Nikolai Petrov

MOSCOW (AP) - Renowned Russian pianist Nikolai Petrov died in a Moscow hospital on Wednesday after suffering a stroke a few months before. He was 68.

Russian news agencies quoted Petrov's spokesman as saying the pianist died Wednesday afternoon. Petrov suffered a stroke in May while touring in Belarus and has since been in hospital in severe condition.

Petrov was born in 1943 into a family of musicians. He started touring in the early 1960s and was one of the few Soviet pianists to play abroad during the Cold War.

He has performed with the New York Symphony Orchestra, the Washington National Symphony Orchestra and top European orchestras. But Petrov had always regarded the Moscow Conservatory as his main stage.

While Russian classical music was suffering from severe under-investment in the 1990s, Petrov was one of the few musicians to remain based in Russia and help young musicians, mostly paying out of his own pocket.

Petrov kep t on touring around the globe until the May stroke, playing 70 to 100 concerts a year.

Russian pianist Denis Matsuev described Petrov as "an outstanding pianist and educator".

"He had lots of opportunities to emigrate," Matsuev told the ITAR-Tass news agency. "But his heart was here and it ached for what was happening in the country.

Petrov will be buried in a Moscow cemetery on Friday. Petrov is survived by his wife and daughter.


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