Mikhail Voskresensky

Mikhail Voskresensky

Mikhail Voskresensky (Russian Михаил Сергеевич Воскресенский) is a Russian pianist, b. 1935.

He was a disciple of Lev Oborin. Voskresensky was awarded 3rd prizes at the inaugural editions of the Robert Schumann Competition (ex-aequo with Lidia Grychtołówna) and the Van Cliburn Competition. He performed the European première of Dmitri Shostakovich's 2nd Piano Concerto at the 1957 Prague Spring International Music Festival.

Mikhail Voskresensky is one of Russia's leading pianists and winner of four international piano competitions (Schumann in Berlin, in Rio de Janeiro, George Enescu in Bucharest, and Van Cliburn in Fort Worth, Texas). In 1966 he was honored with the Merited Artist of Russia award and in 1989 the People's Artist of Russia. Mikhail Voskresensky has extensive concert experience. His concerts in the USA and Mexico in January–February 2001 were hailed as brilliant by critics. Mikhail Voskresensky graduated from the Moscow Conservatory where he studied under Ilya Klyachko, Boris Zemliansky, Yakob Milstein, Lev Oborin (piano) and Leonid Roizman (organ). As student of the famous Lev Oborin, the winner of the First Chopin Competition in 1927, Voskresensky adopted his teacher's refined romanticism and perfect taste in harmony with the piano's splendid sound. The images evoked by his playing suggest contrasting musical colors, never out of harmony, and a charming legato inducing the instrument to sing. 'His playing fascinates audiences with its artistry, cordiality and ingeniousness. Mikhail Voskresensky is a very talented and intelligent musician', wrote Oborin about his pupil. Voskresensky's repertoire includes Beethoven's 32 sonatas, all the works of Chopin, and 54 piano concertos. He has performed with orchestras under the direction of more than 150 conductors, among them John Pritchard, Franz Konvichny, Kurt Masur, Evgeny Svetlanov, Stanislaw Skrowaczewski, and Kirill Kondrashin. He has played chamber music with such ensembles as the Tokyo, Borodin and Tchaikovsky quartets. His 40 CD's include recent recordings of all the sonatas and studies of Scriabin, 'Pictures at an Exhibition' by Mussorgsky, and the Second Sonata of Shostakovich. He has participated as a juror for international competitions in London, Leeds, Sydney, Tel Aviv, as well as for the Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff Competitions in Moscow. He continues to be Chairman of the Jury for the Scriabin International Competition in Moscow.

Voskresensky is a professor at the Moscow Conservatory and the Toho Gakuen, and an artist-in-residence at the Juilliard School. In addition, he is the president of the Scriabin International Society. Voskresensky was named in 1989 a People's Artist of Russia.

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