Debut Martin James Bartlett

British pianist Martin James Bartlett, who was born in 1996, is currently playing his way to the top of the piano scene. In 2014, he won the BBC Young Musician Competition and made his debut at the BBC Proms the following year. In 2020 came his victory at the Cleveland International Piano Competition and, in 2022, Rudolf Buchbinder chose him as the winner of the inaugural Prix Serdang in Switzerland. Bartlett is an exclusive artist with Warner Classics and has already released two highly acclaimed CDs on that label. Stylistically, he is equally at home with the French harpsichord repertoire, Mozart, the Romantic period, and jazz-inspired works. And his intelligent, gripping interpretations never fail to impress. When Bartlett considered the theme of “curiosity,” he initially thought of the curiosity children have. Which is why he included Schumann’s Kinderszenen and Ravel’s Pavane pour une infante défunte on his program. But he also invites us to puzzle over Couperin’s Barricades mystérieuses: “Some believe the piece has to do with viticulture, with rhythms that depict the stomping of the grapes.” Let yourself be surprised!