists around today...hair-raising...brilliant." -Harold C. Schonberg -
Music Critic, The New York Times
"The piano is a percussion instrument so the challenge to the performer is to make it sing." Byron Janis
Track list
Sonata E Flat Major Hob. XVI:49 (Allegro) • Haydn • Paris, France 1982
Sonata E Flat Major Hob. XVI:49 (Adagio Cantabile) • Haydn • Paris, France 1982
Sonata E Flat Major Hob. XVI:49 (Tempo di Menuet) • Haydn • Paris, France 1982
Polonaise • Chopin • Havana, Cuba 1999
Mazurka F Minor (Posthumous) • Chopin • Havana, Cuba 1999
Nocturne D Flat Op. 27 No. 2 • Chopin • Warsaw, Poland 1979
Waltz A Flat Major Op. 34 No.1 • Chopin • Toulon, France 1989
Sonata B Minor Third Movement (Largo) Op. 58 No. 3 • Chopin • Knoxville, TN 1982
Waltz G Flat Major (Posthumous) • Chopin • New York, NY 1982
Waltz G Flat Major Op. 70 No. 1 • Chopin • New York, NY 1982
Sonetto del Petrarca No. 104 • Liszt • Brussels, Belgium 1988
Paraphrase on Verdi's Opera, Rigoletto • Liszt • Madrid, Spain 1981
You Are More • Byron Janis • Abbey, Bethlehem, CT 1988
David's Star - A Song for
Israel • Byron Janis • Abbey, Bethlehem, CT 1988
Like Any Man • Byron Janis • Abbey, Bethlehem, CT 1988
"By and Cy - More Paganini Variations" • Byron Janis and Cy Coleman* • NY, NY 1978
"By and Cy - More Paganini Variations" • Copyright Janis Eleven Enterprises LTD & Notable
Music Company
About Byron Janis
Byron Janis is internationally renowned as one of the world's greatest pianists. He made his orchestral debut at age 15 with Toscanini's NBC Symphony Orchestra. The following year he was chosen by Vladimir Horowitz as his first student. At 18, he became the youngest artist ever signed to a contract by RCA Victor Records. Two years later, in 1948, he made his Carnegie Hall debut which was hailed as an unparalleled success. He has played with every major symphony orchestra in both the U.S and abroad.
Mr. Janis was the first American artist chosen to participate in the 1960 Cultural Exchange between the United States and the Soviet Union and was hailed on the front page of The New York Times as, "an ambassador in breaking down 'cold war' barriers." He was also the first American concert pianist to be asked back to Cuba, 40 years after his last performance there, during which time no American was allowed to perform on Cuban soil.
His many recordings appear on the RCA, Mercury Phillips and EMI labels. In the
Spring of 2012, EMI released a Byron Janis "Chopin Collection," a compilation of his Chopin recordings featuring, for the first time on one CD, two unknown Chopin waltz manuscripts which he discovered at Yale University (the other two versions he discovered at the Chateau de Thoiry in France).
In 1973, he developed Psoriatic Arthritis in both hands and wrists yet he continued his performing career and made two highly acclaimed CDs. He kept it secret until 1985 when, after a performance at the White House, Nancy Reagan made his condition public when she announced that he would become a spokesperson for the Arthritis Foundation as its
National Ambassador to the Arts.
Among his honors are: Commander of the French Legion d'Honneur for Arts and Letters, the Grand Prix du Disque, the Stanford Fellowship (the highest honor of Yale University) and the Distinguished Pennsylvania Artist Award. He received an honorary doctorate at
Trinity College and the gold medal from the French Society for the Encouragement of Progress, the first musician to receive this honor since its inception in 1906. Mr. Janis also has had the great honor of being invited six times by four sitting Presidents to perform at the White House and was recently written into the Congressional Record of both the Senate and the House of Representatives, honoring him as, "a musician, a diplomat and an inspiration." Mr. Janis has been featured many times on major television interview and talk programs such as The
Tonight Show, 20/20 and CBS Sunday Morning, amongst many others. In recent years, he has been concentrating on writing music for stage and screen and has composed the score for a major musical production of "The Hunchback of Notre Dame." He has also written the score for The True Gen, a feature documentary on the 20-year friendship between Gary
Cooper and Ernest Hemingway.
He is featured in the PBS documentary, by Emmy-award-winning producer
Peter Rosen, "The Byron Janis Story" which attests to the courage he has displayed in refusing to become overwhelmed by a disease that would have brought the career of many artists to a standstill. His memoirs, Chopin and Beyond: My Extraordinary Life in
Music and the Paranormal were released in November 2010.
He is married to
Maria Cooper, daughter of Hollywood legend Gary Cooper. Sadly, they lost their son Stefan Janis on February 1 of this year from a heart attack while he was vacationing in France.
For a list of upcoming events and tributes, press information or to schedule interviews, limited public appearances and engagements, please contact
Bettina L. Klinger, President,
Brand Varietals, INC (646) 559-8715 or email
[email protected].
Byron Janis Live on Tour Volume I is available for purchase on byronjanislive.com.
Byronjanislive.com
ByronJanis.com
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