Martin Fleck · CC BY-SA 4.0

Grigory Sokolov built his reputation almost entirely through live performance rather than promotion, touring Europe extensively while giving few interviews and recording sparingly. His repertoire spans four centuries, from Bach, Couperin and Rameau through to Schoenberg and Arapov, drawing on a range few pianists attempt to master. He does not perform in the United Kingdom, one marker of a career built on his own terms rather than the industry's usual circuit.