Mikhail Georgiyevich Kollontay

Mikhail Georgiyevich Kollontay (Yermolayev) was born in Moscow on 21 August 1952 and is a figure in contemporary Russian music who combines composition with piano performance and teaching. His training at the Moscow Conservatory was twofold: he graduated as a pianist in 1977, under V. V. Gornostayeva, and as a composer in 1978, under Leman. Between 1977 and 1979 he also undertook postgraduate piano study.

From 1979 to 1985, and again from 1997 onwards, he taught in the piano department of the Moscow Conservatory. Between 1989 and 1991 he taught at the equivalent of the Gnesin Institute. In 1981 he received the Shostakovich Prize, awarded by the Union of Composers, for his Concerto for viola.

As a performer, his repertoire ranges from Bach and Purcell to Chopin and Liszt, alongside classical and contemporary Russian music, from Glinka and Dargomyzhsky to works by Butsko and his own compositions. He has recorded the complete works of Balakirev and Mussorgsky and, in 1986, prepared a critical edition of Glinka's piano works under the pseudonym Ye. Nosenko.

In his compositional output, the writing is oriented towards linear melody, often drawing on models from the Orthodox liturgy. His texts come from Russian poetry, the Scriptures and the liturgy, although he does not always write vocal works in the strict sense. His most characteristic features are striking programmatic titles, sometimes paradoxical, with verbal fragments written into the score that are not intended to be performed. The sonic basis is the total chromatic, without strict serial organisation.

His orchestral works include two symphonies, a Concerto for viola and another for piano. His chamber music includes the 8 dukhovnïkh simfoniy [8 Sacred Syms.] and several string quartets, while his solo instrumental catalogue comprises sonatas, preludes and pieces for organ. He has also produced cadenzas and reworkings of works by Beethoven and Mozart.

His legacy lies at the intersection of the Russian pianistic tradition, Orthodox spirituality and a personal idiom that seeks an existential meaning in the act of composing.