LIADOV Anatoly, The Music Box Op. 32, performed live by concert pianist Stephanie ELBAZ Live-recorded during the Palermo Classica Winter Season 2018/2019. All rights reserved. https://www.stephanie-elbaz.com Anatoly Lyadov or Liadov is a Russian composer born in 1855 into a family of musicians. Despite his immense talent as a composer, he only wrote about a hundred pieces. It is said that this small number comes from either a lack of self-confidence or acute laziness. The legend doesn't say which theory is true. Two anecdotes may, however, assist us in making our own opinion: - In 1876 Lyadov was dismissed from the conservatory for absenteeism; - Sergei Diagilev would presumably have commissioned the composition of the firebird to him in the first place, before turning to Stravinsky as a consequence of Lyadov’s inaction So what do you think, laziness or low self-esteem?