Pianist. A busy recitalist, he shall be remembered for his precise technique and for being one of the few Soviet artists allowed to tour internationally during the Cold War. Born to a distinguished musical family, he studied piano from age three, entered the Moscow Conservatory in 1961, and in 1962 captured a Silver Medal at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in Ft. Worth, Texas, a contest at which he was to serve as a judge in 1977. Over the years Petrov was to perform the works of a majority of the great composers for piano including Beethoven and Rachmaninoff, though he would be most associated with Franz Liszt and Sergei Prokofiev whose complete sonatas he recorded. Giving around 100 concerts per year Petrov would always consider the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory his main venue, though he was regularly heard at London's Royal Festival and Royal Albert Halls, New York's Carnegie Hall (where he bowed in 1965), the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, the Ambassador Auditorium in Southern California, Washington's Kennedy Center, and elsewhere. Often honoured, he received a Gold Medal from France's Academie Balzac in 1986, was designated People's Artist of the Soviet Union, was awarded the Russian State Prize, and in 2007 was a judge for the Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition. Remaining active until the end of his life, Petrov died after being hospitalized since suffering a stroke in May 2011 while touring in Minsk. At his death much of his large recorded legacy remained in print.
Pianist. A busy recitalist, he shall be remembered for his precise technique and for being one of the few Soviet artists allowed to tour internationally during the Cold War. Born to a distinguished musical family, he studied piano from age three, entered the Moscow Conservatory in 1961, and in 1962 captured a Silver Medal at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in Ft. Worth, Texas, a contest at which he was to serve as a judge in 1977. Over the years Petrov was to perform the works of a majority of the great composers for piano including Beethoven and Rachmaninoff, though he would be most associated with Franz Liszt and Sergei Prokofiev whose complete sonatas he recorded. Giving around 100 concerts per year Petrov would always consider the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory his main venue, though he was regularly heard at London's Royal Festival and Royal Albert Halls, New York's Carnegie Hall (where he bowed in 1965), the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, the Ambassador Auditorium in Southern California, Washington's Kennedy Center, and elsewhere. Often honoured, he received a Gold Medal from France's Academie Balzac in 1986, was designated People's Artist of the Soviet Union, was awarded the Russian State Prize, and in 2007 was a judge for the Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition. Remaining active until the end of his life, Petrov died after being hospitalized since suffering a stroke in May 2011 while touring in Minsk. At his death much of his large recorded legacy remained in print.
Bio by: Bob Hufford
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