Vladimir Feltsman

Vladimir Feltsman ( Russian Владимир Оскарович Фельцман , Wladimir Oskarowitsch Felzman ; born January 8, 1952 in Moscow ) is a Russian - American classical pianist.

life and work

At the age of eleven, Feltsman played with the Moscow Philharmonic . He studied at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory and the Saint Petersburg Conservatory and in 1971 won the Grand Prix at the Marguerite Long International Piano Competition in Paris.

In 1979 he applied to be able to leave the Soviet Union as he became increasingly dissatisfied with the then prevailing Soviet ideology and the control over art practiced by the government. In response, he was banned from performing any work in public. After many attempts, eight years later he was given permission to leave the Soviet Union.

Upon arriving in the United States in 1987, Vladimir Feltsman had his first concert outside of Russia at the White House . His Carnegie Hall concert that same year contributed to his reputation as a great pianist in the United States.

Feltsman has taught at Mannes College of Music and at the State University of New York , where he founded and directs the International Festival Institute Piano Summer. He has lived in Upstate New York with his wife Haewon since 1995, when he received his US citizenship .

Vladimir Feltsman often performs on the fortepiano ; there he played all of Mozart's sonatas on a replica of an Anton Walter Fortepiano, as well as Beethoven's 5th piano concerto and Mozart's 27th piano concerto .

His discography contains six albums with piano works by Johann Sebastian Bach , recordings of Beethoven's last five piano sonatas, piano pieces by Schubert, Chopin, Liszt, Brahms, as well as concerts by Bach, Chopin, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov, and Prokofiev.

His father, the composer Oskar Felzman , was known in the Soviet Union for popular works and musical comedies.

Web links

• Official website
• Vladimir Feltsman at Allmusic (English)
• Mannes The New School for Music faculty member