Valery Afanassiev

Valery Afanassiev (born 1947) is a russian Pianist.

Life

Valery Afanassiev was born in Moscow. He was trained by Emil Gilels at the Moscow Conservatory. In 1969 he was prizewinner at the Bach Competition in Leipzig, three years later at the Concours Reine Elisabeth in Brussels.

Along with his musical activities Afanassiev is also author of novels. He lives in Paris.

Repertoire

In Germany Afanassiev was first known as a duet partner of Gidon Kremer in chamber music performances. His interpretations of works of Franz Schubert, Ludwig van Beethoven and others are regarded as unusual and unconventional due to his striving for utmost expressiveness.