Grigory Sokolov Live at the Theatre des Champs-Elysees

A dim light picks out the outlines of the hall. Suddenly a massive shadow appears and moves swiftly over to the keyboard, the only brightly lit surface to stand out from the large coffin-like box in the centre of the stage. There follows the vaguest of unsmiling acknowledgements in the general direction of the audience, and then the music begins. Throughout the next two hours, this music will keep its listeners enthralled with its extraordinary intensity as the audience senses the formidable physical, pianistic, musical and emotional presence of this most secretive of present-day pianists, Grigory Sokolov.