Ashkenazy, Vladimir Davidovich (1937– )
Russian-born pianist and conductor. He was principal conductor of the Royal Philharmonic, London, 1987–94 and of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra 1988–2003. He excels in his interpretations of pieces by Rachmaninov, Prokofiev, and Liszt.
Other positions include music director of the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin 1989–99 and of Tokyo's NHK Symphony from 2004.
| Ashkenazy was born in Gorky, Russia, and graduated from the Moscow Conservatory in 1960. In 1962 he was joint winner of the Tchaikovsky Competition with John Ogdon. He defected to the West in 1963, settling in London, England. He moved to Iceland in 1968, where he organized the biannual music festival in Reykjavik. He moved to Switzerland in 1982. |
| Since moving to the West, he has given recitals all over the world and made more than 150 recordings. He has been a guest conductor with many of the world's major orchestras, including the Berlin Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, and Philadelphia, Cleveland, and Concertgebouw orchestras. |
