Alexey Skanavi – P. Tchaikovsky, “Seasons”, opus 37 bis. (deluxe-edition)

Alexei was born in 1968 in Moscow, Russia. He studied piano since 5 y.o. In 1975-1986 Alexei studied piano at the Central Music School, Moscow (teachers: Tamara Koloss, Alexander Bakoulov). 1986-1994: undergraduate and post-graduate studies at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory and the Russian (Gnessins) Music Academy with Prof. Grigory Dinor, Prof. Vladimir Tropp (piano), Prof. Igor Stegmann (conducting), Prof. Givani Mikhailov (musical culturology), etc. Alexei also took piano lessons from Paul Messner (1992), Eugene Indjic (1996), Viktor Derevyanko (2003) etc. At present: independent concert pianist, showman and producer, radio presenter for the Silver Rain Radio (www.silver.ru), TV presenter for the Moskva.Doverie TV channel, Moscow (www.doverie-tv.ru), General Manager and Artistic Director of the New Classic Stars Music Management, member of the Rotary Club Moscow.

Skanavi performed many recitals in Moscow, Russia’s regions and abroad (USA, China, the Netherlands, Sweden, Ukraine, Bosnia and Herzegovina, etc.) both as a soloist and in chamber ensembles with Alexander Zagorinsky, Victor Shpiller (cello), Anton Yaroshenko (viola), Alexander Trostyansky (violin), Alexei Martynov (tenor), Borodin String Quartet, Shostakovich String Quartet, Rachmaninoff String Quartet, etc. A.Skanavi performed with symphony and chamber orchestras (conductors: Sergei Skripka, Gennadi Galkin, Vladislav Bulakhov, Nicholas Smith, etc.). His recent solo programs have been devoted to salon, entertainment and virtuoso music of the 19th century: The Waltz (1999), Nachtmusik (2000), Golden Melodies of the Silver Age (2001), Invitation to Dance (2002). Skanavi's latest programs include Flamenco&Piano project (together with Larissa Romanova, well-known dancer and castanets player), and SKANAVISEASONS (Tchaikovsky's The Seasons and Mussorgsky's Pictures accompanied by the video installation).

Album includes series of 12 most popular pieces of the Russian classics performed by Alexei Skanavi. 

Album notes:

"The Seasons by Tchaikovsky is a special story in my life. I dared performing music, familiar to me by ear since my childhood, before the public only a few years ago. Previously, it seemed to me to be either too simple or too serious and in any case not "piano" music at all, not convenient for fingers. My auditory experience also complicated the situation: there is a lot of recordings of the composition made by famous and even great pianists, and every teacher of musical school is pretty sure how to play it."

Released: ArtBeat, 5 May 2014.