Matti Raekallio

Matti Juhani Raekallio (born 14 October 1954 in Helsinki) is a Finnish pianist.

Raekallio studied in Helsinki, Vienna with Dieter Weber [de], London with Maria Curcio and Saint Petersburg.[1] In 1996, his doctoral thesis at the Sibelius Academy was Sormituksen strategiat (history of piano fingering).[2][3] He debuted at Carnegie Hall in 1981.[4] A professor at the Swedish Royal College of Music (1994–1995), Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover (2005–2010, 2014–) and the Sibelius Academy (1998–2008), Raekallio trained Antti Siirala and Gergely Boganyi at the latter. He is a scholar on piano playing technique and a former member of the Research Committee on Culture and Society of the Finnish Academy of Science and Letters.[5] He taught at the Juilliard School from 2007 to 2014 while giving master classes in many countries. In 2014, he decided to leave the Juilliard School and started to teach at the Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover again. His most famous student is Igor Levit, who credits Raekallio as a major influence.[6][7]

Since 2015, he has been back in New York City, teaching at the Juilliard School.[8] Since the 2020–2021 season, Raekallio has been again Professor of Piano at the Sibelius Academy.[9]

Raekallio was a jury member of the Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition in Tel Aviv[3] and also in Shanghai, Vienna, Budapest and Tokyo.[1]

Raekallio has recorded about 20 CDs, including Sergei Prokofiev's complete Piano Sonatas[10][11] and Aarre Merikanto's,[12] Anton Rubinstein's[13] and Einar Englund's Piano Concertos for Ondine.[14]

Awards

• 2009 honorary doctorate Estonian Academy of Music[15]

References

1. "International Piano Academy & Competition". Pianale (in German). Retrieved 25 November 2023.
2. "Doctors of Music who have graduated from the Sibelius Academy". Uniarts Helsinki. 30 September 2022. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
3. "Matti Raekallio". Arthur Rubinstein International Music Society. 15 October 2017. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
4. "Ondine Artist". Ondine. 25 November 2023. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
5. "Matti Raekallio". Archived from the original on 4 July 2008. Retrieved 22 November 2008.
6. "Close at Hand with the Pianist Igor Levit". The New Yorker. 20 November 2018.
7. Allen, David (20 June 2023). "'It Has It All': Taking on a Strange, Immense Piano Concerto". The New York Times. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
8. Reiter, Susan (18 August 2015). "News on the Faculty Front". The Juilliard School. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
9. "Matti Raekallio hired as Professor of Piano in 2020–2021". Uniarts Helsinki. 10 December 2020. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
10. Prokofiev, Sergey; Raekallio, Matti (1999), Complete piano sonatas ; Visions fugitives (in no linguistic content), [Helsinki]: Ondine, OCLC 811336719
11. Prokofiev, Sergey; Raekallio, Matti (1989), Complete piano sonatas. Vol. 2, Helsinki: Ondine, OCLC 811336469
12. Merikanto, Aarre; Raekallio, Matti; Ollila-Hannikainen, Tuomas; Tampereen kaupunginorkesteri (1998), Piano concerto no. 2 ; Piano concerto no. 3 ; Two studies for small orchestra ; Two pieces for orchestra (1941) (in no linguistic content), Helsinki: Ondine, OCLC 811336713
13. Rubinštejn, Anton Grigorevič; Grin, Leonid; Raekallio, Matti; Moszkowski, Moritz; Tampereen kaupunginorkesterin (1994), Piano concertos (in no linguistic content), [S.l.]: Ondine, OCLC 716059878
14. Englund, Einar; Klas, Eri; Raekallio, Matti; Tamperes Filharmoniske Orkester (2003), Concerto for piano and orchestra no. 1 (in undetermined language), Helsinki: Ondine, OCLC 873049241
15. "Matti Raekallio". Bowdoin Music Festival. 27 October 2023. Retrieved 25 November 2023.

External links

• "Ondine Artist". Ondine. 25 November 2023. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
• "An Interview With Faculty Member Matti Raekallio". The Juilliard School. 4 September 2018. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
• Hyry, Eeva Kaisa (12 May 2023). "Matti Raekallio soitonopetuksensa kertojana ja tulkitsijana" (in Finnish). University of Oulu. Retrieved 25 November 2023.