Everything about Ashkenazy totally explained
Vladimir Davidovich Ashkenazy (
Russian: Влади́мир Дави́дович А́шкенази,
Vladimir Davidovič Aškenazi) (b.
July 6,
1937) is a
conductor and
virtuoso pianist. He has been a citizen of
Iceland, the home of his wife Þórunn, since 1972.
Biography
Ashkenazy was born in
Gorky,
USSR to an
Ashkenazi Jewish father and a
Russian Orthodox mother, Ashkenazy began playing at the age of six and, showing prodigious talent, was accepted at the Central Music School at eight. A graduate of the
Moscow Conservatory, he won second prize in the
International Frederick Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw in 1955 and the first prize in the
Queen Elisabeth Music Competition in Brussels in 1956. He shared the first prize in the 1962
International Tchaikovsky Competition with
British pianist
John Ogdon.
Career
Vladimir Ashkenazy is renowned for his performances of Romantic and Russian composers. He has recorded the complete
24 Preludes and Fugues of
Dmitri Shostakovich,
Alexander Scriabin's piano sonatas,
Rachmaninoff's,
Frédéric Chopin's and
Robert Schumann's entire works for piano,
Beethoven's piano sonatas, as well as the piano concertos of
Mozart (conducting from the keyboard with the
Philharmonia Orchestra),
Beethoven (with the
Chicago Symphony Orchestra under
Sir Georg Solti; with
Zubin Mehta and the
Vienna Philharmonic; and conducting from the piano with the
Cleveland Orchestra),
Béla Bartók (with Solti and the
London Philharmonic Orchestra),
Sergei Prokofiev (with
André Previn and the
London Symphony Orchestra) and Sergei Rachmaninoff (with André Previn & London Symphony Orchestra and with
Bernard Haitink and the
Concertgebouw Orchestra). He has also recorded
Bach's
Well-Tempered Clavier, which was well received by critics, and has performed and recorded chamber music. He continues to record and perform internationally.
Midway through his pianistic career, Ashkenazy branched into conducting. He has particularly been praised for his recordings of orchestral works by
Sibelius, Rachmaninoff, Prokofiev,
Shostakovich, Scriabin,
Richard Strauss and
Stravinsky.
He was the principal conductor of the
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra from 1987 to 1994, and was principal conductor of the
Czech Philharmonic from 1998 to 2003. He became musical director of the
NHK Symphony Orchestra in 2004.
Besides these positions, Ashkenazy is conductor laureate of the
Philharmonia, conductor laureate of the
Icelandic Symphony Orchestra, and music director of the
European Union Youth Orchestra, with which he performs regularly.
Ashkenazy has also appeared in several
Christopher Nupen music films, conducting extracts from the composer profiled, including
Ottorino Respighi and
Tchaikovsky and performing at the piano.
On
11 April 2007, his appointment as the next chief conductor and artistic director of the
Sydney Symphony was announced. He will succeed
Gianluigi Gelmetti in January 2009.
He has also made his own orchestration of
Modest Mussorgsky's piano suite
Pictures at an Exhibition (1982).
Awards and recognitions
Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Soloist(s) Performance (with orchestra):
1974 Beethoven: The Piano Concertos (Vladimir Ashkenazy, Sir Georg Solti & Chicago Symphony Orchestra)
Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music Performance:
1979 Beethoven: Sonatas for Violin and Piano (Itzhak Perlman & Vladimir Ashkenazy)
1982 Tchaikovsky: Piano Trio in A Minor (Vladimir Ashkenazy, Itzhak Perlman, Lynn Harrell)
1988 Beethoven: The Complete Piano Trios (Vladimir Ashkenazy, Itzhak Perlman, Lynn Harrell)
Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Soloist Performance:
1986 Ravel: Gaspard de la Nuit; Pavane pour une infante défunte; Valses Nobles et Sentimentales
2000 Shostakovich: 24 Preludes & Fugues, Op. 87Further Information
Get more info on 'Ashkenazy'.
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