Mikhail Pletnev

Mikhail Vasilyevich Pletnev, born in Arkhangelsk on 14 April 1957, is one of the most distinctive figures in Russian piano playing of recent decades, and also a conductor. His career combines rigorous pianistic training with an entrepreneurial initiative unusual in the music of his country.

His family moved to Kazan, where he learnt several instruments, among them the piano. From the age of thirteen he studied at the Central Music School in Moscow with Yevgeny Timakin and, from 1974, at the Conservatory with Yakov Flier and, after Flier's death, with Lev Vlasenko. In 1978 he won first prize at the Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition. His pianism is noted for the clarity of its fingerwork, a marked interpretative self-awareness that at times verges on mannerism, and a cool intelligence; his recordings of Rachmaninov and Scarlatti are regarded as outstanding.

In 1990 he founded the Russian National Orchestra, the first orchestra in Russia to be self-financing, formed largely of musicians from former state-subsidised ensembles such as that of the Bolshoi Theatre. His recordings, which began with a much-praised performance of Tchaikovsky's Pathétique Symphony, reflect an intensity of great polish. Pletnev has also cultivated transcription and composes orchestral works. In addition, he has worked as a choreographer at the Bolshoi Ballet School.