Valery Afanassiev

Valery Afanassiev (born 1947) is a Russian pianist.

Life

Valery Afanassiev was born in Moscow. He studied piano at the Moscow Conservatory with Emil Gilels and Yakov Zak. In 1969 he was prizewinner at the Bach Competition in Leipzig, three years later at the Concours Reine Elisabeth in Brussels. After a tour in Belgium, he decided to seek political asylum in the West and became a citizen of Belgium.

Along with his musical activities Afanassiev is also author of novels. He lives in Versailles.

Repertoire

In Germany Afanassiev was first known as a duet partner of Gidon Kremer in chamber music performances. His interpretations of works of Franz Schubert, Ludwig van Beethoven and others are regarded as unusual and unconventional due to his striving for utmost expressiveness.