Richard Goode

About

Richard Goode holds a pretty singular distinction in the piano world: he was the first American born pianist to record the complete Beethoven sonatas, all 32 of them, and that cycle remains a landmark recording. His playing is especially associated with the Austro German repertoire, and his recordings of Mozart concertos with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra alongside his Schubert and Brahms discs have earned him serious respect from listeners and fellow musicians alike. He won the Avery Fisher Prize and took first prize at the Clara Haskil Competition, and a Grammy came his way for his Brahms clarinet sonatas recorded with Richard Stoltzman. Goode is also very much a chamber musician at heart. His partners over the years have included Dawn Upshaw and Alexander Schneider, and composers like Carlos Chávez and George Perle wrote works specifically for him. For over a decade he co directed the Marlboro Music School and Festival alongside Mitsuko Uchida, a role that says a lot about how seriously he takes music as a collaborative, communal pursuit.