valery kuleshov

[imbetter]

I heard him in a concert today and I was wondering if anybody has heard of him? He recorded and scored a number of horowitz transcriptions by ear and eventually became friends with him. He has 2 recordings, one of a set of horowitz transcriptions, another of the liszt sonata, the Paganini etudes, and the mephisto waltz arranged by busoni.

his playing was amazing.

he played:

Schumann-3 romances op.28
Pletnev-Tchaikovsky Concert suite on the ballet sleeping beauty
Wild-Rachmaninoff 8 romances
Horowitz-Carmen variations

he played 3 encores:

Scriabin-etude op.42 no.5
Pletnev-Tchaikovsky that famous little dance thing from the nutcracker
liszt-la campanella
 

[furtwaengler]

Yes, Valery Kuleshov was in the same Cliburn competition as Frederic Chiu, Christopher Taylor  and Fabio Bidini (none of whom won, but who remembers who won, and who cares?). He is a very good, spontaneous, and electrifying player live, as you found out, but the recordings come up surprisingly dry, with little of what makes his concerts so successful - not an uncommon phenomenon in the studio environment! In addition to the mentioned CD's, I've also his recording of Rachmoninov's 3rd Concerto, coupled with Tchaikovsky's Concert Fantasy.

(The Liszt CD is from the Cliburn competition no? If not I know there are live performances available of the Paganini Etudes and Schumann's Carnival, which don't suffer the infirmities of the studio.)