Peter Breiner is one of the world’s most recorded musicians, with over 180 CDs released and record numbers sold (1.5 million reached by 2008 alone), including both albums and online streams. A conductor, pianist, arranger and composer, he has conducted, often doubling as a pianist, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, the Vienna Mozart Orchestra, the Hungarian State Radio Orchestra, the Nicolaus Esterházy Orchestra, Budapest, the Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Ukrainian State Symphony Orchestra, the Moscow Symphony Orchestra, the Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra, the Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra, Capella Istropolitana, the Queensland Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestra National de Lille, France, and the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, among many others.
Some of his most acclaimed recordings include Beatles Go Baroque [Naxos 8.555010] (over a quarter of a million CDs sold worldwide) and Elvis Goes Baroque [Naxos 8.990054] which, together with Christmas Goes Baroque I and II [Naxos 8.550301 and 8.550670], represents his commercially most successful baroque arrangements. His arrangements of national anthems of all participating countries were used during the Olympic Games in Athens in 2004 and in Beijing in 2008. He recorded his own arrangements of the anthems of the participating countries of the Rugby World Cup 2011. Currently under preparation is a huge transmedia project consisting of audio recording, several interactive videos, and audience-involvement platforms. It is based on Peter Breiner’s own 85-minute orchestral piece Slovak Dances, Nasty and Nice, which will be recorded by a world-renowned orchestra and pull together all the latest trends in technology and communication across the world today.
The world première recording for Naxos of Breiner’s own arrangements of Janáček’s Six Operatic Suites [Naxos 8.570555 and 8.570556] with him conducting the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra earned tremendous acclaim, Gramophone declaring it a “splendid disc…conducted with passion and sympathetic understanding. The Chicago Tribune added: “Breiner fills the void with beautifully crafted symphonic suites based on the music of Jenůfa”.
Peter Breiner’s compositions and arrangements have been played in concerts worldwide. Films that include his musical scores have enjoyed very wide international exposure, including Anne of Green Gables, Timothy Findley’s Piano Man’s Daughter, produced by Whoopi Goldberg, and The Magic Flute. His music has been featured many times on the most popular TV shows, including the CBC television show Wind at My Back and Seasons of Love.
Future projects include a tour of An Evening of Michel Legrand across Germany and Europe combining Breiner’s own arrangements of the music of Legrand and of Debussy; Valentines’ Day programmes in Hong Kong and the United States; further worldwide tours and concert programmes of his acclaimed arrangements, collaborating with such esteemed artists and ensembles as Giora Feidmann, Gitanes Blondes, Takako Nishizaki and his trio Triango whose latest album was released in the fall of 2011.
Peter Breiner began to study the piano in early childhood (1961) and his exceptional artistry led to his early acceptance at the Conservatory in Košice in 1971. He studied piano with L. Kojanova and composition with J. Podprocky, as well as conducting and percussion. In 1975–1981 he studied composition at the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava with Prof Alexander Moyzes, one of the most significant figures in modern Slovak music. Peter Breiner lived in Toronto, Canada, from 1992 to 2007, when he moved to New York.
Proficient in seven languages, Breiner has hosted various TV and radio programmes about music. In 1993 he was a co-host and music director of the most popular TV talk show in Slovakia, attracting over two million viewers in a country with a population of 5.5 million. He has his own column in one of Slovakia’s most influential weekly newspapers, while his first book Maple Leaves came out in April 1998 and immediately became a No 1 non-fiction national bestseller.
Alchemist Extraordinaire: Peter Breiner talks to Jeremy Siepmann
