Grigory Sokolov

[2] He is among the most esteemed of living pianists,[3][4][5] his repertoire spanning composers from the Baroque period such as Bach, Couperin or Rameau up to Schoenberg and Arapov.

[8][9] At 12, he gave his first major recital in Moscow, in a concert of works by Bach, Beethoven, Schumann, Chopin, Mendelssohn, Rachmaninoff, Scriabin, Liszt, Debussy and Shostakovich at the Philharmonic Society.

Doubtless we are going to hear much more about this young talented pianist..."[14] Despite his success at the Tchaikovsky Competition in his youth, Sokolov's international career only began to develop towards the end of the 1980s.

It has been speculated[15] that this was because of his not defecting and the limited travelling allowed under the Soviet regime, but this is refuted by the fact that Sokolov gave U.S. tours in 1969, 1971, 1975 and 1979,[16] as well as numerous recitals elsewhere in the world, eg Finland and Japan.

"[16] The 1980s seem to have posed something of a stumbling block to Sokolov's career in the U.S. "In the beginning, I played a lot of single concerts in America, in 1969, '71 and, I think, 1975.

workers provide fingerprints and eye prints with every visa application (he also cancelled his 2008 concert on seemingly similar grounds).

He also said that by repeating his solo programs in many venues over time, he deepens his interpretations, whereas a concerto performance starts over at the first rehearsal in each engagement.