Elisabeth Leonskaja was born in Tbilisi, Georgia, in 1945 to Russian parents from Odessa. She received regular piano lessons at the age of seven, made her public debut at the age of eleven and was accepted at the music high school in her home town at the age of fourteen. After winning the International Enescu Piano Competition in Bucharest in 1964, she transferred to the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory in the class of Jacob Milstein. Soon afterwards, she successfully took part in the Marguerite Long Competition in Paris and the Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels.

Through her future husband, the violinist Oleg Kagan, Elisabeth Leonskaja came into contact with Sviatoslav Richter, who had a decisive influence on her further musical development and remained a friend until his death.

Elisabeth Leonskaja left the Soviet Union in 1978 and settled in Vienna. Her sensational performance at the Salzburg Festival in 1979 marked the beginning of a great career in the West.

In addition to her solo activities, chamber music has always remained an important part of her work - her partners have included the Belcea, Borodin, Artemis and Jerusalem Quartets and, above all, the Alban Berg Quartet.

Elisabeth Leonskaja has received numerous record awards. Her extensive discography includes the piano concertos by Tchaikovsky, Chopin, Shostakovich and Brahms, all piano sonatas by Schubert, Brahms and Mozart as well as the last three sonatas by Beethoven. She was awarded the Austrian Cross of Honor for Science and Art, the Georgian "Priestess of Art" award and the Lifetime Achievement Award 2020. Elisabeth Leonskaja has performed regularly with the Konzerthausorchester (formerly the Berliner Sinfonie-Orchester) since 1999 and has also given solo recitals at the Konzerthaus.