Grigory Sokolov Pianist Date of Birth: 18.04.1980 Country: Russia

1. Biography of Grigory Sokolov
2. Education and Pedagogical Career
3. Victory at the Tchaikovsky Competition
4. Artistic Career
5. Artistry
6. He has been inducted into the Gramophone Hall of Fame.
7. Personal Life
8. Honors and Titles

Biography of Grigory Sokolov

Grigory Sokolov is a Russian pianist, educator, and professor at the Leningrad Conservatory. He was born in Leningrad to Lipman Girshovich Sokolov (1905–1979) and Galina Nikolayevna Zelenetskaya (1916–1985). His father worked at the N. G. Kozytskiy Radio Equipment Plant and was an amateur violinist.

Education and Pedagogical Career

Sokolov began his music education at the age of five and was accepted into the special music school at the Leningrad Conservatory at the age of seven, studying piano. He was trained by L. I. Zelikhman. Sokolov gave his first solo concert at the age of twelve. In 1973, he graduated from the Leningrad Conservatory under the guidance of Professor M. Ya. Khalfin. From 1975 to 1990, Sokolov taught at the N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov Leningrad Conservatory, becoming a professor in 1986.

Victory at the Tchaikovsky Competition

In 1966, sixteen-year-old Grigory Sokolov sensationally won the third International Tchaikovsky Competition. Sixteen members of the jury voted in favor of awarding Sokolov the first prize, while only three voted for Misha Dichter (USA) and one for Eduard Auer (USA). According to contemporary musicologist Alexander Yablonsky, there were rumors circulating during the competition that the chairman of the jury, pianist Emil Gilels, insisted on awarding Sokolov the first prize. In Yablonsky's opinion, "Gilels understood the extent of the boy's talent and skill better than anyone else, he was the only one who foresaw his great future and 'did not hide' his foresight, but the decision was not made by him alone."

Since then, Grigory Sokolov has not participated in any competitions and considers them unnecessary for a musician.

Artistic Career

Since the 1970s, Sokolov has been performing concerts worldwide, preferring tours in Europe. Since the mid-2000s, he has stopped performing with orchestras and only gives solo concerts. In 2003 and 2004, he was twice awarded the Franco Abbiati Prize. In 2008, Grigory Sokolov received the Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli Prize.

In 2009, he was elected a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music.

In 2010, Sokolov's performance at the Salzburg Music Festival garnered attention from the music press and music lovers. He has been a participant of the festival since 2008.

Grigory Sokolov declined the Cremona Music Award in 2015, as he did not want to be listed alongside Norman Lebrecht. The reason was an article on Lebrecht's website about Sokolov's family (2014).

The majority of Sokolov's solo concerts take place in Europe. He visits Russia annually from Italy, where he has been living since 1990 in Castel d'Azzano. In April 2017 and 2018, Sokolov's only concerts in St. Petersburg attracted the attention of music lovers.

Sokolov has not performed in Moscow since 1998. On July 5, 2022, he became a naturalized citizen of Spain.

Artistry

According to pianist Alexandra Juzepénaitė, Sokolov's pianism is a "happy combination of two worlds: European refinement, orderliness, and harmony, as well as controlled Slavic emotionalism, which does not overflow and is noble from within. Both worlds coexist perfectly in a mature and experienced artist."

He has been inducted into the Gramophone Hall of Fame.

Pianist and conductor Mikhail Shekhtman has placed Grigory Sokolov alongside classical legends such as Sergei Rachmaninoff, Arthur Rubinstein, Vladimir Horowitz, Emil Gilels, and among the living, Murray Perahia.

Personal Life

Sokolov's wife was Inna Yakovlevna Sokolova (nee Shutina, 1929–2013), who worked in the sound recording department of the St. Petersburg Conservatory. Her poems were first heard in the documentary film "Grigory Sokolov. The Conversation That Never Happened," dedicated to Grigory Sokolov.

Honors and Titles

People's Artist of the RSFSR (1988)
Merited Artist of the RSFSR (1983)
Member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music (2009)