Francesco Piemontesi is a pianist for whom virtuosity is never an end in itself. At the heart of his playing is a fascination with sound: its colour, weight, transparency and expressive possibilities. His interpretations combine sensitivity and poetry with intellectual clarity and a natural sense of form. Even in the most technically demanding repertoire, brilliance remains a means of expression rather than display.

A native of Locarno, the Swiss-Italian pianist has established himself as one of the leading interpreters of the Classical and Romantic repertoire. His performances of Schubert, Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms and Liszt in particular have been acclaimed for their intimacy, refinement and depth. Piemontesi seeks to illuminate a score from within rather than impose himself upon it: “I don’t want to entertain the audience; I want to let them participate in the deep dimensions of music.”

This lifelong fascination with the elusive nature of sound and interpretation is at the centre of Jan Schmidt-Garre’s documentary The Alchemy of the Piano. The film follows Piemontesi on a personal exploration of the elements that transform pianistic mastery into artistic expression. Encounters with Maria João Pires, Stephen Kovacevich, Jean-Rodolphe Kars, and his mentor Alfred Brendel explore questions of sound, colour, the singing quality of the piano, physical gesture and musical imagination. Released in 2024, the film was awarded the International Classical Music Award for Best Documentary in 2025.

Piemontesi’s curiosity also extends to contemporary music and to the creation of new repertoire. Beat Furrer’s Piano Concerto No. 2 was written for and dedicated to him. Piemontesi gave the world premiere at Geneva’s Victoria Hall in 2025 with the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande under Jonathan Nott; in 2026 he performed the German premiere with the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks under Enno Poppe as part of musica viva.

In addition to the Classical and Romantic repertoire, Piemontesi’s wide-ranging musical interests encompass Bach and Handel, as well as piano concertos by Ravel, Debussy, Bartók, Rachmaninoff and Schoenberg, and works by Olivier Messiaen and Unsuk Chin. Among his formative musical influences he names his teachers Arie Vardi and Alfred Brendel, and above all the French pianist Cécile Ousset. 

His discography reflects the same preoccupation with colour, form and inner expression. Acclaimed recordings include Schubert’s late piano sonatas, Debussy’s Préludes, Mozart’s piano concertos with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra under Andrew Manze, Bach Nostalghia, concertos by Schoenberg and Ravel alongside Messiaen’s Oiseaux exotiques, and Liszt’s Transcendental Études and Piano Sonata in B minor. A major recent recording project is devoted to Johannes Brahms, together with Manfred Honeck and the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig.

Collaboration and long-term artistic relationships are central to Piemontesi’s musical life. He has been Artist in Residence with the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, the Dresdner Philharmonie and the Gstaad Menuhin Festival, and maintains particularly close relationships with the Schubertiade Schwarzenberg and London’s Wigmore Hall. His chamber music partners include Renaud Capuçon, Tabea Zimmermann, Leonidas Kavakos, Sol Gabetta, Daniel Müller-Schott, Stephen Kovacevich, Augustin Hadelich and Jörg Widmann.

As a soloist, Piemontesi has appeared with the Berliner Philharmoniker, New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Orchestre de Paris, Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Wiener Symphoniker, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, NHK Symphony Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, The Cleveland Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Budapest Festival Orchestra, Münchner Philharmoniker, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra of Europe and Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich.

He regularly collaborates with distinguished conductors including Gianandrea Noseda, Fabio Luisi, Antonio Pappano, Herbert Blomstedt, Robin Ticciati, Daniele Gatti, Joana Mallwitz, Daniele Rustioni, Lorenzo Viotti, Elim Chan, Iván Fischer, Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla, Marek Janowski, Thomas Søndergård, Daniel Harding, Roger Norrington, Karina Canellakis, Paavo Järvi, Zubin Mehta, Nathalie Stutzmann and Maxim Emelyanychev.

Piemontesi has performed at many of the world’s leading venues, including the Berlin Philharmonie, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Carnegie Hall New York and Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, and is a regular guest at international festivals including Salzburg, Edinburgh, Aix-en-Provence, Lucerne, Verbier and Schleswig-Holstein, as well as La Roque d’Anthéron, Mostly Mozart in New York, Klavier-Festival Ruhr and the BBC Proms.

Highlights of the 2026/27 season include appearances with the Filarmonica della Scala under Robin Ticciati, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin under Simone Young, San Francisco Symphony under Donald Runnicles, Bern Symphony Orchestra under Krzysztof Urbański, Oslo Philharmonic under Manfred Honeck, NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra under Fabio Luisi, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra under Daniel Harding, BBC Symphony Orchestra under Sakari Oramo, Vienna Symphony Orchestra under Petr Popelka, as well as the Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Los Angeles Philharmonic and New York Philharmonic under Joana Mallwitz.