Simon Izabella
piano
Izabella Simon pianist graduated at Franz Liszt Music Academy in Budapest as a student of György Kurtág, Ferenc Rados, and Jenő Jandó. After graduating she has been a regular participant of the most prestigeous international festivals, like the Ittingen Festival led by András Schiff and Heinz Holliger, the Prussia Cove Festival founded by Sándor Végh, the Maribor, and the Marlboro Festival (USA). Recently she performed at the Cheltenham, the Heidelberg, the Hitzacker, the Nelson Chamber Music Festival (New Zealand), and the Kempten Chamber Music Festivals, and played at the Schwetzingen Festspiele, with partners like Heinz Holliger, Steven Isserlis, Miklós Perényi, Christoph Richter, and Radovan Vlatkovic.
She particularly enjoys working with singers, which is underlined by the appearances with Sylvia Sass, Andrea Rost, Ruth Ziesak, and Hanno Müller-Brachmann. As a soloist besides the Hungarian orchestras she performed with the Kremerata Baltica, the Camerata Bern, and the Camerata Zürich. She frequently plays piano four hands, and piano duets both in Hungary and abroad with her husband, Dénes Várjon. In the past decade they organized and led several chamber music festivals, the most recent one being ,,Kamara.hu” at the Franz Liszt Music Academy in Budapest.
She has made records with Dénes Várjon (The Great Fugue), Sylvia Sass (Liszt and Schubert lieders), and Andrea Rost (Kodály and Ligeti lieders). Besides her concerts in Hungary she will perform in the next season the Beethovenfest (Bonn), Marlboro Festival (USA), Pfinstfestival (Brunegg), the Mahler Festival with the Budapest Fesztival Orchestra (Brugge).
In 2015 she started a popular concert series for kids, where the artist can show the children’s soul through music and companion art with a simple performance. Classical music and in particular chamber music gives the strongest background to base on. The whole play is about a joyfull communication.
After her very successful concert at 92 Y in New York she has been invited to the famous Bard College as a guest professor in 2010. To popularizing chamber music she has invented the Night of the Chamber Music, with participants like Steven Isserlis or Ferenc Rados.
She particularly enjoys working with singers, which is underlined by the appearances with Sylvia Sass, Andrea Rost, Ruth Ziesak, and Hanno Müller-Brachmann. As a soloist besides the Hungarian orchestras she performed with the Kremerata Baltica, the Camerata Bern, and the Camerata Zürich. She frequently plays piano four hands, and piano duets both in Hungary and abroad with her husband, Dénes Várjon. In the past decade they organized and led several chamber music festivals, the most recent one being ,,Kamara.hu” at the Franz Liszt Music Academy in Budapest.
She has made records with Dénes Várjon (The Great Fugue), Sylvia Sass (Liszt and Schubert lieders), and Andrea Rost (Kodály and Ligeti lieders). Besides her concerts in Hungary she will perform in the next season the Beethovenfest (Bonn), Marlboro Festival (USA), Pfinstfestival (Brunegg), the Mahler Festival with the Budapest Fesztival Orchestra (Brugge).
In 2015 she started a popular concert series for kids, where the artist can show the children’s soul through music and companion art with a simple performance. Classical music and in particular chamber music gives the strongest background to base on. The whole play is about a joyfull communication.
After her very successful concert at 92 Y in New York she has been invited to the famous Bard College as a guest professor in 2010. To popularizing chamber music she has invented the Night of the Chamber Music, with participants like Steven Isserlis or Ferenc Rados.
| Year | Title | Publisher | Code | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bartók, Kodály, Ligeti: Hungarian Songs | Warner | |||
| 1993 | Liszt Songs | Cant-Art | ||
| 2017 |
Simon Izabella & Várjon Dénes: A nagy fúga
(Izabella Simon & Dénes Várjon: The Great Fugue) |
Hungaroton | HCD 32797 |
Own |
| 2021 | Simon Izabella: Babar - A kis elefánt története | Hungaroton | HCD 32852 |
Own |
| 2022 | The French Album - Works by Fauré, Ravel, Debussy | Hungaroton | HCD 32868 |
Own |
| 2023 | Gustav Mahler: Symphony No. 1 in D major, Hommage a Bruno Walter | Hungaroton | HC 32863 |
Own |