Irina Vladimirovna Chukovskaya, née Petrova, is a Russian pianist. She is a soloist of the Moscow Philharmonic and has also been active as a teacher at major Moscow music institutions.
She was born in Tashkent into a family of musicians. Her first teacher was Tamara Popovich. At the age of seven she performed Haydn's D major concerto with the Tashkent Philharmonic Orchestra and took part in a tour with this program. From the age of twelve she studied at the Central Music School attached to the Moscow Conservatory in the class of Vera Gornostaeva, and at thirteen she gave her first solo recital in Fergana.
From 1976 to 1981 she studied at the Moscow State Conservatory with Stanislav Neuhaus and Vera Gornostaeva; among the assistants named in the article are Elena Richter and Mikhail Kollontay. In 1980, then still Irina Petrova, she won the sixth prize at the International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw. From 1983 to 1985 she was an assistant trainee in the class of Dmitry Bashkirov. She later refined her performing skills in the class of Theodore Lettvin at Rutgers University in the United States and also trained further with Mikhail Kollontay.
Since 1985 Chukovskaya has been a soloist of the Moscow Philharmonic. She has appeared in the principal halls of Moscow and Saint Petersburg and toured in Russia, the CIS countries, and abroad. From 1989 to 1997 she lived and performed in the United States. In 1991 she made her debut with the New Orleans Symphony Orchestra under Maxim Shostakovich, performing Saint-Saëns's Second Piano Concerto. The article states that she gave more than 500 concerts in many American states and performed in venues including Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, Cami Hall, and Merkin Hall.
Her festival appearances included Marlboro in the United States, a Russian music festival in Quebec, the Andrei Previn festival in the United States, the Kristianstad festival in Sweden, events in Greece, and numerous Russian festivals, including December Evenings and festivals named after Sakharov, Gavrilin, Rachmaninoff, Sollertinsky, and Heinrich and Stanislav Neuhaus. After returning to Russia, she continued active concert work while devoting much effort to teaching. She taught at the Moscow State Conservatory from 1999 to 2005, served for six years as assistant to Professor Lev Naumov there, and from 2000 has taught at the Gnessin Russian Academy of Music, becoming docent in 2006 and professor from 2013; in 2017 she was awarded the title of professor.
Her repertoire includes Classical and Romantic music by Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Schumann, Schubert, and Liszt, as well as French and Spanish repertoire by Debussy, de Falla, and Granados. She also pays much attention to Russian music and contemporary composers, performing works by Tchaikovsky, Dargomyzhsky, Prokofiev, Shostakovich, Ustvolskaya, and Mikhail Kollontay. The article cites praise for her playing from Maxim Shostakovich, Mstislav Rostropovich, David Gilbert, and the American press, emphasizing her tonal richness, phrasing, virtuosity, and artistic temperament.
Chukovskaya has also been associated with first performances and recordings of music by Mikhail Kollontay, including works dedicated to her. Her discography mentioned in the article includes releases devoted to Robert Schumann, Dmitri Shostakovich, and Frédéric Chopin, as well as recordings of Shostakovich and Kollontay. The article also notes her scholarly and methodological publications on Shostakovich and Jacques Hétu. Among her distinctions are the title Honored Worker of Culture of the Russian Federation in 2010, first prize at the Art of the 21st Century competition in Finland in 2014, and Grand Prix awards at international music teaching competitions in 2014.
Connections
This figure has 1 connection in the Music Lineage catalog.