Beethoven/Liszt: Symphonies Nos. 1-9 (Transcriptions) S464/R128

"... one of the most capable, daring and interesting musicians of these days."
(Peter Cossé)

Hailed by critics at the Lucerne Festival as a modern Rachmaninov and the triumphant winner of the first Rachmaninov Competition in 1983, Konstantin Scherbakov launched his international career in 1990 at the XXth Chamber Music Festival of Asolo, where he performed the complete Rachmaninov works for piano solo in four recitals, to the manifest approval of Sviatoslav Richter.

The last seasons brought the artist acclaim for both his concert performances and the newest CD releases. The prominent German piano critics, such as Attila Csampai, Peter Cossé and Klaus Bennert in their concert and CD reviews describe his way as "taking him to the elite of the modern piano world". Classical music magazines "Fono Forum", "Musik & Theater", "Diapason" and "Gramophone" consider his recordings among the best appearing in the last years.

"If I were a concert agent I'd be sending a contract to Moscow before the afternoon post... Alpine level of pianism" - wrote Martin Anderson in the "CD Review" about Scherbakov's debut CD released by "Marco Polo" (1994). "Konstantin Scherbakov ... is fully equal to every demand" - the "Gramophone" echoed. Over twenty CDs have been recorded and released since then. Among them are the Complete Concertante Works by Medtner, Scriabin and Respighi; Complete Respighi Solo Piano Works; the first 5 CDs of the Complete Edition of the Godowsky's Piano Works (16 planned CDs), the beginning of the Shostakovich Complete Piano Works project (the 24 Preludes and Fugues) and the beginning of the cycle of the Complete Beethoven / Liszt Symphonies. Some of these recordings have been nominated for prizes and awards, such as the "Deutsche Schalplattenkritik - Preis" (Godowsky), Echo-Klassik and the Classical Cannes awards (Beethoven). In Germany, his Beethoven-disc with the Diabelli-Variations was pronounced "one of 50 best CDs of all times". The 5th Volume of the Complete Godowsky's works has received the Preis der Deutschen Schalplattenkritik and the recording of the 24 Preludes and Fugues by Shostakovich - the Cannes Classical Award 2001.

A very special repertoire choice has formed the artist's profile with the accent on rarely performed and highly demanding virtuoso programs partly consisting of the works that were considered unplayable before. This has been the focus point of the recent features in the "Fono Forum", "Record Geijutsu Tokyo" and in the "Spiegel" magazines.

Konstantin Scherbakov was one of the first artists signed by EMI for their Debut - Series and in 1995 he became a "BBC International Artist".

Born in Barnaul, Russia Konstantin Scherbakov made his debut with the Philharmonic orchestra at the age of 11 performing Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 1. Soon after he moved to Moscow to continue his musical education at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatoire with the legendary professor Lev Naumov (whose assistant he later became). After winning an array of prizes at prestigious international competitions (Montreal, Bolzano, Rome, Zurich) he has performed with all the leading orchestras of the former Soviet Union and played recitals in more than 100 cities in his native country.

Since 1992 Konstantin Scherbakov has lived with his family in Switzerland. His concert activity includes participation in major festivals (Frankfurt, Bregenz, Bodensee, Luzern, Klavier-Festival Ruhr, Schubertiade Feldkirch among others), Radio and TV broadcasts (ARD, SF, Radio France, DRS 2, BBC) as well as recitals, orchestral performances and tours all over the world.

Konstantin Scherbakov's repertoire consists of more than 50 concertos and a similar number of recital programs.

Since 1998 the pianist holds the professorship at the Hochschule für Musik Winterthur-Zurich. He is a jury member in international competitions and is in increasing demand to hold masterclasses all over the world (Germany, Italy, Switzerland, New Zealand, Singapore, Cuba, Japan).