Steven De Groote
“A superior pianist.”
– New York Times
Great Interpreters: Steven De Groote
Broadcast “live” on Fine Music Radio on 30 November 2012.
Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:56:36 — 106.8MB)
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Already an accomplished performer by his teens, South African pianist Steven De Groote (1953-1989) possessed a maturity and intelligence far beyond his years. Described as “a leader in his art” (Daily Telegraph, London), De Groote earned the respect and admiration of audiences for “the communicative subtlety and power of his playing” (David Murray, Financial Times, London). He shot to international fame when he won grand prize at the Fifth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 1977. In addition to winning the grand prize, De Groote also won all the category prizes – the only winner in the history of the competition to do so.
After nearly losing his life in an airplane accident in 1985, De Groote made a miraculous recovery, and if anything, his playing only deepened, becoming more refined, concentrated and inward.
A mere four years later, however, on 22 May 1989, De Groote’s life was prematurely extinguished when he died unexpectedly at the age of thirty-six years old.
Here is “The Man Who Fell To Earth” – a CBS Sunday Morning News documentary produced in 1987 by Eugenia Zukerman:
Podcast Track List
Click on the images below to buy the album from Amazon.
1) Sonata in G Major, K. 125, L. 487 (Scarlatti)
Steven De Groote (piano)
Recorded in 1977.
2) First Movement (Allegro con brio) from Piano Sonata No. 21 in C Major, Op. 53 “Waldstein” (Beethoven)
Steven De Groote (piano)
Recorded in 1979 in Helsinki, Finland.
3) Scherzo No. 3 in C-Sharp Minor, Op. 39 (Chopin)
Steven De Groote (piano)
Recorded “live” in 1977 in Fort Worth, Texas.
4) First Movement (Allegro non troppo) from Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-Flat Major, Op. 83 (Brahms)
Steven De Groote (piano)
Conductor: Dawid de Villiers
Cape Town Symphony Orchestra
Recorded “live” in 1989 in the City Hall, Cape Town, South Africa.
5) First Movement (Allegro maestoso) from Piano Concerto No. 1 in E Minor, Op. 11 (Chopin)
Steven De Groote (piano)
Conductor: Erich Bergel
Cape Town Symphony Orchestra
Recorded “live” in 1986 in the City Hall, Cape Town, South Africa.
6) First Movement (Allegro moderato) from Piano Concerto No. 4 in G Major, Op. 58 (Beethoven)
Steven De Groote (piano)
Conductor: Dawid de Villiers
Cape Town Symphony Orchestra
Recorded “live” in 1988 in the City Hall, Cape Town, South Africa.
7) Third Movement (Allegro Scherzando) from Piano Concerto No. 2 in C Minor, Op. 18 (Rachmaninoff)
Steven De Groote (piano)
Conductor: Dawid de Villiers
Cape Town Symphony Orchestra
Recorded “live” in 1987 in the City Hall, Cape Town, South Africa.