Sofronitsky V.V., (1901-1961), pianist

Categories / Art/Music, Theatre/Personalia
SOFRONITSKY Vladimir Vladimirovich (1901 - 1961, St. Petersburg), pianist, Honoured Worker of Art of the RSFSR (1942). From 1910 he studied under A. Mikhailovsky in Warsaw, and in 1914-21 under L.V. Nikolaev in the Petersburg Conservatory. He started giving recitals in 1919. Even early on he fascinated listeners by his outstanding originality, intuitive wisdom, and the beauty of his sound. Sofronitsky's romantic image harmonized with some of the passages from his most beloved romantics, R. Schumann and F. Liszt, though he went down in history as an outstanding interpreter of F. Chopin and specifically of A.N. Scriabin. Sofronitsky gave many concerts, and in the late 1930s, following the example of A.G. Rubinstein, organised a cycle of 12 historical concerts. He became a professor at the Leningrad Conservatory in 1936. He lived through the harshest period of the Leningrad Siege - December 1941 through March of 1942 - giving concerts for radio, so that he was heard everywhere in the city, and continuing to teach at the Conservatory. In autumn of 1942 he was evacuated to Moscow by plane. After the War he often visited Leningrad for concerts. He was awarded the Stalin Prize (1943).

References: Воспоминания о Софроницко. 2-е изд., доп. М., 1982; Нейгауз Г. Г. Размышления, воспоминания, дневники. Избранные статьи. Письма к родителям. 2-е изд., испр. и доп. М., 1983.

A. L. Porfiryeva. Chopin Frederic
Liszt Ferenc
Mikhaylovsky А.
Nikolaev Leonid Vasilievich
Rubinstein Anton Grigorievich
Schumann Robert
Skryabin Alexander Nikolaevich
Sofronitsky Vladimir Vladimirovich
Stalin (real name Dzhugashvili) Iosif Vissarionovich
Воспоминания о Софроницком. 2-е изд., доп. М., 1982
Нейгауз Г. Г. Размышления, воспоминания, дневники. Избранные статьи. Письма к родителям. 2-е изд., испр. и доп. М., 1983 Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory
Siege of 1941-44