Biography

Unforgettable!”

— Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung

Vladimir Stoupel is an individualist with an extraordinarily rich tonal and emotional palette. The Washington Post praised his “protean range of expression” and Der Tagesspiegel Berlin described his performance as “enthralling and atmospherically dense.” His extraordinary technical command allows him to explore the outermost limits of expression, mesmerizing audiences with his musical intensity. After a solo recital, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung granted the pianist a critic’s greatest compliment: “Unforgettable!” 

Vladimir Stoupel has been a guest soloist with orchestras including the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, the Konzerthaus Orchestra Berlin, the Gewandhaus Orchestra Leipzig, the Symphony Orchestra of the Bavarian Radio, the German Symphony Orchestra and the Radio Symphony Orchestra Berlin, the Russian State Orchestra, the Staatskapelle Weimar, the Staatskapelle Mainz, and the Staatsphilharmonie Kassel. In the United States, he has been heard with orchestras including the Wheeling Symphony, Lancaster Symphony and Lake Placid Sinfonietta. He has collaborated with conductors such as Christian Thielemann, Michail Jurowski, Leopold Hager, Marek Janowski, Steven Sloane, Stefan Malzew, Patrik Ringborg, and Günther Neuhold. 

Vladimir Stoupel has appeared on many of the world’s notable stages, including Berlin’s Philharmonie and Konzerthaus, Avery Fisher Hall in New York, the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC, Hamburg’s Grosse Musikhalle, and Dortmund’s Konzerthaus, to name just a few. Festival appearances include the renowned Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, Piano en Valois (France), Brandenburgische Sommerkonzerte (Germany), Printemps des Arts in Monte Carlo, the Helsinki Festival, and Festival La Grange de Meslay in Tours (France). 
Together with the violinist Judith Ingolfsson he is a co-artistic director and founder of the international festival "Aigues-Vives en Musiques" (France) as well as co-artistic director of the international festival "The Last Rose Of Summer" in Berlin. 

Stoupel’s interest in breaking up the at times rigid incrustations of the concert business and – in addition to the cultivation of the classics – in dedicating himself to the unjustly forgotten “edges of the repertoire” is also reflected in his CD recordings and diverse chamber music activities. Thus, in 2007, he released a CD on the EDA label, entitled "The Life of the Machines", with piano works of the twentieth century by George Antheil, Conlon Nancarrow, Alexander Mossolov, and others. In September 2010, together with Judith Ingolfsson (Violin) and Leonid Gorokhov (Cello), he released a CD "En hommage Simon Laks" and a double - CD with chamber works by Glinka, Borodin and Shostakovich, with Breuninger Quartet. His extensive discography includes Arnold Schoenberg’s complete piano works (auris subtilis, 2001), the complete sonatas of Alexander Scriabin (Audite, 2008) – a highly regarded recording for which he received the Luxemburgian Excellentia Prize, among others – and a recording of the complete works for viola and piano by Henri Vieuxtemps, with violist Thomas Selditz, which was awarded the Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik 2002. His recordings of the two Fauré Sonatas, together with Judith Ingolfsson (Violin), was nominated for the 2017 International Classical Music Awards. In 2017, he released, also together with Judith Ingolfsson (Violin), the CD “Blues, Blanc, Rouge” on the Accentus Music label, which includes the Sonatas of Ravel, Ferroud and Poulenc. This CD was nominated for the the Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik 2018 and International Classical Music Awards 2019. His CD with the Sonatas of Rathaus and Shostakovich, released in 2020, became the "Supersonic" Award in Luxembourg and was nominated for the Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik 2021 and International Classical Music Awards 2020. The CD with the Opera by Weinberg „Congratulations!“, released in 2020, became finalist of the prestigious International Classical Music Awards. 

In recent years, Vladimir Stoupel has also made a name for himself as a conductor. He conducts chamber operas at Konzerthaus Berlin on a regular basis, works with the Philharmonic State Orchestra Mainz, Czech Chamber Philharmonic, Philharmonie Neubrandenburg, the Polish Chamber Philharmonic, the Berlin Kammerphilharmonie, the Orquesta Sinfonica de Cuidad d'Oviedo, the Mendelssohn Chamber Orchestra Leipzig, the Reykjavik Chamber Orchestra, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Marseille and the Cantabria Youth Symphony Orchestra, among others. Since 2012 he regularly conducts concerts with the Brandenburg State Orchestra Frankfurt.  

A French citizen since 1985, Vladimir Stoupel currently  makes his home in Berlin. In 2022 he was awarded a French Order "Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres".