Krystian Zimerman among recipients of Praemium Imperiale 2022

Pianist Krystian Zimerman is among the recipients of the 2022 Praemium Imperiale Awards, presented annually by the Japan Art Association.

The awards are given by the Association under the honorary patronage of HIH Prince Hitachi, younger brother of the Emperor Emeritus of Japan. They are awarded in the fields of painting, sculpture, architecture, music, and theatre/film - areas of cultural endeavour not represented by Nobel Prizes. Each laureate receives a prize of 15 million Yen, or around £100,000.

The recognition is the latest in a long succession of awards for Zimerman, who began his career with a brace of first prizes – at the 1974 Prokofiev Competition and the 1975 International Chopin Piano Competition, both in his native Poland.

The Praemium Imperiale award comes as Zimerman marks the 140th anniversary of his fellow Pole, the composer Karol Szymanowski. Zimerman has completed a new recording of the latter’s works for piano, released on the Deutsche Grammophon label earlier this year. Karol Szymanowski: Piano Works features a selection of Mazurkas and Masques spanning some 25 years of Szymanowski’s career, from 1899 to the mid 1920s.

Across his career, Zimerman has recorded and performed with many of the greatest conductors, including Herbert von Karajan, Leonard Bernstein and Seiji Ozawa. Recently, he marked the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth by recording the composer’s five piano concertos with Simon Rattle and the London Symphony Orchestra: we awarded the cycle five stars.

Elsewhere, Zimerman marked the 150th anniversary of the death of his compatriot Frédéric Chopin by forming the Polish Festival Orchestra. This ensemble brought together talented Polish musicians for a focus on their greatest national composer. The orchestra famously recorded Chopin’s two piano concertos for DG, with Zimerman conducting from the piano.

Other recipients of the Praemium Imperiale include the Chinese artist, activist and filmmaker Ai Weiwei, perhaps best known for his 2010 artwork Sunflower Seeds. A display of 100 million handmade and painted porcelain sunflower seeds, the artwork memorably filled Tate Modern’s vast Turbine Hall.

Also in receipt of this year’s prize is German filmmaker Wim Wenders, whose multi-award-winning feature films have included Paris, Texas, Wings of Desire and the Oscar-nominated Buena Vista Social Club.

There is also a 2022 Grant for Young Artists, awarded to the Kronberg Academy Foundation, the German chamber music academy that offers advanced training for exceptionally gifted young violin, viola, cello and piano performers.

The Academy was established in 1993 by Marta Casals Istomin - widow of the great Pablo Casals, one of the greatest cellists of all time - along with cellists Raimund Trenkler and Mstislav Rostropovich.

Today, it regularly welcomes world-renowned musicians such as Gidon Kremer, András Schiff and Daniel Barenboim as special lecturers. The Academy's new concert hall, the Casals Forum, opens on 23 September, 2022.

Lord Patten of Barnes, Praemium Imperiale’s International Advisor in the UK, commented: ‘In these deeply polarising times, artists’ ability to command attention, inspire reflection and bring solace is more crucial than ever. Praemium Imperiale testifies to the important contribution that Japan has made in honouring achievement in the arts.’