London’s Wigmore Hall has awarded its top prize to the Russian-born German pianist Igor Levit, for his contributions to the venue and the classical music industry at large.
Wigmore Hall also applauded the pianist’s ‘questing mind’, stating that Levit ‘challenges discrimination and racism, and is a staunch advocate for a fairer and more just society.’
The Wigmore Hall Medal was first awarded in 2007 to the German baritone Matthias Goerne, and has gone on to be won by pianist Angela Hewitt, countertenor Iestyn Davies, cellist Steven Isserlis, and jazz pianist Brad Mehldau.
Levit made his Wigmore Hall debut in 2013 and has since given more than 40 concerts in the venue, including a cycle of Beethoven Piano Sonatas in 2016 and 2017, premieres of works by Frederic Rzewski and the complete Preludes and Fugues of Shostakovich. Wigmore Hall also has a superb reputation for chamber music, which Levit has contributed to with his complete cycle of Beethoven Violin Sonatas with Julia Fischer in 2016, and the more recent 2023 two-piano concert he presented with pianist Alexei Volodin. He also performed Schubert’s song cycle Die schöne Müllerin with the German tenor Simon Bode in 2023.