Ludwig van Beethoven
15 variations and fugue in E flat major, Op. 35

Johannes Brahms
Three intermezzi for piano op. 117

Robert Schumann
Kreisleriana. Fantasy op. 16

Grigory Sokolov – piano

Grigory Sokolov was born in Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg) in 1950. At the age of seven he entered the Leningrad Conservatory’s special school for children. He debuted when he was twelve and at sixteen, he was awarded the golden medal in the International Tchaikovsky Piano Competition as the youngest musician so far.

He is a very serious pianist, who just plays the piano. After the concert, he bows and leaves. He is fully immersed in the performance. His special requirement is that on the day of the recital (he no longer performs with an orchestra because he feels that it restricts his repertoire options) he must have the hall all to himself for the whole day. There he is getting ready, alone and focused. He also requires a top-notch piano that must not be older than five years. It is also interesting that Grigory Sokolov spends a long time systematically choosing the exact program of his recitals and he does not specify the program in much of an advance to keep his absolute creative freedom. The phrase “The program is still in discussion” is inseparably tied to his name. Still, the auditorium is always sold out. It is the performer that is important after all!