Mikhail Pletnev

Reaching the highest level of prominence as both pianist and conductor, Mikhail Pletnev is a major figure on the contemporary Russian musical scene. He is also a prolific composer and a competent amateur violinist. Pletnev was born on April 14, 1957, in Archangelsk in the far north of what was then the Soviet Union. His family was musical; his father played and taught the bayan button accordion, and his mother was a pianist. When the family moved to Kazan in Russia's Tatarstan region, Pletnev began piano studies with Julia Shaskin. He moved to Moscow at 13 to study at the Mos...