Vladimir Sofronitsky plays Liszt Sonata in B minor (3/3)

[MrGer2295]

VLADIMIR VLADIMIROVICH SOFRONITSKY (or Sofronitzky, Russian: Владимир Владимирович Софроницкий, Vladimir Sofronitskij; May 8 [O.S. April 25] 1901 – August 26, 1961) was a Russian pianist, best known as an interpreter of the Russian composer Alexander Scriabin, whose daughter he married.

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[MrGer2295]

Repertoire -- Having met Scriabin's daughter only after her father's death, Sofronitsky never met the composer. Nevertheless, his wife vouched that the pianist was the most authentic interpreter of her late father's works. Indeed, his Scriabin recordings are considered by many to be unsurpassed.

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[MrGer2295]

Repertoire -- The other composer with whom Sofronitsky had the greatest affinity is Frédéric Chopin. He once told an interviewer:

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[MrGer2295]

Repertoire -- "A love for Chopin has followed me through the course of my entire life." Beyond Chopin and Scriabin, Sofronitsky had a wide repertoire spanning major composers from Johann Sebastian Bach to Nikolai Medtner and reaching as far as the works of Boris Goltz (1913–1942), with a focus on 19th-century Romantic composers and early 20th-century Russians.

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[MrGer2295]

Recognition and recordings -- Although little known in the West, never having toured or recorded there, Sofronitsky was held in the highest regard in his native land. Sviatoslav Richter and Emil Gilels looked up to Sofronitsky as their master, and famously, when Sofronitsky once drunkenly proclaimed that Richter was a genius, in return Richter toasted him and proclaimed him a god.

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[MrGer2295]

Recognition and recordings -- Upon hearing of Sofronitsky's death, Gilels was reputed to have said that "the greatest pianist in the world has died."

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[MrGer2295]

Recognition and recordings -- Sofronitsky's recordings have not been issued systematically in the West. One noteworthy release, in BMG's "Russian Piano School" series, contains a complete concert, including a mercurial and highly praised account of Schumann's Piano Sonata No. 1, Op. 11.

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[MrGer2295]

Recognition and recordings -- His issue in Philips' Great Pianists of the Twentieth Century features Chopin mazurkas and waltzes on the first CD and some of his legendary Scriabin on the second, including the 2nd (first movement), 3rd, 4th, and 9th sonatas and a performance of Vers la flamme.

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[MrGer2295]

Recognition and recordings -- Denon Classics' (Japan) Vladimir Sofronitsky Edition is a series of 15 CDs, ten of which remain in print. Other Sofronitsky recordings have been issued by such labels as Arkadia, Arlecchino, Multisonic, Urania, and, most notably, Vista Vera, which has released seventeen volumes of Sofronitsky recordings as of April, 2010.

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[MrGer2295]

Recognition and recordings -- He was awarded a Stalin Prize of the first class in 1943 and proclaimed an Honoured Artist of the RSFSR in 1942.

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