Valery Vladimirovich Kastelsky was a Soviet and Russian pianist born on 12 May 1941 in Moscow, in the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, USSR. He died on 17 February 2001 in Moscow, Russia. A distinguished concert pianist and later a professor at the Moscow Conservatory, he was awarded the honorary title Merited Artist of the RSFSR in 1984 and was named People's Artist of the Russian Federation in 2000. He was buried at Vagankovo Cemetery in Moscow.
In 1958 he graduated with a gold medal from the Gnessin Music School, where he studied in the class of E. S. Kantorovich. In 1963 he graduated with honors from the Moscow Conservatory in the class of Heinrich Neuhaus, and in 1965 he completed postgraduate studies there under Stanislav Neuhaus. He later headed the piano department of the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory from 2000 to 2001.
While still a conservatory student, Kastelsky took part in major international competitions and became a prize-winner at the International Chopin Competition in Warsaw in 1960, where he received sixth prize, the Marguerite Long–Jacques Thibaud Competition in Paris in 1963, where he won fifth prize, and the Bavarian Radio Competition in Munich in 1967, where he took third prize. These successes helped establish his reputation as a pianist of high technical and artistic level.
Kastelsky toured widely both within the Soviet Union and abroad, appearing in France, Germany, the United States, Japan, Sri Lanka, Algeria, Singapore, Belgium, Cuba, Finland, and other countries. Music lovers also came to know him through radio broadcasts and television programs, a sphere of performance that demanded exceptional responsiveness and the rapid assimilation of new repertoire, qualities for which he was especially valued.
A large part of his repertoire was devoted to Romantic composers, reflecting his particular affinity for that tradition. Schubert, Liszt, Chopin, Schumann, and Scriabin appeared regularly in his concert programs, although he also often turned to the music of Bach, Beethoven, Debussy, Prokofiev, Khrennikov, and others. He also performed new works by younger Soviet composers, including the Sonata-Ballade by V. Ovchinnikov and a sonata by V. Kikta, showing a constant desire to renew and broaden his repertoire.
Critics noted the distinctive qualities of Kastelsky's art. Reviewing a Moscow recital of works by Schubert and Liszt, commentators emphasized both his closeness to Romantic music and the fact that many of the pieces were new to his programs, evidence of his continual artistic development. His performing manner was praised for its plasticity, beauty, and expressiveness of piano sound, always recognizable whether he played Beethoven or Chopin, Rachmaninoff or Schumann. Writers also saw in his art the finest traditions of Russian pianism: a singing, soft, and deep tone capable at the same time of lightness and transparency.
The Melodiya label released ten records of Kastelsky's performances of works by Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Scriabin, Brahms, and Ravel.
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