Mikhail Rudy
April 3, 1956 - Tashkent, Uzbekistan
© DR
About
Born in Russia in 1953, Mikhail Rudy discovered music at the age of five thanks to a neighbour who played the violin. Despite very difficult living conditions, Mikhail Rudy began music lessons and continued at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow with Yakov Flier. In 1975, he won the First Prize at the Marguerite Long Competition where he stunned the jury with his interpretation of Beethoven’s Hammerklavier Sonata, a monument of pianistic literature.
Having settled in France where he asked for political asylum, Mikhail Rudy made his prestigious debut performing the Beethoven Triple Concerto with Mstislav Rostropovitch and Isaac Stern to mark the occasion of Marc Chagall’s 90th birthday. His career then took on an international dimension as he played with the greatest orchestras in the world including the Berlin Philharmonic as well as the most famous conductors like Lorin Maazel, Herbert von Karajan and Michael Tilson Thomas. In 1989, he returned to his native Russia and went on numerous international tours with the Saint Petersburg Philharmonic. He founded the Saint Riquier Festival of which he was Artistic Director for twenty years.
His artistic curiosity has lead Mikhail Rudy to explore different forms of art without restricting himself to the sole ritual of the concert soloist. He formed a duo with the jazz pianist Misha Alperin devising an original program of improvised compositions based on the classical repertoire. Similarly, he has sublimated his passion for the other arts through theatrical shows and writing a book, (The Novel of a Pianist, published by Le Rocher in 2008).
Awards
- The Liszt First Prize in Budapest for his anthology of piano works by Franz Liszt.
- The Charles Cros Acadamy Prize for his Scriabin cycle.
- Grand prix du disque for his recital of piano works by Karol Szymanowsky.