Andrei Gavrilov

His father was Vladimir Gavrilov (May 30, 1923 – December 4, 1970), one of the eminent Russian painters during the middle of the 20th century, through whom Gavrilov also has German ancestors.

His mother was the Armenian pianist Assanetta Eguiserian (December 20, 1925 – November 29, 2006), who had studied with Heinrich Neuhaus and gave Gavrilov his first piano lessons at age 2.

Andrei Gavrilov (in Russian Андрей Гаврилов; born September 21, 1955) is a Russian-Swiss pianist.

Andrei Gavrilov was born into a family of artists in Moscow.

In 1961 he was inducted at the Moscow Central Music School and became a student of Tatyana Kestner, who had studied with Alexander Goldenweiser.

He completed his studies with another Neuhaus disciple, Lev Naumov, at the Moscow Conservatory.

By the age of 18, after one semester at the conservatory, he won the International Tchaikovsky Competition in 1974 and rose to international fame when, at the Salzburg Festival the same year, he substituted for Sviatoslav Richter.

In 1974 Melodiya recorded the 1st Tchaikovsky Concerto at the prize winner's concert of the Tchaikovsky Competition together with a live solo recital.

1974

In 1976 a studio recording of Rachmaninoff's 3rd concerto followed.

If not stated otherwise, recordings up to 1976 are released on Melodiya, those from 1977 to 1989 on EMI (in the beginning as a co-production with Melodiya), those from 1991 to 1993 on Deutsche Grammophon.

1976

From 1977 to 1989 he worked exclusively for EMI.

From that time comes the legendary recording of the Chopin Études and many other works, notably by Chopin, Scriabin, Prokofiev, Rachmaninoff and J. S. Bach.

1977

Until 1979, Gavrilov performed in all the major music centers of the world performing up to 90 concerts a year, while continuing his studies at the university.

In 1979, at the first peak of Gavrilov's career, Herbert von Karajan, who had heard him in Tchaikovsky's First Concerto in Berlin, offered recordings of all the Rachmaninoff concertos, despite the fact that Karajan only rarely conducted them.

In December 1979, recordings were scheduled in Berlin with the Berlin Philharmonic for the 2nd concerto, but Gavrilov did not appear for the rehearsals.

It was discovered that due to his critical remarks about the Soviet regime, the head of the KGB and later General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Yuri Andropov, with the approval of Leonid Brezhnev, had seized Gavrilov's passport and the flight ticket and cut his telephone line.

Later, by his words, Gavrilov was put virtually under house arrest by the KGB.

Militia guarding Gavrilov once showed him an official paper signed by Andropov stating that a fatal accident would not be unwelcome.

1979

1981

1982

1983

Only through Mikhail Gorbachev's eventual intervention did this end in 1984, and Gavrilov received a "free passport", so that he could perform again in the West without having to obtain political asylum.

In the following years, he lived in London and in Bad Camberg near Wiesbaden, Germany from 1989 and also assumed German citizenship.

From 1991 to 1993 he recorded for Deutsche Grammophon, where he also duplicated some works already recorded for EMI.

A number of projects, many with recordings new to Gavrilov's discography, were announced in 1992 but not realized: Bach's English Suites, the complete Beethoven piano concerti, the Choral Fantasia and the Diabelli Variations, as well as vaguer plans for works by Liszt (Transcendental Etudes, Paganini Etudes), Ravel's complete works for piano solo and with orchestra, and the piano concertos of Grieg and Schumann.

In 1993, he retired from the active cultural scene, cancelled concerts and did not make any further studio recordings.

According to an interview with The Guardian: "I wasn't satisfied with myself. In a material sense I was doing very well. But I knew if I was to continue in this way I would never be the artist I dreamed of being - free, original, idealistic, out of the so-called musical industry, which is a contradiction in terms."

The planned two-year sabbatical eventually grew to eight years.

At this time he studied the intentions of the composers in their works, religious and philosophical questions, lived half a year in Fiji, and fundamentally reworked his piano technique.

In 2001 he moved to Lucerne, Switzerland and resumed concertizing in the 2001/02 season.

Since August 2008 he has been living with his second wife and their son in Kanton Zürich.

In 2012 Andrei Gavrilov held master classes for the first time, in Madrid and later in London.

In 2013 he completed writing his three volume autobiography, the first volume of which was published in Russian and German in March and April 2014, and in English in December 2016.

He also made his first new recording for 20 years: a CD of Chopin Nocturnes, which was done specially to be included with each copy of the book.

In April 2013 Andrei Gavrilov performed a concert in Belgrade playing and conducting three romantic concertos in one evening, with a full symphony orchestra.

He played another concert conducting two romantic concertos from the piano in Bristol in May 2014.