Mikhail Pletnev (born 1957, Arkhangelsk) is a Russian pianist, conductor, and composer who won the Gold Medal at the 1978 Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition and went on to found the Russian National Orchestra in 1990 - the first privately funded orchestra in Russia since 1917. Now based in Switzerland, he founded the Rachmaninoff International Orchestra in 2022 and remains one of the most wide-ranging classical artists of his generation, with a catalogue of over 100 recordings and an active career as a composer of orchestral and chamber works.
Pletnev conducted the world premiere of his orchestral work 'Suite Rachmaniana', commissioned by the Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg, at the Elbphilharmonie on 18-19 January 2026.
Pletnev returned to Deutsche Grammophon after a two-decade absence with the album 'Chopin & Scriabin: Préludes', released on 5 December 2025 and notable as the first new pure analogue DG recording since the 1980s.
Pletnev's orchestrations of both Chopin piano concertos were performed to acclaim at the 80th-anniversary International Chopin Piano Festival in Duszniki-Zdrój.
Pletnev appeared at the InClassica International Music Festival in Dubai in five different roles across four concerts - as soloist, conductor, composer, chamber musician, and duo partner.
After the Russian National Orchestra did not renew his contract, Pletnev founded the Rachmaninoff International Orchestra, based in Switzerland, with inaugural concerts conducted by Kent Nagano.
The National Philharmonic Orchestra under Mikhail Pletnev performs his Suite for Cello and excerpts from Tchaikovsky's Sleeping Beauty, with cellist Steven Isserlis.
The National Philharmonic Orchestra under Mikhail Pletnev performs suites by Pletnev and Tchaikovsky from Sleeping Beauty, with cellist Steven Isserlis.