Grigory Sokolov

別名：格里戈里·索科洛夫

國籍：俄羅斯

出生地：俄羅斯圣彼得堡

生日：1950-04-18

教育背景：圣彼得堡音樂學(xué)院

嚴(yán)格說來，Sokolov也算屬于美蘇在冷戰(zhàn)時期，在「鐵幕」(Iron Curtain)當(dāng)中「保存良好」的秘密武器之一，一直到了八○年代晚期蘇聯(lián)解體之際，Sokolov才真正尋得向全世界展示他琴藝的機(jī)會。

1950年4月18日出生于圣彼得堡的Sokolov，四歲起就有搭臺子拿指揮棒的經(jīng)驗，但父母親則傾向讓他走向鋼琴這條路，五歲起開始學(xué)習(xí)鋼琴，七歲時進(jìn)入彼得堡音樂院特別設(shè)置的資優(yōu)班上課，師承著名鋼琴家Leah Zelikhman與Moise Khalfin，12歲首度舉行公開的演奏會，技驚全場，所有聽眾都被Sokolov詮釋作品的巨大幅度與力度掌握之自然，只需要加上一點(diǎn)點(diǎn)踏板，Sokolov就以他高超無比的十指神技彈奏超出平臺鋼琴界限的無限音色變化，好像一位拿著調(diào)色盤的畫家，自發(fā)地?fù)]灑各式想象。這個時候全部的聽眾都注意到Sokolov已經(jīng)定型的風(fēng)格，他的詮釋有著強(qiáng)烈的詩意，而且相當(dāng)個人化，他對旋律的自由揮展與樂句的彈性速度控制，已可以帶給他的師輩相當(dāng)大的威脅。

學(xué)院方面自然不會忽略這號人物，早早就將他列名為「重點(diǎn)培育」的對象之一。當(dāng)時美蘇在各方面都有爭鋒之勢，文化交流上則以「柴可夫斯基國際大賽」為指標(biāo)，Van Cliburn因為此賽而一戰(zhàn)成名，硬生生在俄國的土地上奪走首屆的金牌大獎，成為美國的「民族英雄」，可以想象俄國有多么難堪！以致往后幾年俄國鋼琴家精銳盡出，誓言要爭回面子，其中Sokolov以16歲之齡，在1966年的第三屆大賽中搶得第一名與金質(zhì)獎?wù)拢?dāng)時以Emil Gilels為主席的評審團(tuán)無異議一致給予首獎的光榮，也算是替祖國報了一箭之仇。比賽成名進(jìn)而往外發(fā)展，本是順理成章，不過由于當(dāng)時與Sokolov商洽演出的美國經(jīng)紀(jì)人去世，加上過不久后阿富汗戰(zhàn)爭爆發(fā)，美蘇關(guān)系再度轉(zhuǎn)趨惡劣，Sokolov往西方發(fā)展的臍帶就此被切斷許久，直至政治僵局解凍，才又有了一線生機(jī)。

Biography：Sokolov was born to Jewish father Lipman Girshevich Sokolov and Russian mother Galina Nikolayevna Zelenetskaya. He began studying the piano at the age of five and he entered the Leningrad Conservatory's special school for children at the age of seven to study with Leah Zelikhman. After graduating from the children's school he continued studying at the Conservatory with Moisey Khalfin.[3] At 12, he gave his first major recital in Moscow, in a concert of works by Bach, Beethoven, Schumann, Chopin, Mendelssohn, Rachmaninoff, Scriabin, Liszt, Debussy and Shostakovich at the Philharmonic Society.[4] At age 16, he came to international attention when the jury at the 1966 International Tchaikovsky Piano Competition, headed by Emil Gilels, unanimously awarded him the gold medal. It seems this may have been a surprising result: "16-year old Grisha Sokolov who finally became the winner of that competition was not taken seriously by anyone at that time."[5]

"He possesses brilliant finger and chord technique, he easily wields the piano, so easily that he performs the prestissimo of the last movement of the Saint-Sa?ns Concerto No. 2 with truly refined lightness. It was a startling performance. Doubtless we are going to hear much more about this young talented pianist..."[4]

In fact, despite the international prestige of his Tchaikovsky Competition success, Sokolov's international career began to flourish only towards the end of the 1980s. Some have speculated [6] that his not defecting and the limited travelling allowed under the Soviet regime were to blame. This is contradicted by the fact[4] that Sokolov gave U.S. tours in 1969, 1971, 1975 and 1979,[citation needed] as well as numerous recitals elsewhere in the world such as Finland and Japan. "Sokolov's life as a touring soloist is quite overcrowded. He tours a great deal in both his motherland and abroad."[4]

The 1980s seem to have posed something of a stumbling-block to Sokolov's career in the U.S. "In the beginning, I played a lot of single concerts in America, in 1969, '71 and, I think, 1975. After that there was a break in relationships between the U.S. and the Soviet Union--they were disconnected by the Afghanistan war. A scheduled tour in the U.S. was cancelled in 1980. Then all cultural agreements between the two countries were cancelled."[7] In addition, during the breakup of the former Soviet Union, Sokolov played no concerts outside Russia.[8] He is now a well-known figure in concert halls around Europe, but much less so in the U.S.[9] Sokolov has released relatively few recordings to date, and released none for the twenty years between 1995[9] and 2015. But in 2014 he signed a contract with Deutsche Grammophon to release recordings of some of his live performances,[10] and in 2015 he released a 2-CD live Salzburg recital featuring two sonatas by Mozart, Chopin's cycle of 24 Preludes, and encore pieces by Scriabin, Chopin, Rameau and Bach.

In March 2009, it was reported that Sokolov cancelled a planned concert in London because of British visa requirements demanding that all non-E.U. workers provide fingerprints and eye prints with every visa application (he also cancelled his 2008 concert on seemingly similar grounds). Sokolov protested that such requirements had echoes of Soviet oppression.

Influences：When asked, Sokolov cited the following pianists as having inspired him in his years of studies: "Of those whom I heard on the stage I'd like to name first of all Emil Gilels. Judging by the records, it was Rachmaninoff, Sofronitsky, Glenn Gould, Solomon [and] Lipatti. As to esthetics, I feel most close to Anton Rubinstein."