Steven Osborne Essentials

The Scottish pianist Steven Osborne combines a profound musicianship with a formidable technique—ranging from his rendering of delicate yet flawless traceries of notes to be found in Ravel to the most resonant thunder of Beethoven. He has particularly distinguished himself in 20th-century and contemporary repertoire. It was Osborne’s 2001 album of Messiaen’s Vingt Regards Sur l’Enfant-Jésus which first fully demonstrated his remarkable qualities as a pianist in an established masterpiece, and he hasn’t looked back since. He further demonstrated his range in the remarkable and still underappreciated Esquisses by the highly individual French 19th-century master Alkan. Besides being a charismatic concerto performer, as you can hear in his recordings of Falla and Britten, Osborne is also a much respected and appreciated partner in chamber music: we have him duetting with fellow pianist Paul Lewis in charming works by Fauré, Ravel, and Debussy, or—further demonstrating his equal mastery of 19th-century Romantic repertoire—partnering cellist Gustav Rivinius in the more earthy knees-up of Robert Schumann’s “Vanitas vanitatum.”