Mikhail Pletnev: Scarlatti - Sonata in B minor, K87

Mikhail Vasilievich Pletnev (Russian: Михаил Васильевич Плетнёв - Mikhail Vasil’evič Pletnëv; born 14 April 1957) is a Russian pianist, conductor, and composer. Pletnev was born into a musical family in Arkhangelsk, then part of the Soviet Union; his father played and taught the bayan, and his mother the piano. He entered the Central School of Music at the age of 13 and, in 1974, entered the Moscow Conservatory, studying under Yakov Flier and Lev Vlasenko. At age 21, he won the Gold Medal at the VI International Tchaikovsky Competition in 1978, which earned him international recognition and drew great attention worldwide. The following year he made his debut in the United States. He also taught at the Moscow Conservatory. In 1988, he was invited to perform at the superpower conference in Washington, D.C.. At this conference, he met and befriended Mikhail Gorbachev. Because of this friendship, he gained the support to found two years later the Russian National Orchestra in 1990, the first non-gov