Grigory Sokolov

The 75-year-old Russian pianist Grigory Sokolov occupies one of the highest places in the pantheon of piano masters, with several critics proclaiming him the world’s greatest living pianist. His remarkable talent began attracting attention when he was just 12 years old. At 16 he became the youngest ever winner of the prestigious International Tchaikovsky Piano Competition. Although he also performed in the United States and Japan in the 1970s, the political situation of the time mainly limited him to performances in his homeland. As a result, his early recordings attained an almost mythical status in the West. His international breakthrough did not come until after the break-up of the Soviet Union, after which he rapidly became one of the world’s most sought-after musicians. He performed with all the world’s most prestigious orchestras but soon decided to dedicate himself exclusively to piano recitals, believing that this was the best way for him to express his musical vision. Since then he has given no more than around 70 performances a year, immersing himself entirely in a single programme. His performances are renowned for their rich tonal palette, astonishing polyphonic clarity and mysterious intensity, revealing to listeners the deeper dimensions of piano music. Sokolov is also known for the very high demands he makes of his instrument, spending long hours with piano technicians exploring the characteristics of the concert piano he is to play and adapting it to his own strict standards. Following two decades in which he did not record at all, he signed a recording contract with Deutsche Grammophon in 2014. Since then the label has released several live concert recordings, most recently a programme of Purcell and Mozart in 2024.