Known as a conductor, pianist, arranger, and composer, Peter Breiner has conducted, often doubling as a pianist, some of the most prestigious orchestras around the world. He is one of the world's most recorded musicians, with over 260 CDs released and millions of albums sold.
Peter Breiner has conducted, often doubling as a pianist, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, Vienna Mozart Orchestra, the Westdeutsche Rundfunk Symphony, Hungarian State Radio Orchestra, Nicolaus Esterhazy Orchestra Budapest, Polish Radio and TV Symphony Orchestra, Ukrainian State Symphony Orchestra, Moscow Symphony Orchestra, Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra, Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra, Capella Istropolitana, Queensland Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra National de Lille, France, and Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, to mention just a few. He is one of the world's most recorded musicians, with over 260 CDs released, millions of albums sold and uncountable streams/downloads.
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"...sensitive, emotional and breathtaking..."
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"...his arrangements delight the aural palate and tease the intellect..."
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"...his scorings are idiomatic and tasteful..."
After moving from New York to London during the 2020 lockdown, Peter started collaborating with Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. He recorded his Naxos album "A Journey" with them as a conductor and piano soloist, and just recently (September 2022), he conducted the RPO in a Dolby Atmos/Dolby Vision video recording of three Stravinsky ballets (Rite of Spring, Petroushka, Firebird) for the OnAir video streaming company.
The world premiere recording for Naxos of his own arrangements of Janacek’s Six Operatic Suites with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and himself conducting earned similar acclaim, Gramophone stating “Splendid disc .... conducted with passion and sympathetic understanding …“ the Chicago Tribune adding “Breiner fills the void with beautifully crafted symphonic suites based on the music of Jenufa”. All of these albums achieved places on worlwide Top Seller and Best Recording lists. His trio, Triango’s latest album was released in the fall of 2011 by First Impression Music.
Premiered live in July 2013 was the music for a huge Transmedia project consisting of audio recording, several interactive videos, and audience-involvement platforms – Slovak Dances, Nasty and Nice. This project is based on Peter’s own 100-minute orchestral suite of dances which was recorded in September 2018 by Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra with the composer conducting and released in September 2020 on Naxos. It was performed at the Carnegie Hall in New York in December 2016 and also performed as a ballet at the Slovak National Theater for three seasons. Peter also conducted Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet for two seasons there and the same company commissioned a full length ballet based on a novel by Mikhail Bulgakov Master and Margaret for their 100th season in 2021.
In 2020, in collaboration with Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Peter started recording and releasing a multi-album project called Calm Romantic Piano, the last, third volume (Mornings, Evenings and Late Nights) released in September 2022.
Another multi-album project, called Greatest Melodies, started in late 2022 with a Dvorak album, developed significant traction on streaming sites (millions of streams) and Naxos commissioned 6 more albums for 2023-2024 period.
Peter's music, whether his own or his arrangements, has been used by dozens of choreographers at remarkable ballet companies (American Ballet Theater, Houston Ballet, Royal Ballet (GB), Balet Jorgen Canada, Queensland Ballet, Ballet am Rhein and many others).
Peter's compositions and arrangements have been played in concerts worldwide. Films that include his musical scores have enjoyed very wide international exposure (such as Anne of Green Gables, Timothy Findley's Piano Man's Daughter, produced by Whoopi Goldberg, and The Magic Flute), and his music has been featured many times on the most popular TV shows (including CBC television show Wind at My Back and a CBS movie Seasons of Love).
Peter was the curator of “Sounds of Serendipity” – a series of Contemporary Classical Music Concerts featuring new and emerging composers and performers with a unique connection to both Peter and Czechoslovak music culture. The annual series was presented at the Bohemian National Hall, New York.
Peter began to study piano in his early childhood (1961) and his exceptional artistry led to his early acceptance at the Conservatory in Kosice (1971). He studied piano (L. Kojanova), composition (J. Podprocky), conducting, and percussion. In 1975–1981 he studied composition at the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava (former Czechoslovakia) with Prof. Alexander Moyzes, one of the most significant figures in modern Slovak music - and this way, he became a compositional great-grandson of Antonin Dvorak.
Peter Breiner lived in Toronto, Canada, from 1992 till 2007, when he moved to New York, and in July 2020 he moved to London, United Kingdom.
He is proficient in seven languages. He has hosted various TV and radio programs about music, in 1993 he was a co-host and music director of the most popular TV talk show in Slovakia, attracting over 2 million viewers in a country with a population of 5,5 million, 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 became a No.1 non-fiction national bestseller immediately. In 2016 he published his second book "Isn't There Another Globe?".
Some of his most acclaimed recordings include Beatles Go Baroque (over a quarter of million CDs sold worldwide) and Elvis Goes Baroque representing the collections of his commercially most successful Baroque arrangements together with Christmas Goes Baroque 1 and 2. The follow-up to this bestseller – Beatles go Baroque 2 was recorded in December 2018 with some of the best soloists in the world and released in 2019 on Naxos label to general critical acclaim and massive interest at streaming sites.
His arrangements of national anthems of ALL participating countries were used during the Olympic Games in Athens in 2004 and illegally in Beijing in 2008. He recorded his own arrangements of the anthems of the participating countries of the Rugby World Cup 2011, and a new 10 CD set of the National Anthems of the World 2013 Edition was written to coincide with the 2012 Olympic Games in London and was released in July 2013 by Naxos.
Peter recorded his own arrangements of Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition, Songs and Dances of Death and The Nursery and Tchaikovsky's Operatic Suites from The Voyevoda and The Queen of Spades for Naxos. These recordings, with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and conducted by Peter, are the subject of a movie documentary entitled Bask. In addition, September 2012 saw the award-winning Naxos release of Peter's own arrangements of Debussy's 24 Piano Preludes.
In 2018, Peter Breiner was awarded the highest state order (Rad Ludovita Stura) by the President of Slovak Republic.
“Astounding virtuosity, daring inventiveness, incredible skill and acrobatic wonders...master of improvisation...not only a briliant virtuoso but also a consummate entertainer”
