Pianist and conductor Vladimir Feltsman is one of the most versatile and constantly interesting musicians of our time. His vast repertoire encompasses music from the Baroque to 20th-century composers. A regular guest soloist with leading symphony orchestras in the United States and abroad, he appears in the most prestigious concert series and music festivals all over the world.

"Schnittke’s reputation was steadily growing, and after the death of Shostakovich in 1975 he became one of the leading composers in Russia. Despite official resistance, obstacles and restrictions on travelling abroad, his music was now being performed in the USSR and his status as a major, internationally recognized composer was apparent.

Schnittke composed his first piano sonata in 1987, the year in which I was finally allowed to emigrate from the Soviet Union. This work could be considered the beginning of his late period. The world premier took place in the fall of 1988, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, in an all-Schnittke concert, the first of its kind in the US, which I organized. Alfred and his wife Irina came to New York from Russia to attend this event.

As in many of Schnittke’s work s written for a particular performer, the musical materia l is based on the monogram of the name of that musician, in this case, mine. The sonata opens with a very slow line that contains the notational representation of my name. The first movement has no indicated speed: it is a senza tempo recitative beyond time. All of the musical materia l of the entire sonata is present here, as in Beethoven’s sonatas. A Russian Orthodox chant appears and vanishes and the opening theme returns at the end of the movement.

I was very fortunate to know and be close to Alfred Schnittke. I am grateful for his friendship and his music." - Vladimir Feltsman