Concerts at Hatchlands Park: Journey from St Petersburg to Moscow

Journey from St Petersburg to Moscow
70 years of Russian piano miniature

Путешествие из Петербурга в Москву
70 лет русской фортепианной миниатюры

Alexander Karpeyev - Grand Piano by Jakob Becker, c.1879, St. Petersburg

THE PROGRAMME

Anton Rubinstein (1829-1894)
6:23 Mélodie, Op. 3, No.2 (1852)

Ivan Laskovsky (1799-1855)
9:15 Penseé figutive, Op. 28 (1830s)
10:51 Impromptu in F Minor (1830s)

Franz Liszt (1811-1886)
13:34 Le Rossignol (Air russe de A. Alyabyev) from 'Deux Mélodies russes' (1853)

Pyotr Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)
17:23 Nocturne, Op. 19, No.4 (1873)
21:25 Scherzo humoristique, Op. 19, No.2 (1873)
25:10 Thème original et variations, Op. 19, No.6 (1873)

Georgy Catoire (1861-1926)
39:05 Rêverie, Op. 6, No.1 (1897)
41:30 Prélude, Op. 6, No.2 (1897)

Nikolay Medtner (1880-1951)
43:29 Novellette, Op. 17, No.1 (1908)
47:16 Märchen (Tale), Op. 14, No.2, 'March of Paladin' (1905-07)

Pyotr Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)
51:07 Coronation March, arr. Tchaikovsky (1883)

THE INSTRUMENT
Grand piano by Jakob Becker, St Petersburg, c.1879. Belonged to Sir Percy Hull
https://www.cobbecollection.co.uk/collection/49-grand-piano-becker/
At the end of 1870s the name of Jakob Becker was very well known in the musical circles of Russia and Europe. By then, his instruments have already gathered an impressive array of celebrity endorsements and royal patronage: Tchaikovsky, Anton and Nikolai Rubensteins, Hans von Bülow, Rimsky-Korsakov, Glinka, to name a few, were all supplied pianos by Becker.

German-born Jakob Davydovich Becker (Якоб Давыдович Беккер) moved to St Petersburg in 1841, setting up the factory in the same year and already in 1849 the Petersburg publisher and pianist M. I. Bernard wrote: ‘Becker’s instruments are especially remarkable now. Due to his talent, diligence and conscientiousness they have earned their fame. The durability and beauty of his grand pianos rival those of Erard instruments and, undoubtedly, surpass them by force, fullness and charm of sound’.

It is identical to, though a few years younger than, the piano presented by Becker to Tchaikovsky, which can be seen today in the composer’s house at Klin. Becker pianos are rare in England, and the Cobbe Collection piano was perhaps brought here by an emigrating Russian family. It then belonged to Sir Percy Hull, organist of Hereford Cathedral, close friend of Elgar, and the dedicatee of more than one of Elgar’s works.

This concert was sponsored by Elston Portfolio Management
https://www.elstonportfoliomanagement.co.uk
To allow us to commission artists and put together more online concerts, do please consider leaving a donation:
https://www.cobbecollection.co.uk/donate/

THE PERFORMER
Alexander Karpeyev is a Russian pianist, who is resident in the UK and has performed throughout the UK and Europe and has also toured in the USA, Canada and Russia. ‘Sasha’ trained at the Moscow Conservatory and at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama. In 2014 he completed a performance practice doctoral degree at the City University, based on the Edna Iles Medtner Collection at the British Library.

'Sasha' is passionate about communicating his ideas on Romantic 19th and early 20th century piano repertoire, and in particular exploring the works of virtuoso pianist-composers. A Medtner specialist, he became deeply immersed in Medtner’s music and approach to music-making while working on his doctoral degree, and his contact with unique performing practice informs his own playing. In 2019 he gave the Algerian première of Chopin’s F minor Concerto with the Algerian National Opera Orchestra under Maestro Amine Kouider.

He devotes considerable time to promoting Russian music in London as the Music Curator of the ‘Pushkin House Music Salon’ in Bloomsbury, where he appears both as a soloist and collaborator with guest artists. He also has a mission to devise and direct music festivals that combine performance and scholarship.

‘Sasha’s latest project is a CD of Medtner Songs, Opp. 36-7, 45-6, recorded with the Russian soprano Sofia Fomina, offering the first complete version of Opp. 36 and 46, with Russian texts by Pushkin, Tyutchev and Fet, and German texts by Goethe, Eichendorff and Chamisso; it was released by Chandos Records in 2021.

Karpeyev remains deeply grateful for the support of the Stiftung Lyra (Zürich), Guildhall School Trust, Martin Musical Scholarship Fund, Hattori Foundation, Leverhulme Trust, Craxton Memorial Trust, English Speaking Union, Fidelio Charitable Trust, Solti Foundation, Nicholas Boas Charitable Trust, Jaques Samuel Pianos, his family, friends and numerous anonymous donors.

www.akarpeyev.com

THE COLLECTION
The Cobbe Collection at Hatchlands possesses the world’s largest group of keyboards owned by or associated with the masters of music in the Baroque, Classical and Romantic periods, including instruments that belonged to or were played by Purcell, J C Bach, Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven, Bizet, Chopin, Liszt, Mahler and Elgar.

Видео Concerts at Hatchlands Park: Journey from St Petersburg to Moscow канала The Cobbe Collection