“… not the slightest tension marred the impression he gave of being totally at ease with his instrument. His absolute control of technique, his musical maturity, and above all an utter abandonment to the flow of the music made the fact that he was only sixteen completely irrelevant.”
So said film director Bruno Monsaingeon of Valery Sokolov’s performance of Ysaye’s Sonata No.3. This stunning performance led to the idea of a film “Natural Born Fiddler” , released for Virgin, based on a recital Valery gave in the magical setting of Saint-Pierre des Cuisines, Toulouse.
Since then, Valery he has appeared with Cleveland Orchestra, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Tonhalle Orchestra, Orchestre National de Bordeaux and Gulbenkian Orchestra, winning praise and acclaim from audience and musicians alike.
In recital, Valery appears each season at the Théâtre du Châtelet, Paris and is a regular guest in the “Grands Interprètes” series at the Auditorium de Lyon. He has also performed at the Gstaad, Ravenna, Mecklenburg Vorpommern and St Denis festivals. Next season, Valeriy makes his recital debut in Vancouver and at Lincoln Center, New York.
In September 2005 Valery won the ‘Grand Prix’ of the George Enescu International Competition, as well as the award for ‘Best Performance of Enescu’s Sonata No. 3, and the ‘Enescu Foundation Prize’.
Valeriy Sokolov appears by kind permission of Virgin Classics.