Vladimir Sofronitsky - Recognition and Recordings

Recognition and Recordings

Although little known in the West, never having toured or recorded there, Sofronitsky was held in the highest regard in his native land. Sviatoslav Richter and Emil Gilels looked up to Sofronitsky as their master, and famously, when Sofronitsky once drunkenly proclaimed that Richter was a genius, in return Richter toasted him and proclaimed him a god. Upon hearing of Sofronitsky's death, Gilels was reputed to have said that "the greatest pianist in the world has died."

Sofronitsky's recordings have not been issued systematically in the West. One noteworthy release, in BMG's "Russian Piano School" series, contains a complete concert, including a mercurial and highly praised account of Schumann's Piano Sonata No. 1, Op. 11. His issue in Philips' Great Pianists of the Twentieth Century features Chopin mazurkas and waltzes on the first CD and some of his legendary Scriabin on the second, including the 2nd (first movement), 3rd, 4th, and 9th sonatas and a performance of Vers la flamme. Denon Classics' (Japan) Vladimir Sofronitsky Edition is a series of 15 CDs, ten of which remain in print. Other Sofronitsky recordings have been issued by such labels as Arkadia, Arlecchino, Multisonic, Urania, and, most notably, Vista Vera, which has released seventeen volumes of Sofronitsky recordings as of April, 2010.

He was awarded a Stalin Prize of the first class in 1943 and proclaimed an Honoured Artist of the RSFSR in 1942.