Biography

 

Born 1968 in Moscow, Mikhail Lidsky started studying piano at the age of five. In 1975, he was admitted to Gnessin Moscow Specialised Music School (class of Marina Marshak-Young). From 1978 until graduation and later (1987-1992) at Gnessin Russian Academy of Music he studied with Prof. Vladimir Tropp.

At the age of 13 played with orchestra for the first time, at 15 – gave his first recital. While studying, gave many performances in various cities of the USSR as a soloist and chamber music player.

At the Eighth All-Russia Piano Competition (Kislovodsk, 1989) he was awarded 1st prize (joint), prize of Russia's Music Society and a special price for the performance of Prokofiev's 2nd Piano Concerto. Since then, he has never taken part in competitions.

Mikhail Lidsky’s concert career includes numerous appearances  in Russia and neighboring countries, as well as Belgium, UK, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Finland, France, Turkey, Taiwan, and Japan.

Mikhail Lidsky’s vast and versatile repertoire encompasses works by J.S. Bach (Concertos, Partitas, etc.), Scarlatti, Haydn, Mozart (Concertos, Sonatas, etc.), Beethoven (32 Sonatas, 5 Concertos, Variations, etc.), Schubert (Sonatas, Impromtus, Moments Musicaux, etc.), Schumann (e.g. Kreisleriana, Sonata in F minor, all compositions for piano and orchestra), Chopin, Liszt (12 Transcendental Studies, Sonata in B minor. Concerto No.1, and many other works), Brahms (e.g. Concerto No.2, Haendel and Paganini Variations), Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov. Scriabin (Piano Concerto, solo part in “Prometheus”, Sonatas and many other piano pieces), Medtner (Concerto No.1, sonatas, Fairy-tales, chamber music, etc.), Debussy, Ravel (both Piano Concertos, Gaspard de la Nuit, etc.), Stravinsky, Hindemith (Ludus tonalis), Myaskovsky (all piano sonatas), Prokofiev, Shostakovich, etc.

Among other, Mikhail Lidsky played with the following orchestras: The Russian State Symphony Orchestra, The Russian National Orchestra, The Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra, The Saint-Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra, Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra, The Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, The Netherlands Radio Symphony Orchestra. His partner conductors are Alexander Vedernikov, Feodor Glushchenko, Arnold Katz, Dmitri Liss, Vladimir Ponkin, Ravil Martynov, Vladimir Verbitsky, Yuri Simonov, and others. Mikhail Lidsky performs chamber music with Moscow Virtuosi, Mozart Quartet, Domenico Nordio, and some other famous musicians.

From 1997 on Mikhail Lidsky has been annual guest of Serate musicali, Milan, giving numerous recitals and concerto appearances, as well as chamber music performances. Mikhail Lidsky is a founder of several important musical events such as Autumn Music Nights in Moscow and Piano Festival in Volgograd, Russia.

From  2007 on, Mikhail Lidsky, the only pianist of his generation, has been undertaking annual recital series at Moscow International Music House having performed 32 Beethoven Sonatas, all-Schubert, all-Schumann and all-Chopin programmes, and four recital Liszt series. These series are being repeated in several cities of Russia. In 2011, a summer chamber music series is being added to it. Besides, he is giving numerous appearances as a soloist and chamber music player (e.g. closing Antalya Piano Fesival 2010 in Turkey by playing Shostakovich’s First Piano Concerto with Moscow Virtuosi led by Vladimir Spivakov).

Mikhail Lidsky has released many CDs, of which six have been published by DENON, and three by DECCA (e.g. Brahms’ sonatas for violin/viola and piano recorded with Domenico Nordio).

From 1996 on, Mikhail Lidsky has been teaching at Moscow State Conservatoire. He had been an assistant of Elisso Virsaladze until 2003, having become an independent teacher thereupon. In 2007, he joined the chair of Victor Merzhanov.

© Vitaly Brenner, 2004