I’ve mentioned my concert on March 20, 2020 more than once. It was the day when I went on the stage of the empty Tchaikovsky Hall to play for 4 million online listeners. I will never forget this experience: the hectic concert schedule, planned for years ahead with performances almost every day, collapsed overnight. Everything stopped dead. ...

I congratulate my dear friend Zubin Meta on his 85th birthday. I am a happy person, because in my life I had a chance not only to meet Maestro Meta, but also to go on stage with him, and be friends with him. He is a unique musician, a fantastic conductor, a multi-faceted talent, honest in his service to music and a fantastically kind person. ...

On Monday, there was a concert to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the Tchaikovsky concert hall. I have been a soloist of the Moscow Philharmonic since 1995. I will never forget my first moments on the stage of the Tchaikovsky concert hall. ...

I believe one need to experience what I experienced playing in an empty concert hall with fifteen hundred vacant seats to finally get scared for himself/herself and his/her loved ones and, finally to put on a mask. Dead silence, empty air and darkness that drains life energy and emotions. No one. Nothing. ...

August 29 was marked by a historic and deeply tragic event for the entire music industry. Legendary management in the United States and around the world – Columbia Artist Management Inc. announced it will shut down. This company has worked on the market for more than 90 years and during this time has represented such famous artists as Horowitz, Michelangeli, van Cliburn, Bernstein, Stravinsky, Prokofiev, Rostropovich. I was lucky enough to start working with CAMI right after winning The Tchaikovsky Competition. As a result, we were together for more than 20 years. I worked with the famous Douglas Sheldon. ...

I don't know about you, but I feel like I'm inside a thriller or a horror movie. Every time I wake up, I think it was all a nightmare, but no. This is a new reality. ...

Yesterday there was a really unusual concert in all respects, because it was the first CONCERT I played in an empty hall. It can't be compared to recording: when you record CD, with all those microphones and equipment, you realize that this performance will then continue to exist on discs for a long time, and you imagine, that there is an audience in this concert hall. ...

Yesterday we had a really unusual day at the Mariinsky - 2. Intense, unpredictable and full of improvisation. A wonderful music festival "Faces of Modern Pianism" takes place in St. Petersburg these days, this festival gathers different generations of performers, both famous and young musicians. ...

One of the most kind and genius people in the world’s passed away today. Mariss Jansons. The whole epoch, real legend. We were to go to Musikverein’s stage in 40 minutes today with Vienna Philharmonic orchestra. I cannot comment or grasp this news. Orchestra and I decided to start our concert not with Tchaikovsky piano concert, but with Etude-Tableaux by Rachmaninoff “Sea and seagulls”, maestro Janson’s the most favourite work. ...

These days we started our collaboration with, probably, one of the most brilliant orchestra of the world – Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. Incredible, great, with flawless sound, refined style and highest quality of performance orchestra, which can play any repertoire, like Piano concerto #2 or Symphony #6 by Prokofiev. ...

I am positively sure you follow my posts, and you know what happens to me almost every day, but I can’t help sharing some thoughts. These four days were unprecedented in the intensity of events and emotions. Starting with the concert in Milan at Duomo piazza, where more than 10,000 people gathered, continuing with a concert on the Red Square - the cultural opening of the World Cup Russia 2018, the match, that actually opened the World Cup next day, where we won with the score 5:0, and ending with yesterday's visit to the training base of our national team in Novogorsk. ...

Will never stop admire stunning surprises, that happen sometimes on the tour and or even on stage! Today, after a chamber concert with the soloists of the Staatskapelle Dresden in the Small hall of the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, a large man suddenly came up to us on the stage. I was shocked when I recognized Peter Schmeichel, famous goalkeeper of "Manchester United" and the National team of Denmark, in this big tall blond man. For me it was a real shock. It turned out that it was a part of the World Cup 2018 public activities. Peter is shooting videos for RT and will comment on the Championship matches. ...

Several days ago I had a concert in Zurich, in a temporary concert hall of Tonhalle. Legendary Tonhalle is under reconstruction these days, so all concerts take place in the temporary concert hall. This is a new, with special wooden panels inside for phenomenal acoustics. Wood as a material for concert halls, of course, is amazing. We also plan to use this material for the future concert hall in Irkutsk – it will be made of Siberian cedar inside. ...

I’d like to say a few words about this European tour with Maestro Jansons and the Bavarian radio orchestra. Every time I see this man and this orchestra, I remember the day in 2004, when Rodion Konstantinovich Shchedrin introduced me to Mariss here in Munich. At that concert we performed Shchedrin's Fifth Concerto with the orchestra of the Bavarian radio. Maestro struck me with his amazing magic at first sight: he is an absolutely fantastic conductor and a person. ...

Today we will celebrate the 30th anniversary of «Master Pianist Series» in the famous Hall of the Concertgebouw (Amsterdam). The most famous pianists from around the world took part in this series during these years. Looking through concert posters, I feel proud of the fact that I was invited to take part in this series at the invitation of the organizers many times, because it is, without the slightest exaggeration, unique in every aspect series that sets a very high standard for pianists. This is prestigious pianist series, and not every famous concert hall can boast of a project like this. ...

At the moment of incident in Berlin this evening I was on the stage of Konzerthaus (Berlin). I had no idea about what happened, till the end of the concert. The news about the truck that drove into Christmas market and killed people shocked me to the core! Please, accept my condolences to families and friends of those who perished or were injured. It is a great sorrow that should unite us all in the desire not to let it happen again. This evening, Berlin, I'm with you, on the stage, and off the stage. Courage! ...

Some time before in my vlog I showed you Hill Auditorium from the stage and told you some interesting facts about this concert hall. And now, while I am waiting for my flight to Denver, I’d like to share my impressions after concert in Ann Arbor. Hill Auditorium is a legendary concert hall. With unique ambiance. There are only three or four concert halls in America, that have their unique ambiance. I can name Carnegie Hall, Boston, Chicago, San Francisco. And even among those famous halls Hill Auditorium stands out. Thanks to its audience, which come to concerts of Choral Union Series every year. ...

It is less, than three day Crescendo gala concert closed its season for 2015 and I start my European tour already. It promises to be eventful, bright, diverse, pleasant and long awaited - all at the same time. I open a new season in London, in famous Royal Festival Hall with celebrated London orchestra Philharmonia and my dear maestro Yuri Temirkanov today. I always say, that London concerts has a special place in my life: as London is one of the most famous cultural capitals of Europe, as I love and adore London audience, as I maintain warm and close relations with London orchestras. It is a great pleasure to open my new season with my dear friend maestro Temirkanov and wonderful Philharmonia orchestra, which proved to be a truly universal team. I am looking forward to this concert today. ...