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“Whoever has ever heard the performance of Vladimir Ovchinnikov - the most sensitive and expressive pianist - realizes the perfection of form, the purity and power of sound that his fingers and intellect produce” (Daily Telegraph, UK)

Vladimir Pavlovich Ovchinnikov is from Bashkiria. Arriving in Moscow as an eight-year-old boy, Ovchinnikov entered the Central Sports School at the Moscow Conservatory and throughout his ten years of study was under the constant supervision of the Honored Teacher of the RSFSR, Anna Danilovna Artobolevskaya. The knowledge and skills received from the first teacher helped Vladimir enter the conservatory without any problems. There he studied with Professor A.A. Nasedkin, who in turn was a student of the famous.

Nasedkin managed to pass on to his student the traditions of the Russian piano school, the techniques of unusually expressive playing, and the technique of sound production, which he had mastered under the guidance of Neuhaus. Thus, Vladimir Ovchinnikov can rightfully be considered “the pianist of Neuhausov’s nest,” whose playing combines excellent technique, temperament and extraordinary musical sensitivity.

While still a student, Ovchinnikov received a laureate at the International Piano Competition held in Montreal. And almost immediately after graduating from the conservatory, he took part in one of the largest events - the International Competition named after P.I. Tchaikovsky, becoming the winner of the second prize.

Soon, these achievements were supplemented by a victory at another international competition, held in Leeds. These triumphant performances opened the way for Vladimir Ovchinnikov to the wide musical world. Queen Elizabeth herself wanted to hear the pianist play - and Ovchinnikov was invited to London. The impression that Ovchinnikov's performance made on the English public was colossal. The press called Vladimir “an extraordinary pianist, educated by the excellent Russian school and striving for the highest heights of virtuosity,” he was compared to a symphony orchestra, compared to Rachmaninoff, compared to himself.

Creative portrait

Being at the zenith of his fame, Ovchinnikov actively toured cities in Europe and the United States of America. He gave many solo concerts and also performed with major symphony orchestras in different countries. The world's best conductors, such as Rozhdestvensky, Fedoseev, Solti, Kreizberg, became his stage partners...

The virtuosity of Ovchinnikov's playing borders on the impossible. His playing invariably surprises the audience and makes them admire the multifaceted brilliance of each note. The musician can handle the most technically complex works. Each of his concert programs is a real musical miracle, a fusion of virtuoso technique and sincere warmth of playing. One Italian newspaper defined Ovchinnikov's talent as "the gift of 'simplicity' possessed by masters of the highest class." Finding the simple in the complex, revealing to the public the amazing world hidden behind the piano passages - this is the musical mission of Vladimir Ovchinnikov. And he copes with it perfectly.

One of the London newspapers speaks of his performance as follows:

“Anyone who has ever heard the performance of Vladimir Ovchinnikov - the most sensitive and expressive pianist - realizes the perfection of form, the purity and power of sound that his fingers and intellect produce.”

Vladimir Pavlovich Ovchinnikov has the titles of Honored and People's Artist of Russia.

Other areas of activity

Along with his concert activities, Ovchinnikov is seriously involved in teaching. In the mid-nineties, he was a piano teacher at the English Royal Northern College of Music, and immediately after that he began his teaching career within the walls of his native conservatory in Moscow. There was a time when Ovchinnikov taught in Japan, in addition, for ten years now he has been a visiting professor at the Faculty of Arts of Moscow State University.

For the last few years, Vladimir Pavlovich Ovchinnikov has been holding the post of director of the Central Music School.

Ovchinnikov can often be seen on the jury of prestigious music competitions. He listens to young musicians at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Competition, at the Viana da Motta Competition in Lisbon, and at the Busoni Competition in Italy.

Vladimir Putin signed an order ordering the preservation of the system of 11-year vocational training in special schools for gifted children.

This document is intended to save eight music schools in large cities of the country, where children from the first grade are prepared for a concert career, from the action of the new law “On Education”.

The director of the Central Music School (CMS), People's Artist of Russia Vladimir Ovchinnikov spoke about the problem of preserving schools.

- What does the president’s order mean for the Central Music School?

Firstly, it is important that attention was paid to eight special schools. Secondly, the order talks about the continuity of professional education in the field of art from 1st to 11th grade.

- Are we talking about terminology?

Yes, and this is very important. We are seeking the right to professionally teach children music from the first grade. In this case, we will still be able to take children on a competitive basis. At the beginning of February, we will have a meeting with the participation of the directors of eight schools, as well as representatives of the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Culture, we will discuss exactly what educational standards we need. Then we must submit them to the Russian Academy of Education.

In China and Japan, for example, instead of our 40 hours a week, children study much more, without any days off at all. But musicians and creative people need time to be alone, relieve stress, and think. The soul cannot only be disturbed.

- Does the Ministry of Culture support your position?

On many issues it meets halfway. But some things, it seems to me, were not understood until recently. For example, if we call primary music education “pre-professional”, priority will be given to general education rather than to the music cycle. Fortunately, we achieved understanding - maybe too emotional, scandalous, but in the end we were heard.

How did you perceive the open letter from the teachers of the Gnessin Russian Academy of Music? They spoke out for the new law “On Education”, which you are so actively fighting.

I took this as a complete misunderstanding of the situation. And I’m sure that half of the people who signed the letter didn’t even know what they were signing. It's like an order, a response to our position.

Recently, a rare group can boast of the absence of mass letters against something or someone.

People learned to write. They also wrote about me, and about other directors, and even about ministers. Once, when I was working in the UK, one of the local critics wrote a nasty review of my CD. I was very worried, in desperation I called Evgeny Svetlanov, who highly appreciated this recording and with whom I had a friendship. He replied: “Volodenka, don’t give a damn. The main thing in our life is to do our job honestly.” Sometimes we come across bad people along the way, and age is not a hindrance in this regard. Often these are honored, respected people.

- You are a rare example of a concert director. How do you manage everything?

Unfortunately, I don’t have time to do everything. There is no time for new programs, although this has always been the norm of my concert life. I'm still taxiing with old luggage. Recently there was a big solo concert in the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, for which I nevertheless specially learned several etudes by Scriabin. In difficult moments, when everything is not calm at school, I sit down at the instrument, and after half an hour of playing, all my problems disappear from me like water off a duck's back.

In addition, I was recently invited to serve on the jury of the Tchaikovsky Competition. This is an additional motivation: do I have the moral right to judge others, having forgotten how to play myself? So I try to keep myself in shape.

- Many musicians are convinced that competitions are completely fiction and corruption.

Fiction and corruption can exist always and everywhere, and this only shows that personal interests always exist. But if we are talking about children, then no matter what the corruption, talent is always heard. Modern technologies, for example, online broadcasts, make it so easy to track any dishonesty that no one wants to create a scandal.

We need results, and they can only happen with fair play. Those who are given first prizes truly deserve it, even if it may seem otherwise at first. This was the case with Grigory Sokolov and Daniil Trifonov, who played better and better after the competition.

- What kind of pianist should a pianist be like for you to say “yes” to him at a competition?

A musician must see or feel music in such a way that it convinces and pleases me. Virtuosity alone is not enough - you can’t get enough of dessert alone. It's important for me to hear the lyrics.

It is very important how the musician finds contact with the audience, smiles, bows, and chooses a program. There are iconic works from which one can understand: he is a wonderful musician, but nothing more. What will he show to the public? Your empty soul? Or will these be serious statements to which people will go, like going to church, to receive communion? I hope this will be the main criterion at the Tchaikovsky competition.

- Have recent political events affected the school?

We were approached with a request to send musical literature and sheet music to Crimea. We sent 50 boxes. On occasion, we are ready to admit gifted children from there to school. We have a multinational team, even children from North and South Korea study together and live in the same building. So I think everything will be fine.

- What gift would you, as director, like to receive for the 80th anniversary of the Central Music School?

We have already started receiving gifts. For example, benefactors recently replenished our modest instrumentation with two expensive harps: a small Celtic one and a full-size one. Thanks to friends of the school, a film about the Central Music School will be made. Even earlier, we received a generous gift: video cameras were installed inside the school and around the entire perimeter, so now the school has become safer, and hooliganism on the part of students has decreased.

- Children who sit at the instrument all day still find time to misbehave?

One very famous musician admitted to me that he was kicked out of our school for bad behavior. All children have outbursts of energy. Only for some they occur within the bounds of decency, and for others they go beyond all limits.

Of course, at the Central Music School, children have to spend twice as much time studying - due to the integration of the general education cycle and music subjects. But this does not stop them from running, jumping, and playing. The clearest example is Denis Matsuev, who cannot imagine his life not only without music, but also without football.

Not everyone can play more than a hundred concerts a year, and it’s not just a matter of talent. The point is colossal physical exertion, not to mention psychological stress. This is a constant, never-ending process, and at some point a person may simply break down. Therefore, a musician needs to constantly educate himself not only as a person, but also physically. You need to be a steadfast tin soldier.

- Is criticism of primary vocational education that it deprives children of childhood unfounded?

Certainly. On the contrary, this is a happy childhood in which children have already found themselves. Professional music education allows you to open up your artistic chakras. But the most interesting thing is that children, learning music, already learn to work seriously and conscientiously. To learn the simplest piece, you need to sit, concentrate, strain your mental strength, so that it turns out beautifully. I always say that even if a child does not turn out to be a professional musician, he will be a valuable employee in any profession.

- Does it often happen that your students don’t become musicians?

Mostly I came across such cases during perestroika, when life broke many destinies, people went abroad. Among my classmates there were many children who were considered very talented, but apparently they were under strong pressure from teachers and parents, and as a result they deliberately went into other professions. And yet I am convinced: children who study music have a completely different mentality. They see further, feel more deeply, and have a broader horizon. Not to mention that any person who can play at least three chords on the guitar becomes the life of the party. Music and children are the best things in the world.

Job title: head of department
Academic degree: No
Academic title: assistant professor
Total work experience: 35 years
Work experience in specialty: 11 years
Disciplines taught:
Name of areas of training and specialties:

Born in 1958 in Belebey (Bashkiria).
In 1966–1976 studied at the Central Sports School (teacher - A.D. Artobolevskaya). In 1981 he graduated with honors from the Moscow Conservatory in piano (teacher - Prof. A.A. Nasedkin), in 1982–1985. I also completed my assistant internship there.

Pedagogical activities:
In 1993–1996 taught piano at the Royal Northern College of Music in the UK. Since 1995 he has been working at the Moscow Philharmonic.
Since 1996 - Associate Professor at the Moscow Conservatory in the Department of Special Piano under the guidance of Professor V.V. Ermine.
Since 2011 - Director of the Central Music School.
Since 2012 – Professor at the Gnessin Russian Academy of Sciences.
Concert activities.
After the Leeds International Piano Competition he made his triumphant debut in London, where he was invited to perform for Her Majesty the Queen. The press noted: “... It was hard to believe that not a whole orchestra was on stage. it was a performance that Liszt himself could be proud of!” (Glasgow Gerald, Scotland); “... An extraordinary pianist, educated by the excellent Russian school and striving for the highest heights of virtuosity” (“Corriere della Sera”).
He performed in cities in Europe and the USA with solo programs and with major orchestras: the Symphony Orchestra of the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, the Great Symphony Orchestra, the State Academic Symphony Orchestra conducted by E. Svetlanov; Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Royal Scottish Orchestra, Gewandhaus Orchestra, National Polish Radio Orchestra, The Hague Presidential Orchestra, symphony orchestras of Chicago, Montreal, Zurich, Tokyo, Hong Kong (now Hong Kong). Worked with conductors: R.B. Barshay, A.N. Lazarev, G.N. Rozhdestvensky, V.I. Fedoseev, G. Solti, V. Weller, A.S. Dmitriev, J. Kraitsberg and others.
He took part in the Carnegie Hall and Bollywood Bowl festivals (USA), Edinburgh and Cheltenham festivals (UK), Schleswig-Holstein (Germany), Stresa (Italy), BBC Proms (London), Van Cliburn (Fort Worth, USA).
Victories in competitions:
Laureate of international piano competitions in Montreal (1980, 2nd prize);
Laureate of the VII International Competition named after P.I. Tchaikovsky (Moscow, 1982, 2nd prize) Laureate of the Leeds International Piano Competition (Great Britain, 1987, 1st prize and gold medal);
Laureate of the International Chamber Ensemble Competition in Vercelli (Italy, 1984, 1st prize, together with A.E. Vinnitsky).

Discography. The EMI company has released CDs with Ovchinnikov performing “Transcendental Etudes” by F. Liszt, “Etudes-Paintings” by S. Rachmaninov, 9 sonatas and plays from the ballet “Cinderella” by S. Prokofiev; by Collins Classics - D. Shostakovich's First Piano Concerto (Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by M. Shostakovich) and M. Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition"; by the company "Russian Seasons" (Moscow) - sonatas by E. Grieg for violin and piano in ensemble with A.E. Vinnitsky (violin).

, Bashkir ASSR. He is the only pianist to ever win top prizes at both the International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow (1982, first prize not awarded, received joint 2nd place with Peter Donahue) and the Leeds International Pianoforte Competition (1987). Artistic director of the Association of the Tchaikovsky Star Competition since 2000.

A graduate of the Moscow Conservatory, where he studied with Alexei Nasedkin, Vladimir Ovchinnikov is a resident professor of piano at the Moscow Conservatory and a visiting professor of piano at Sakuyo University in Japan. Awarded second place in the Montreal International Music Competition in 1980. In 1982 he was awarded second prize jointly with Peter Donahue (not the first prize was awarded in the same year). In 1987 he won first prize at the Leeds International Pianoforte Competition. In 2005, he received Russia's highest award and honor for musicians - the title "People's Artist of Russia", awarded by the President of Russia.

He acted as chairman and member of the jury at the International Tchaikovsky Competition, at the International Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians, at the International Russia Rotary Children's Music Competition and many others. He was appointed director of the Central Music School at the Moscow Conservatory in 2011.

Ovchinniki regularly performs with leading Russian orchestras such as the Moscow Philharmonic; Moscow Radio Symphony and St. Petersburg Philharmonic; he also has a long-standing relationship with the Russian State Symphony Orchestra, and was a special favorite of Evgeniy Svetlanov, with whom he toured in France, Holland, and North and South America.

Concert performances in Europe and North America included the following:

Ovchinnikov played in various conductors, including:

Among his recordings are Shostakovich's Piano Concerto No. 1 combined with