“The cult Russian pianist Grigory Sokolov has cancelled his sole British 2009 concert next month because of the tightening of new visa requirements by the British government to combat illegal immigration and terrorism.” Sokolov, who lives in Italy, said that the “requirements had echoes of Soviet oppression, and that for every trip to Britain he would have to make an arduous and humiliating four-hour trip from his home to have his fingerprints taken in Rome.”