Igor Tchetuev

When listening to Tchetuev, it is impossible to say whether he is poet, humorist or philosopher – lyric poetry and scathing sarcasm are absolutely typical of him as well as delicate cantilena and stoic concentration. He was born in Sevastopol in 1980 and had his first music lessons in this city, at Sevastopol Music School No.1. He enjoyed dancing as much as piano playing and found it difficult to decide which to choose as a profession. As a performer Tchetuev developed quickly and soon attracted attention. He won the Grand Prix and some special prizes at the Vladimir Krainev Young Pianists Competition (Kharkov, 1994), first prize and the audience’s prize at the Anton Rubinstein Competition (Tel-Aviv, 1998). He has appeared with Evgeny Svetlanov, Vladimir Spivakov and Vladimir Krainev and considers that these were the most remarkable concerts of his life. Following his successful performance in Kharkov the famous pianist Vladimir Krainev became his teacher and ‘protector’. Igor is now a postgraduate under his guidance in Hanover. In 2004 Tchetuev recorded the complete Piano Sonatas written by Alfred Schnittke (the SA-CD was also released by Caro Mitis label). In 2005 he started recording all the Beethoven’s Piano Sonatas, the project he had been dreaming about for a