Konstantin Scherbakov, Piano
Born in 1963 in Barnaul, the capital of the Altai region located in the central and southern part of Russia (Siberia), he made his debut at the age of 11 by playing Beethoven's "Piano Concerto No. Shortly after, Shcherbakov moved to the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory to study under the legendary music teacher Lev Naumov. After winning prizes at prestigious international competitions in Montreal, Bolzano, Rome and Zurich, he has performed with all the major orchestras of the former Soviet Union and has had recitals in over 100 cities.
Scherbakov, who won the first Rachmaninoff Competition in Moscow in 1983, received critical acclaim at the Lucerne Festival as a modern Rachmaninoff. In 1990, at the 20th Asolo Chamber Music Festival in Italy, Sviatoslav Richter, who had listened to Scherbakov's performance, gave him his approval. It was the beginning of a successful career.
Since 1992 Scherbakov has resided in Switzerland, where, in addition to recitals, orchestral performances and tours around the world, and also broadcasts throughout Europe, his concert activities have taken place in Salzburg, Frankfurt, Bregenz, Lake Constance, Lugano and Evian. and major festivals including Colmar, Ruhr Piano Festival, Bad Kissingen, Schubertierdefeldkirch, Schwarzen, Singapore Piano Festival, Husum Rare Piano Festival, Beethoven Festival, Krakow, Lebanese Music Festivals, the Liszt Festival in Riding and Weimar, the Lucerne Piano Festival, etc.
His astonishing repertoire boasts 50 concertos and 50 recital programs, with recordings from Bach to Johann Strauss II and Scriabin, or Beethoven to Nikolai Metner and Respighi. He is currently working on the complete piano works of Leopold Godowsky on Marco Polo (Naxos' sister label).
In the Naxos Liszt Piano Music Series, the Ninth Symphony among the complete Beethoven symphonies arranged by Liszt won the German Critics Prize 2005. Similarly, in 2001 he was awarded the German Critics' Prize for his recording of Godowsky's Piano Sonata in E Minor. His performance of Shostakovich's 24 Preludes and Fugues also won Naxos the Cannes Classical Award 2001.
He holds a professorship at the University of Zurich and has served as a juror at international piano competitions such as Busoni in Bolzano, ARD Munich and the Franz Liszt International Piano Competition in Weimar.