Solodovnik and Dokshizer

Honored Artist of the Russian Federation, pianist Sergei Yakovlevich Solodovnik died of cancer earlier this month at the age of sixty-two. For almost three decades Solodovnik collaborated with the Russian trumpet virtuoso, Timofei Dokshizer, and was Maestro Dokshizer’s preferred accompanist of choice in recordings and recitals. Sergei Solodovnik began piano studies when he was three- or four-years-old and entered the musical college of the Moscow Conservatory in 1957. He later studied in the Moscow Conservatory and at the Gnessin Institute where Dokshizer was professor of trumpet. While he was a student, he won several prizes in piano competitions. Impressively, he played almost all accompaniments from memory. He also was an exceptional sight-reader. 

Vyacheslav Prokopov, Dokshizer’s student and a successor both at the Gnessin Academy and the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow, recalled this story from the 1970s:
Solodovnik was reading a newspaper while Dokshizer was working with a student on Vyacheslav Shchelokov’s Concert Etude No.1.  Those familiar with this piece can tell that the piano accompaniment is a very challenging, written in the style of Scriabin and Rachmaninov, with a lot of accidentals.  At some point of the lesson Dokshizer asked Sergei to run through the piece with that student.  After a couple of pages into the piece Dokshizer stopped them and said: “Seryouzhen’ka [nickname from Sergei], I have always told you that there is a ritardando in this section.” “Timofei Aleksandrovich,” replied Solodovnik, ”but I have never played this piece before.”

In his work on many arrangements for trumpet and piano Dokshizer often consulted with Sergei Solodovnik, most notably during the work on the J.S. Bach’s clavier and organ preludes. Solodovnik worked at the Gnessin Academy for many years, playing for the trumpet studios of Professors Timofei Dokshizer, Vyacheslav Prokopov, Evgeny Fomin, and most recently for the percussion studio of Professor Dmitry Lukyanov.  He also actively collaborated with many singers. As a soloist, Solodovnik frequently performed at the Composers’ House of the Russian Composers Union.  He taught applied piano at the Moscow Ippolitov-Ivanov Music College for almost thirty years.

Many musicians also remember Solodovnik as notoriously absentminded musical genius. For example, on a regular basis he forgot where he left his briefcase. Jouko Harjanne shared this story: “I had a first performance of Wessman's Sonata in 1991 at the Lieksa Brass Week with Sergei. It was also a live radio broadcast. When it was the time for our performance, we could not find Sergei at all.  All the staff was running all over the city and looking for him. Suddenly his face appeared against the big glass wall of the Lieksa church. The audience was staring at him and he was staring the audience. Then someone from our staff went to him to tell that it is finally time to perform (after fifteen minutes of silence in a radio program.) He was a very artistic person.”

Sergei Sovolodnik can be heard on several recordings he made with Timofei Dokshizer, including Scherzo Virtuoso, Russian Concert, Japanese Melodies, Transcriptions, Fantastic Dances, Russian Treasures, Arabesque (Image of Laura).

Source: Dr. Iskander Akhmadullin, Professor of Trumpet, University of Missouri

Note: Akhmadullin would like to thank Vyacheslav Prokopov, Jouko Harjanne, Leonard Candelaria, and Natalia Bolshakova for the information.