Helene Papadopoulos: the Goldberg Variations

Hélène Papadopoulos is a pianist with a complex and highly sensitive personality. She is a searching artist who seeks deep insight into the music and into the art of piano playing. For her there is no detail that is too small to be part of the global conception of a work. Never sacrificing details, never abandoning the big line to reveal musical subtleties in a natural manner.

Hélène Papadopoulos was born in Paris, France. She started studying the piano at the Conservatoire de Strasbourg. In the class of Amy Lin, she received her Concert Diploma with highest honours before moving back to Paris to join École Normale de Musique Cortot where she studied with Jean-Marc Luisada.

Since her early studies, she has developed a particular interest into J. S. Bach’s music. She was initiated in the baroque repertoire and in its art of playing as she also studied the harpsichord with Aline Zylberajch during her years in Strasbourg. Hélène Papadopoulos has a restless intellect and is always looking for new knowledge and sources of inspiration. She has published a commented edition of Leonhard Euler’s (1707-1783) complete works on music theory.

Hélène Papadopoulos has attended masterclasses by Sergueï Maltsev, Jean-Jacques Dünki, Charles Rosen among others. She has been granted scholarships from the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena, Italy, where she studied both the piano with Michele Campanella and chamber music with the ensemble Trio di Trieste. She has recorded Mozart’s sonata K380 for piano and violin. With an eclectic repertoire she has been invited to play in various festivals in Europe (contemporary music festival Musica, Musica Festival in Strasbourg, Siena Music Festival, Paliesiaus Dvaras…) and plays both as a soloist and chamber musician in Europe and North America.

Hélène is currently developing the Clavier-Übung Project, on which she has been working for several years. She started by performing the Goldberg Variations in 2015. From the 2019-2020 season, she will be playing all J. S. Bach’s Clavier-Übungen in series of four recitals spanning over one year: Partitas No. 1, 2, and 4 (Clavier-Übung I), Partitas No. 3, 5, and 6 (Clavier-Übung I), Italian Concerto, French Overture, and Four Duets (Clavier-Übungen II & III), and Goldberg Variations (Clavier-Übung IV).

The Clavier-Übung Project is an ambitious project: “This project is not just about playing Bach’s music to an audience. I also want to connect this music with younger generations through teaching and I want to make a connection between Bach and contemporary era by asking to composers to think about new languages inspired by his music.”