(c)Lyodoh Kaneko

兒玉麻里 Mari Kodama

「她的專業選擇呈現出最完美的詮釋」《BBC音樂雜誌》，2019年

兒玉麻里因演奏作品範圍極廣而備受稱譽，她詮釋過很多不同時期作曲家的管弦樂、室內和獨奏作品。兒玉麻里天生擁有絕佳音樂性，以清晰的音調表達聞名，同時也是貝多芬作品的標竿詮釋者。

在2022/23樂季期間，兒玉麻里在世界各地參與音樂會演出、展現她多樣豐富的才華。參與的音樂會包括瑞士羅曼德管弦樂團音樂會（長野健指揮）、阿姆斯特丹音樂廳的二重奏（與鋼琴家兒玉桃共同演出）、夏洛特交響樂團音樂會（水藍指揮）、 兵庫表演藝術中心樂團音樂會（休伯特•蘇丹指揮）以及巴登－巴登節日劇院的製作（約翰•諾伊邁爾）。近期亦參與東京交響樂團（克里斯托弗•烏爾班斯基指揮）音樂會演出，與科羅拉多之泉愛樂（約瑟普•卡巴爾•多梅尼克）於同一晚演出三場貝多芬作品音樂會，亦與漢堡愛樂樂團（長野健指揮）同台演出。兒玉麻里亦參與Rodolphe Bruneau-Boulmier最新鋼琴協奏曲 Terra Nostra  世界首演，並在Deutschlandfunk 德國公共廣播電台上與柏林愛樂廳的柏林德意志交響樂團合作演出，該場指揮為長野健。

兒玉麻里才華橫溢且多元，她在極受歡迎的芭蕾舞作Beethoven Projekt II（約翰•諾伊邁爾製作）中扮演關鍵角色。此舞作因新冠疫情暫停演出數月，疫後在漢堡國立歌劇院復出，本樂季也將再度演出。獨奏會方面，兒玉麻里與鋼琴家馬庫斯•辛特霍瑟合作演出梅湘的 Visions de  l’Amen。她也在舊金山主辦貝多芬音樂節《一天內過完一生》(“a life in a day”)，邀請14位獨奏家於2天內接連演出貝多芬的32首鋼琴奏鳴曲。

兒玉麻里在Pentatone 與Berlin Classics公司旗下錄製的專輯主要聚焦於貝多芬的鋼琴作品。她是少數錄完貝多芬全數奏鳴曲的女鋼琴家之一，2014年於Pentatone灌錄的套裝專輯廣受好評。 2019年秋天，她發行了《貝多芬的第0-5號鋼琴協奏曲》專輯，這個專輯與貝多芬的鋼琴與管樂迴旋曲及《英雄》主題鋼琴獨奏變奏曲組成完整一套的貝多芬CD套裝專輯。套裝專輯中收錄了貝多芬全數鋼琴協奏曲以及與柏林德意志交響樂團和長野健（Berlin Classics）合作的三重協奏曲。

自1995年在紐約卡內基音樂廳首次獨奏亮相以來，兒玉麻里與著名管弦樂團和指揮家在世界頂尖的音樂廳演出。合作過的對象包括哥德堡交響樂團、柏林德意志交響樂團、班貝格交響樂團、西南廣播電台交響樂團、洛杉磯愛樂樂團、底特律交響樂團和蒙特婁交響樂團。在家鄉日本，兒玉麻里曾在東京的NHK交響樂團以及京都、廣島和大阪等地的交響樂團演出。兒玉麻里亦參與音樂節演出，包括韋爾比耶音樂節、拉羅克當泰龍鋼琴音樂節、奧德堡音樂節、紐約市的Mostly Mozart、石荷州音樂節以及季辛格夏季音樂節。

兒玉麻里常利用演出將較冷門的鋼琴曲目帶給國際聽眾。她曾在哥特堡和紐約演出斯丹哈默的第二號鋼琴協奏曲，並與小提琴家薇薇安•哈格納合作演出貝爾格為小提琴與鋼琴寫的室內樂協奏曲，兩人與于韋斯屈萊交響樂團和柏林德意志交響樂團共同演出。此外，兒玉麻里在2013年與兒玉桃和蒙特卡羅愛樂樂團共同首演Jean-Pascal Beinthus的雙鋼琴協奏曲。兒玉麻里也參加了Jörg Widmann的 Valse Bavaroise 和 Humoresken作品在2010年夏天加拿大奧福德音樂節的首演。

除了演出，兒玉麻里也是非常活躍的音樂節藝術總監。她與丈夫長野健共同創立的森林丘音樂節是個在舊金山舉行的室內音樂節，她也是引領奧福德音樂節室內音樂系列的靈魂人物。2018年，她在義大利珀斯蒂納儂的Festival  Tra Luce e Sogno擔任藝術總監，並邀得Christian Gerhaher、Matt Haimovitz和Gerold Huber等音樂家參與。兒玉麻里演奏的是史坦威鋼琴。

“The real justification lies in her beautifully-judged pianism” BBC Music Magazine, 2019

Mari Kodama is consistently praised for her virtuosity in a wide range of repertoire, including orchestral, chamber and solo works by composers of all periods. She is also known for her natural musicality, tonal expressiveness with a clear form, and as a benchmark Beethoven interpreter.

 In the 2022/23 Season, Mari Kodama showcases her diverse talents with various international concert appearances, such as Orchestre de la Suisse Romande ( Kent Nagano) Duo Recital in Amsterdam/Muziekgebow ( Momo Kodama) Charlotte Symphony ( Lan Shui)  Hyogo  Performing Arts Orchestra ( Hubert Soudant) and Baden Baden Festspielhaus ( John Neumeier).  Other recent highlights include concerts with Tokyo Symphony Orchestra (Krzysztof Urbański), Colorado Springs Philharmonic (Josep Caballé Domenech) performing three Beethoven concerti in one evening, and Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg (Kent Nagano). She also had the world premiere of Rodolphe Bruneau-Boulmier's new piano concerto Terra Nostra, broadcast on Deutschlandfunk with Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin under the direction of Kent Nagano at the Berlin Philharmonie.

As a further demonstration of her versatility she plays a central part in the hugely successful ballet production “Beethoven Projekt II” (John Neumeier) which re-opened the Staatsoper Hamburg after months of COVID closure and which will be revived this season.  In recital, she collaborated with Markus Hinterhäuser featuring Messiaen’s Visions de l’Amen. She also organized the Beethoven Festival ‘a life in a Day’ in San Francisco, and presented all 32 of Beethoven's piano sonatas over two days by 14 different soloists.  

 Beethoven’s piano works form a focal point of Mari Kodama’s recording activities with Pentatone and Berlin Classics. She is one of few female pianists to record the composer’s complete sonatas, with her 2014 box set from Pentatone receiving critical acclaim. In fall 2019 she released Beethoven's Piano Concerto No.0-5, which together with his Rondo for Piano and Orchestra and his “Eroica” Variations for solo piano complement the Beethoven CD - Box with all of Beethoven's piano concertos as well as the Triple Concerto together with Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin and Kent Nagano (Berlin Classics).

  Since her New York recital debut at Carnegie Hall in 1995, Mari Kodama has performed with renowned orchestras and conductors in the world's leading concert halls. She has played with Gothenburg Symphony, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, SWR Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Detroit Symphony Orchestra and Orchestre symphonique de Montréal. In her native Japan, she has played with NHK Symphony Orchestra in Tokyo and the symphony orchestras of Kyoto, Hiroshima, and Osaka, among others. Mari Kodama’s Festival appearances include the Verbier Festival, Festival International de Piano La Roque d’Antheron, Aldeburgh Festival of Music, Mostly Mozart in New York City, Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival and Kissinger Sommer.

 Through her performing activities, Mari Kodama has brought infrequently heard gems of the piano repertoire to global audiences. She has performed Stenhammer's Piano Concerto No.2 in Gothenburg and New York and has also collaborated with Viviane Hagner on Alban Berg’s Chamber Concerto for Piano and Violin, which they performed with both the Jyväskylä Sinfonia and the DSO Berlin. Additionally, in 2013 Mari Kodama premiered Jean-Pascal Beinthus’ Double Piano Concerto together with Momo Kodama and Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte Carlo. Mari Kodama also performed in the Canadian premieres of Jörg Widmann’s Valse Bavaroise and Humoresken, both at the Canadian Orford Festival in summer 2010. 

 In addition to her performances, Mari Kodama also plays an active role as a music festival artistic director. She co-founded the Forest Hill Musical Days Festival, a chamber music festival in San Francisco, with her husband Kent Nagano, and she has also led the chamber music series at the Orford Music Festival. In 2018 she assumed artistic directorship at the Festival Tra Luce e Sogno in Postignano, Italy, for which she secured artists such as Christian Gerhaher, Matt Haimovitz and Gerold Huber, among others. Mari Kodama is a Steinway Artist.