Sofronitsky, Vladimir Vladimirovich

Vladimir Sofronitsky was born in the family of a physicist; his mother was the grandniece of the famous artist Vladimir Borovikovsky . In 1903, the family moved to Warsaw , where Sofronitsky a few years later began to learn to play the piano, first with A.V. Lebedeva-Getsevich, and then with the best professor at the Warsaw Conservatory A. Mikhalovsky . In 1916 he entered the Petrograd Conservatory in the class of Professor Leonid Nikolaev , among his classmates were Dmitry Shostakovich and Maria Yudina .

In 1920 (?) He married the eldest daughter of the composer A.N. Scriabin , Elena Alexandrovna (1900-1990).

In 1928 Sofronitsky toured Paris . His concerts were accompanied by a full recognition of his talent and skill. In Paris, he became friends with Sergei Prokofiev and Nikolai Metner . Subsequently Sofronitsky visited the West only once, when, by order of Stalin, he was invited to play at the Potsdam Conference in 1945.

In January 1930, upon returning to Leningrad, Sofronitsky took up teaching. In 1936 he received the title of professor of the conservatory, and in June 1938 - the degree of doctor of music. In 1937, he played a series of 12 concerts, performing music from Buxtehude to Shostakovich .

During the Great Patriotic War, in the besieged Leningrad, on December 12, 1941, an unusual concert was held; Sofronitsky recalled: “In the hall of the theater. Pushkin - it was 3 degrees of frost. I had to play with gloves with my fingertips cut out ... But how they listened to me, how I played! ”In April 1942, with exhaustion of the first degree, he was taken across the“ air bridge ”from the besieged Leningrad to Moscow.

Since 1942 Sofronitsky was a professor at the Moscow Conservatory; among his students was Valentina Dushinova, who became his second wife. In the same year he received the title of Honored Artist, the Stalin Prize and the highest government award of the country - the Order of Lenin . His concerts took place mainly in Moscow, and after the war in Leningrad.

Among the numerous performances of Sofronitsky, the cycles of concerts in 1949 and 1953, dedicated to the anniversaries of F. Chopin and F. Schubert, deserve special attention. His performances were called by fans of his art “musical hypnosis”, “poetic nirvana”, “spiritual liturgy”.

Sofronitsky led a secluded life, communicating only with close friends. In the 1950s, the pianist's illness repeatedly forced to interrupt concert activity. With new powers, he returned to the scene only in September 1957: 2 concerts from the works of Scriabin, 2 - from the works of Schumann , a number of concerts with programs from Schubert and Mendelssohn to Debussy and Prokofiev. The abundant concerts were in 1960, and the concerts on January 7 (at the Scriabin Museum) and January 9, 1961 (in the Small Hall of the Moscow Conservatory) were destined to be the last.

August 29, 1961 after a serious illness, Vladimir Sofronitsky died. He was buried in Moscow at the Novodevichy cemetery (plot number 8).

Children from the first marriage - Alexander (b. 1921) and Roxanne (b. 1937), from the second - Vivian (b. 1960).

Sofronitsky is one of the largest Soviet musicians who had a great influence on the further development of pianistic culture in the country. He became famous for the interpretation of the works of romantic composers such as Robert Schumann , S.V. Rachmaninov , as well as the works of A.N. Scriabin . A number of Sofronitsky’s recordings have been preserved, testifying to his outstanding skill and deep individuality of performance.

• The Stalin Prize of the first degree (1943) - for concert performance.
• Honored Artist of the RSFSR (10.27.1942).
• Order of Lenin (12.28.1946).
• Two orders "Badge of Honor" (including 07/09/1954).

Sofronitsky is also known as the author of palindromes - phrase-shifters that are read the same way from the end and from the beginning. Some of his finds: “Chopin didn’t send”, “But Liszt is power!”, “Heal, he is thin, but spirit is dashing”, “David, go to hell!”, “He has been in hell for a long time”, “Lesha on the shelf found a bug ”,“ He sang beautifully about Kiel ”,“ Argentina beckons a black man ”,“ Great Anna is like a lion ”,“ But an invisible archangel, frost lay on the temple with a pattern, and he is marvelous ”,“ Great Oborin, he is timid and Leo ", and many others.

• Delson V. Vladimir Sofronitsky : Moscow, Muzgiz, 1959.
• Memories of Sofronitsky : Collection. - M.: Soviet composer, 1968.
• Memoirs of Sofronitsky : Collection, 2 edition with changes, 1982
• The poet of the piano : Compilation. TISSO, 2003.
• Remembering Sofronitsky / Comp. Scriabin A., Nikonovich I. - M .: Classic XXI, 2008.
• Bogdanov-Berezovsky V. M. Sofronitsky // Meetings. - M .: Art, 1967. - S. 191–236. - 280 p. - 25,000 copies.
• Chernikov O. The happy prince. // "A person". 2000. No. 3; The same // "Music and Time" - 2002. - No. 6.
• O. Chernikov. The piano and the voices of the great. Series: Music Library. Publisher: Phoenix, 2011, Hardcover, 224 pp. ISBN 978-5-222-17864-5
• The last great piano romantic: Vladimir Sofronitsky from afar and nearby. St. Petersburg: Center for Humanitarian Initiatives, 2013.

• Site about Sofronitsky
• Vladimir Sofronitsky (English) on the Allmusic website
• Sofronitsky Vladimir Vladimirovich - Life and Work
• Palindromony of Vladimir Sofronitsky