Greater Boston brims with top-quality classical music performances, yet world-class piano duo concerts rarely occur. In response, the Boston-based non-profit ๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐ ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฌ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐๐ฌ๐๐ง๐ญ๐ฌ ๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ซ๐ญ ๐จ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ข๐๐ง๐จ ๐๐ฎ๐จ, its inaugural piano duo concert series, comprised of two evening concerts taking place on two Saturdays in June 2024. Under the leadership of Artistic Advisor Dr. Elena Sorokina, Professor Emeritus of the Tchaikovsky Moscow Conservatory and preeminent expert of the piano duo genre, this two-concert event features international performers presenting repertoire from the 18th through 20th centuries.
๐๐จ๐ง๐๐๐ซ๐ญ๐ฌ ๐๐๐ ๐ข๐ง ๐๐ญ ๐:๐๐ ๐ฉ.๐ฆ. and end by 10:00 p.m. in the sanctuary of ๐ ๐ข๐ซ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐๐ก๐ฎ๐ซ๐๐ก ๐๐จ๐ฌ๐ญ๐จ๐ง, acoustically very fitting for chamber music, at ๐๐ ๐๐๐ซ๐ฅ๐๐จ๐ซ๐จ๐ฎ๐ ๐ก ๐๐ญ๐ซ๐๐๐ญ. General admission tickets are $40, available online via HERE and at the door.
๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ง๐ ๐๐ concert focuses on the music of Franz Schubert, highlighting works for piano four hands as well as cello and piano.
Esteemed cellist/pianist/conductor ๐๐ฅ๐๐ฑ๐๐ง๐๐๐ซ ๐๐ฎ๐๐ข๐ง teams up with pianist ๐๐ค๐๐ญ๐๐ซ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐๐ซ๐ณ๐ก๐๐ฏ๐ข๐ง๐ to deliver a rare program exploring the connections between Schubertโs piano duets and his music for string instrument and piano.
Beginning with the Eight Variations on a French Song for piano four hands, Rudin then takes up his cello to perform the Sonatina in G minor in partnership with Derzhavina on the piano. The first half concludes with a Characteristic March for piano four hands. The second half begins with the Rondo in D major for piano duet and climaxes with the richly composed Grand Duo, with Rudin playing cello.
(Concert recording):
About the Performers:
Alexander Rudin is an internationally acclaimed cellist, conductor, pianist, harpsichordist, and professor at the Moscow Conservatoire. He is a Peopleโs Artist of Russia, a recipient of the State Prize of Russia and the City of Moscow Government Prize.
His cello repertoire includes compositions spanning four centuries โ both well-known and obscure pieces. Owing to his attention to forgotten episodes in the history of music, music-lovers throughout the world have heard many works for the first time, among them, Mikhail Vielgorskyโs Theme and Variations for cello and orchestra, cello concerti by Antonรญn Kraft, Jean Balthazar Trickler, Johann Heinrich Facius and Robert Volkmann, to name a few. He also performs works by contemporary composers such as Valentin Silvestrov, Vyacheslav Artyomov, Edison Denisov and Andrei Golovin.
Since 1988, Rudin has been Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Musica Viva Moscow chamber orchestra. In Moscow, he has conducted the Russian premieres of the oratorio Juditha Triumphans by Vivaldi and an original version of Degtyarevโs oratorio Minin and Pozharsky, or the Liberation of Moscow as well as many other works. As a guest conductor, Rudin appears with acclaimed orchestras across Russia and abroad. He also takes part in international festivals and performs recitals and presents master classes worldwide.
His discography encompasses more than thirty discs released on Russian and international labels. Particularly well received were his recordings of six suites by Bach (Naxos), cello concerti by Trickler, Myaskovskyโs Cello Concerto, a Grieg Album, works by Alexander Alyabiev and Alexander Cherepnin, and more.
Rudin graduated from the State Gnessin Musical Education Institute in 1983 (cello class of Lev Yevgrafov and piano class of Yuri Ponizovkin). In 1989 he completed his studies at the Moscow State Conservatoire (conducting class of Dmitri Kitaenko). While a student, he was a prize-winner at the Bach Competition in Leipzig (1976), the Cassado Competition in Florence (1979) and the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow (1978, 1982).
Ekaterina Derzhavina was born in Moscow and started playing the piano at the age of 6. Studies were first at the Specialized Gnessins Moscow Music school and then at the Gnessins Russian Music Academy, where she also finished the post-graduate course. Her professors included Yuri Polunin, Valeria Polunina and Vladimir Tropp. In 1992, she won the First Prize at the "J.S. Bach" International Piano Competition in Germany.
From 1993 to 2006 she taught in the piano department of the Gnessins Russian Music Academy. Since 2003, she has been a Professor at the Tchaikovsky Moscow State Conservatory. She has also given master-classes in Germany, Russia, the USA, Canada, Japan, United Kingdom, and New Zealand.
She has presented concerts worldwide in prestigious concert venues such as the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory and Place des Arts in Montreal as well as taken part in many international festivals. Her performances have been recorded on the radio of Moscow, Cologne (WDR), Saarbrรผcken (SR), Berlin (Deutschland Radio), and Montreal (Radio Canada).
Among her many recordings, in 1996, Arte Nova Classics released her disc with the Goldberg Variations by Bach, which received the 1999 "Choc du Monde de la Musique" award in Paris. Her 2CD-set with the piano works by Nikolai Medtner (Phoenix Edition) received the French Diapason d'or award in 2009. In 2013 the German label "Profil" released her 9CD-set of the complete Piano Sonatas by Josef Haydn. This edition was nominated for ICMA in 2014 and has received "Choc de Classica" in 2016.