23 Facts About Vladimir Ashkenazy

1.

Vladimir Davidovich Ashkenazy is an internationally recognized solo pianist, chamber music performer, and conductor.

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2.

Vladimir Ashkenazy is originally from Russia and has held Icelandic citizenship since 1972.

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3.

Vladimir Ashkenazy's recordings have earned him five Grammy awards and Iceland's Order of the Falcon.

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4.

Vladimir Ashkenazy was born in Gorky, Soviet Union .

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5.

Vladimir Ashkenazy's father was Jewish and his mother came from a Russian Orthodox family.

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6.

Vladimir Ashkenazy began playing piano at the age of six and was accepted to the Central Music School at age eight, studying with Anaida Sumbatyan.

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7.

Vladimir Ashkenazy attended the Moscow Conservatory where he studied with Lev Oborin and Boris Zemliansky.

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8.

Vladimir Ashkenazy won second prize in the V International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw in 1955 and the first prize in the Queen Elisabeth Music Competition in Brussels in 1956.

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9.

Vladimir Ashkenazy shared the first prize in the 1962 International Tchaikovsky Competition with British pianist John Ogdon.

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10.

Vladimir Ashkenazy did not really cooperate, despite pressures from the authorities.

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11.

Khrushchev mentioned that Vladimir Ashkenazy then sought advice from the Soviet Embassy in London, who in turn referred the matter to Moscow.

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12.

Vladimir Ashkenazy further said that this was a good example of an artist being able to come and go in and out of the USSR freely, which Ashkenazy said was a gross "distortion of the truth".

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13.

In 1963, Vladimir Ashkenazy decided to leave the USSR permanently, establishing residence in London, where his wife's parents lived.

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14.

Vladimir Ashkenazy's eldest son Vladimir, who uses his nickname 'Vovka' as a stage name, is a pianist, as well as a teacher at the Imola International Piano Academy.

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15.

Guardian wrote that Vladimir Ashkenazy conducted pieces by Prokofiev and Gliere as if he was "born to do it" during a concert series that explored the musical response to the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917, including composer Alexander Mosolov's Iron Foundry and the suite from The Red Poppy, a ballet with music by Gliere.

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16.

Vladimir Ashkenazy has recorded a wide range of piano repertoire, both solo works and concerti.

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17.

In public piano performances, Vladimir Ashkenazy was known for rejecting a tie and button shirt in favor of a white turtleneck and for running onstage and offstage.

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18.

In Europe, Vladimir Ashkenazy was principal conductor of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra from 1987 to 1994, and of the Czech Philharmonic from 1998 to 2003.

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19.

Vladimir Ashkenazy is conductor laureate of the Philharmonia Orchestra, conductor laureate of the Iceland Symphony Orchestra, and music director of the European Union Youth Orchestra.

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20.

Outside of Europe, Vladimir Ashkenazy served as music director of the NHK Symphony Orchestra from 2004 to 2007.

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21.

Vladimir Ashkenazy was chief conductor of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra from 2009 to 2013.

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22.

In other media, Vladimir Ashkenazy has appeared in several films on music by Christopher Nupen.

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23.

Vladimir Ashkenazy has made his own orchestration of Modest Mussorgsky's piano suite Pictures at an Exhibition .

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