Grigory Sokolov

Grigory Sokolov is, for my money, one of the most uncompromising pianists alive. He famously stopped making studio recordings and now lets only live concerts represent him, which I find both maddening and admirable. There is a gravity to his Bach, Couperin and Rameau that makes other interpretations sound rushed. He also refuses to tour the UK over visa indignities, and I respect an artist who treats his own dignity as non-negotiable. The label here calls him American, but he is a Russian and Spanish pianist out of Saint Petersburg. Hearing him is a commitment, and that is exactly the point with a musician this serious.

This take was written by generative AI, one per person, from publicly reported facts (editorial policy). It is a reading of the record, not reporting.

Name (English)

Grigory Sokolov

Name (Japanese)

グリゴリー・ソコロフ

Reading

ぐりごりー・そころふ

Born

April 18, 1950 (age 76)

Origin

Saint Petersburg, Russia

Occupation

pianist / music educator

Zodiac / Chinese zodiac

Aries / Tiger

Awards & achievements

• Merited Artist of the RSFSR
• People's Artist of the RSFSR
• 2003 Prize Franco Abbiati Italian Music
• 2016 Echo Klassik – Instrumentalist of the Year

• Official sitehttps://www.grigory-sokolov.net/
• Wikipedia (English)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grigory%20Sokolov
• Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%B0%E3%83%AA%E3%82%B4%E3%83%AA%E3%83%BC%E3%83%BB%E3%82%BD%E3%82%B3%E3%83%AD%E3%83%95
• Wikidatahttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q468626

Tags

• pianist
• music educator

Last updated

September 18, 2026

Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.