Anton Batagov

Anton Batagov (born October 10, 1965) is a Russian pianist and post-minimalist composer.

Heralded as "one of the most significant and unusual figures of Russian contemporary music" (Newsweek, Russian edition, 1997) and "the greatest pianist of our time" (Crescendo' magazine, Germany, 2017), Batagov is one of the most influential Russian composers and performers of our time.[1]

Biography

A graduate of the Gnessin School and the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory and prize-winner at the International Tchaikovsky Competition (1986) and other competitions, Batagov introduced music by John Cage, Morton Feldman, Steve Reich and Philip Glass to Russian audiences. His debut album was a 160-minute recording of Olivier Messiaen's Vingt regards sur l'Enfant Jesus (Melodiya, 1990). Three years later a well-known American musicologist Richard Kostelanetz characterized Batagov's 1993 recording of Bach's The Art of the Fugue as "the most stunning interpretation of Bach since Glenn Gould".

His interpretations of classical and contemporary music distinguish themselves with expert knowledge of traditions and the history of culture. At the same time, they radically change habitual conceptions of these works, and even of the very foundations of musical art.

From 1989 to 1996 Batagov was the artistic director of the legendary festival of contemporary music "Alternativa". The influence of his work on the understanding of classical and new music and on the artistic tendencies in Russia has been tremendous.

In 1997 he stopped performing live for 12 years to focus on composition and studio recordings.

As a composer, Batagov has his own unique voice. The post-minimalist language of his compositions is rooted in the harmonic and rhythmic patterns of Russian church bells and folk songs seamlessly mixed with the spirit of Buddhist philosophy, the dynamic pulse of early Soviet avant-garde, and the unfading appeal of progressive rock. The philosophy of Batagov's projects eliminates any boundaries between "performance" and "composition" by viewing all existing musical practices—from ancient rituals to rock and pop culture and advanced computer technologies—as elements of his work. His discography includes over 50 albums. Batagov is the author of several movie soundtracks, and original music for major Russian TV channels.

In 2009 he returned to live performances. Since then, he has been performing a series of unique solo piano programs. He repertoire includes works by Bach, Pachelbel, Purcell and early English music, Mozart, Schubert, Debussy, as well as many other composers, and his own numerous piano compositions. Batagov is one of the key performers of piano works by Philip Glass. Batagov's recordings and live performances of Glass include the complete etudes, Batagov's piano arrangements of scenes from Einstein on the Beach and Koyaanisqatsi), music from The Hours, "Distant Figure" (a composition written by Philip Glass for and premiered by Batagov), and other works.

Batagov's compositions have been performed by outstanding Russian classical and rock musicians and orchestras.

Discography
Music by Anton Batagov
  • I was looking at the green trees for a long time (1994)
  • Music for December (1998)
  • Best Before 02.2000 (2000)
  • Prayers and Dances (2-CD set) (2001)
  • Music for the 35 Buddhas (2001)
  • The Wheel of the Law (3-CD set) (2002)
  • Music for Piano (2003)
  • Save Changes Before Closing? (2003)
  • Symphony.ru (2003)
  • From the Beginning up to the End (2004)
  • Tetractys (2004)
  • Music for Films (2-CD set) (2005)
  • Passionate Desire to Be an Angel (2006)
  • Breathing In Breathing Out (original motion picture soundtrack) (2007)
  • The Monk Thogmey's Thirty-Seven Precepts (2007)
  • The Musicmaker's Contract (NTV/NTV+ channels greatest hits) (2007)
  • ab & xmz. The Piano And Other Sounds (2008)
  • Lama Sonam Dorje & Anton Batagov. Daily Practice (2008)
  • Bodhicharyavatara (2009)
  • ab & xmz II (2009)
  • Tayatha (Yungchen Lhamo & Anton Batagov ) (2013)
  • Selected Letters of Sergei Rachmaninoff (2013)
  • Post Production (2014)
  • I Fear No More. Selected songs and meditations of John Donne (2015)
  • The One Thus Gone (2017)
  • Where We Are Not. Letters of Mother Seraphima (2017)
  • 16+ (Female poetry through the ages) (Nadine Koutcher / Anton Batagov) (2019)
  • Disquiet (Music for Ivan Vyrypaev's drama) (2019)
  • Made in 1993: The Art of Sampling (2020)
  • Lamrim. A Prayer to the Gurus (EP, 2020)
  • I See Your Dream. You See My Dream (EP, 2020)
  • Invisible Lands (2020)
Music by various composers performed by Anton Batagov
  • Messiaen: Vingt Regards sur l'Enfant-Jesus (3-CD set) (1990)
  • Rails (Russian avant-garde piano music) (1991)
  • Bach: Die Kunst der Fuge (2-CD set)(1993)
  • Ravel: Piano works (1994)
  • Alexandre Rabinovitch: Oeuvres pour piano (1994)
  • The New Ravel (Ravel: Piano works) (1996)
  • Yesterday (Russian post-minimalist piano music) (1998)
  • Vladimir Martynov: Opus posth (1998)
  • Sergei Zagny: Sonata (2000)
  • Remix (Beethoven, Schubert, Bach) (2002)
  • Morton Feldman: Triadic Memories (2003)
  • The Battell (music of William Byrd and Johann Pachelbel) (2014)
  • Alle Menschen Müssen Sterben (music of Johann Pachelbel) (2015)
  • Prophecies (Music by Philip Glass from Einstein on the Beach and Koyaanisqatsi arranged for piano solo and performed by Anton Batagov) (2016)
  • Tchaikovsky Competition 1986 (2016)
  • BACH (Johann Sebastian Bach: Partitas No.4 & 6, Jesus bleibet meine Freude) (2017)
  • Philip Glass: The Complete Etudes (2017)
  • An Evening Hymn (Early English Music) (2018)
  • Big My Secret (Piano recital: Rameau, Bach, Mozart, Nyman, Bull) (2018)
  • Philip Glass: The Hours / Distant Figure (2018)
  • Sunny Night (Piano recital: Rebikov, Debussy, Grieg, Chopin, Waters) (2020)
  • Debussy. Preludes, Book 1 (Live) (2020)

References
  1. "RUSSIAN COMPOSER/ PIANIST ANTON BATAGOV PERFORMS DROWNED CATHEDRAL: THREE NIGHTS OF PIANO MUSIC". Double Sharp.com. Retrieved 18 June 2012.
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