Music lovers around the world cherish Mikhail Pletnev’s unconventional interpretations, which are exciting, virtuosic, challenging and gripping each time one hears them. His performances even of familiar works are so fresh and surprising that the pieces seem to be being played for the very first time. Pletnev immerses himself in the music with every fibre of his being, becoming completely one with it, and takes his audiences with him into extraordinary realms of sound and emotion.

In 2023, Mikhail Pletnev gave just two piano recitals in Germany: in the Berliner Philharmonie and at the Alte Oper in Frankfurt. The joint composition with Alexey Shor was a highlight of the programme: a sonata overflowing with melodic ideas, emotive explorations and expressive poetical images. A number of virtuosic passages make high technical demands on the pianist.

Mikhail Pletnev – pianist, conductor and composer – was born in 1957 in Arkhangelsk in northern Russia and studied at the Moscow Conservatory. His international career as a soloist began in 1978 when he won first prize at the International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow.

Live recording from the Grand Hall of the Berliner Philharmonie, 5 April 2023