About
Training
After his Matura in 1984, Michael Thalmann studied at the Bern Conservatory (today Hochschule der Künste Bern), where he earned a Master of Arts in Specialised Music Performance. From 1993 to 1995 he was a student of the Fondazione Internazionale per il Pianoforte Theo Lieven on Lake Como, working with Leon Fleisher, Dimitri Bashkirov, Fou Ts’ong and Karl-Ulrich Schnabel. He later worked closely with Leslie Howard in London, including in two-piano repertoire.
On stage
He began performing as a soloist and chamber musician in the 1990s and made his debut at Wigmore Hall, London, in 1997. Since then he has performed in Europe, Asia and Latin America, among other places in China, Thailand, Laos, Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Cuba.
Teaching
From 2019 to 2021 he was Professor of Piano at Shaanxi Normal University in Xi’an, China. He has given masterclasses in Panama, Nicaragua, China and elsewhere. For iClassical Academy he recorded an online course, the Liszt Piano Sonata Video Workbook: view the course.
Away from the piano, Michael Thalmann also paints. His digital pictures are available as prints on Saatchi Art.
“An exceptionally interesting musical personality.”
Leon Fleisher“Deep intellect … music that is wholly true to itself.”
Musical Opinion, LondonAmong the finest performances of Schubert’s Wanderer Fantasy he had heard.
Peter Feuchtwanger