Grigory Sokolov

For years, Grigory Sokolov was something of a hidden treasure, a connoisseurs’ pianist, known for deeply engaging performances of idiosyncratic programmes, with music ranging from Couperin to Schoenberg. He has long avoided the recording studio, and his albums are mostly taken from live performances. For Sokolov, born in Leningrad in 1950, music was a calling from a very young age. His prodigious talent was recognised when he was a surprise winner at the Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition in Moscow in 1966. He was only 16, and virtually unknown. Live recordings began to be issued in the West from 1991, and in 2014 Deutsche Grammophon announced an exclusive contract, signalling the esteem in which Sokolov is held. Highlights of his catalogue include several superb Chopin recordings, especially a glorious live account of the Preludes (1839) from a 1990 performance issued in 2001, notable for its exploratory approach, textural interest and lyrical poise. Sokolov plays Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto (1875) and Rachmaninoff’s Third (1909) with an all-engulfing virtuosity, yet he also excels in the delicate refinement of creatively reimagined French Baroque repertoire. His tempos are often unusually broad, but always delivered with a compelling intensity and vision. Few musicians have his ability to inhabit various composers’ expressive worlds so entirely, with interpretations that are highly personal without being mannered. You hear the composer, but you wouldn’t mistake Sokolov for anyone else.