BIOGRAPHY
An artist of great creativity and charisma, Mikhail Rudy has enthused audiences worldwide for 40 years with his virtuosity and poetic imagination.
Born in Russia, he studied with illustrious pianist Jakov Flier at the legendary Moscow Conservatory Tchaikowsky and won First Prize at the Marguerite Long Competition in Paris in 1975 (presently Concours Long-Thibaud-Crespin).
Soon after, during his first concert tour, he was granted political asylum by France.
After his Western debut in Beethoven Triple Concerto with Rostropovitch and Stern at the occasion of Marc Chagall’s 90th birthday, he has played with the most prestigious conductors, from Karajan to Maazel, Jansons or Tilson Thomas.
Rudy has published more than 30 recordings which have won numerous international prizes, including the Prix Charles Cros for his Scriabine integral or the Prix de l’Académie Française du Disque for his complete Rachmaninov concerti/Saint-Petersburg Philharmonic/Jansons.
In its special issue the BBC Magazine mentioned Mikhail Rudy among the 20 greatest pianists in the world.
A writing enthusiast, in 2008 Rudy published at Rocher Editions his first autobiographical book The Novel of a Pianist, unanimously praised by the press. The same year Andy Sommer directed a film portrait titled Mikhail Rudy, The Novel of a Pianist for television channel France 2.
Mikhail’s artistic curiosity has led him to explore different art genres and to initiate several innovative projects.
He has conceived and directed a film based on Kandinsky’s staged version of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an exhibition, which was launched at Cité de la Musique in Paris and which he has since then played live throughout the world, including in the Guggenheim museums of New York and Bilbao.
He has also collaborated with several artists coming from different disciplines :
- The Quay Brothers, cult animation film makers, for his project Metamorphosis, launched at Cité de la Musique and which he has played since then in New York MoMA and London Kings PlaceAndrjez Szpilman and actor Robin Renucci, for his play The Pianist, inspired by Wladyslaw Szpilman’s book. His theatre production with British actor Peter Guiness at the Manchester International Festival was elected « The Best Play of the Year ».
- Jeff Mills, legendary techno musician, for his recent duo disc When Time Splits recorded live at the Louvre
- The French multi media artist Philippe Parreno for a successful collaboration at Palais de Tokyo in Paris in 2013, followed by an invitation in summer 2015 to Park Avenue Armory for a two months long residency which got praising reviews in the New York Times and the Financial Times and in January 2016 to play in Milano Pirelli Hangar Bicocca a concerto for piano and marquees.The Austrian visual artists, Arotin & Serghei, for their collaboration over Scriabin’s Vers la flamme at the Linz Ars Electronica festival. Their recent project, over Scriabin’s Prometheus, in the two pianos transcription, has been commissioned by the Beyeler Foundation and is being presented in November 2016.
On the Chagall family request in 2013, Mikhail created an animated film based on Chagall’s unpublished sketches and final version of the Paris Opera ceiling, Since its launch at the Chagall Museum in Nice, Rudy has played Chagall, the sound of colours around the world.
In October 2015 Mikhail Rudy was the musical director of the four months long exhibition Marc Chagall, The Triumph of music, which took place at Philharmonie de Paris and received 125.000 visitors. This exhibition will be presented in Montreal in January-June 2017.