Valery Sokolov, Ukrainian violinist: biography, creativity

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Valery Sokolov is one of the world's most talented violinists, recognized for his perfect instrumental technique. During his performances at the best concert venues in the world, he performs the most complex works written for the violin repertoire. In Ukraine, Valery holds numerous creative meetings, charity concerts. The man is the organizer of the music festival in Kharkov.

Some facts from the musician's biography

Sokolov Valery Viktorovich was born in Kharkov in September 1986. The boy's father and mother had nothing to do with music. His parent headed the Research Institute of Geology. Mom worked at the Faculty of Geology of Kharkov State University. Despite this, everyone in the family loved music and often attended the Philharmonic.

As Valery Sokolov says, the biography of the violinist began with the fact that at the age of five, his mothertook him to both ballet and music school at the same time. He did not have a relationship with dancing. Therefore, he stayed at the music school No. 9 with the teacher Natalya Yuryevna Kravetskaya. There was a shortage in the class that year. Therefore, the teacher offered to send the boy to the violin. In the class of N. Yu. Kravetskaya, the future musician studied from 1991 to 1995, and then moved to a specialized music school and continued his studies under the guidance of Sergei Evdokimov.

First music competition in Spain

In 1999, when the guy turned 12, it became clear to the teacher and parents that he needed to develop further. Therefore, Valery Sokolov went with his mother to Spain for the competition of young performers Pablo Sarasate, where he became the youngest participant in the event. The chairman of the panel of judges was Vladimir Spivakov. After the Ukrainian violinist received a special prize, an authoritative jury invited Valery and his mother and recommended that they continue their studies abroad.

Since a 12-year-old boy could not be admitted to the conservatory, the famous violinist Grigory Zhislin advised me to turn to a wonderful teacher Natalya Boyarskaya. She taught in England at the famous Yehudi Menuhin School. Valery Sokolov played the entrance exam. And in January 2001, he received a letter saying that he could start classes next semester.

Study in Europe

After completing violin courses, Valery continued his studies at the London Royal College of Music. Felix was in charge of his class. Andrievsky. The young man also studied at the graduate school of the Higher School of Music in Frankfurt am Main. Here Anna Chumachenko became his teacher. After that, the gifted violinist completed his postgraduate studies at the Vienna Conservatory, where he studied under the guidance of Boris Kushnir.

While studying at the Royal College, Valery Sokolov, whose biography is filled with bright musical events, participated in the International Competition. An event dedicated to J. Enescu was held in Bucharest in 2005. As a result of the performance, Sokolov received the "Grand Prix". In addition, he was awarded two special prizes for the best performance of Enescu's musical compositions. After this competition, he began an active musical activity.

Musical career as a violinist

Valery receives invitations to perform with famous musical ensembles. Among them were the philharmonic orchestras of France, London, Birmingham, Stockholm, Tokyo and a number of other ensembles. The musician collaborated with famous conductors: Vladimir Ashkenazy, Douglas Boyd, Yuray Valchuga, Susanna Myalki, Michel Tabachnik and others.

Ukrainian violinist gives solo concerts in the most famous concert halls in Europe, participates in many international festivals, plays in chamber orchestras with musicians: Leonid Gorokhov, Gary Hoffman, Denis Matsuev and others. He also collaborates with many famous pianists of the world: Ilya Rashkovsky, Svetlana Kosenko, Petr Andrzhevsky.

In 2007 he signed withby the EMI/Virgin Classics recording company, resulting in 3 CDs of his performances of works by J. Enescu, Bartok and Tchaikovsky. A DVD has also been released. It features Valery's performance of the Sibelius Violin Concerto.

Meeting French director Bruno Mosaingeon

In 2003, the famous French violinist and director Bruno Monsaingeon visited the Menuhin School in London. He was invited to give a violin master class. After the performance, the guys asked a lot of questions, but the most sociable was Valeriy Sokolov (Ukraine). He asked Bruno for a personal meeting, during which he gave him his video recording, made at the age of 13. The French director said that he heard an amazing performance of Aram Khachaturian's works by a young violinist.

After that, Bruno invited Valery to visit him for a week. As a result of close communication, he had the idea to create a documentary film about a young musician. At first, Sokolov refused. He believed that it was too early for him to act in such a movie. But the director insisted. Soon there were producers. Already in 2004, Bruno Monsaingeon's film "Violin in the Soul" appeared.

Stradivari Violin

In 2007, a virtuoso violinist came across an old violin made by the hands of the great Antonio Stradivari. According to Valery, he passed the bow along the strings several times and put the instrument aside. He believed that he did not reach the required level of skill. The guy improved his technique by playingon the instruments of Yehudi Menuhin for several years. And only after that was he able to touch the famous violin, made in 1703.

Currently it belongs to a private person from France. He gives it to famous musicians for several years so that people can appreciate the beauty of the instrument's sound. Now Valery Sokolov plays this violin. The violinist believes that it is very difficult to work with her, because she has a unique timbre and great potential, which has not been revealed so far.

Kharkov musical evenings

Currently, the violinist lives in Europe, but considers Ukraine his homeland and is not going to change his citizenship. He tours a lot around the world, but also often comes to Kharkov: his parents live here, many friends remain. On his initiative, in 2010-2011, the International Chamber Music Festivals "Musical Evenings" were held in Valery's hometown. Thanks to the authority of the violinist, in 2011 the festival was attended by 23 famous musicians from the European Union, North America and Argentina, as well as a chamber orchestra from Kyiv, whose chief conductor is Vladimir Sirenko.

The events organized by Valeriy were carried out on the principle of festivals that are held in Europe. Concerts were held in the halls of the Kharkov Philharmonic. Festival participants held master classes for students of music schools, and Bruno Mosaingeon brought films about famous musicians David Oistrakh, Svyatoslav Richter and young performers Valeria Sokolov, Petr Anderszewski and many others.

Concert in Dnepropetrovsk

In Ukraine, the musician often gives charity concerts. One of these performances took place at the end of December 2014 in Dnepropetrovsk. It took place in the Menorah Concert Hall. It was attended by one and a half thousand people, but there were much more people who wanted to get into it. The Stradivarius violin played by the musician was put on display to the public an hour before the concert. The musician himself called the event unique, because usually one piece of music is played during a performance, and three creations from different eras were performed in the Menorah Hall:

• W. A. Mozart's violin concerto performed with the orchestra, considered the best music of the 18th century.
• Works by I. Brahms, one of the best composers of the 19th century, the era of romanticism.
• Violin Concerto by one of the greatest composers of the 20th century, Dmitry Shostakovich.

The event was broadcast live on the Internet. In Dnepropetrovsk, the musician met with the Jewish community in the synagogue, and also held a concert in the hospital. Valery Sokolov emphasizes that patriotism must be confirmed not by words, but by deeds. And the wonderful music played by the musician on the Stradivarius violin can heal souls.