Russian Pianist

“Honoured Artist of Russia”, first prize winner at every international competition she participated in, Ludmila Berlinskaya played on the most prestigious stages in the world, including the Théâtre des Champs Elysées in Paris, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Wigmore, Barbican and Royal Albert Halls in London, la Fenice in Venice, the Royal Academy of Brussels, the National Auditorium in Madrid, the City Hall of Hong Kong, St. Petersburg Philharmony and all major halls of Moscow, where she grew up. She is regularly invited to prestigious festivals such as La Roque d’Anthéron, Colmar, Auvers sur Oise, Aix en Provence, Evian, Kuhmo, Edinburgh, Aldeburgh, Orlando, Stavanger, Portogruaro Festivals etc.

Deutsche Gramophone has paired two of today's top performers for aruguably the most difficult piano concertos commonly performed. Both Pletnev - the pianist, and Rostropovich - the cellist, alternate constantly as conductors so it is only fitting that they bring a distinct symphonic approach to these works. The results are mixed yet always exhilarating.

That the cello's repertoire has been so wonderfully enriched during the 20th century is due largely to Mstislav Rostropovich, the most influential cellist of his time, a champion of liberty, and also a noted conductor and pianist. Born In Baku on 27 March 1927 to a pianist mother and a cello-playing father who had studied with Pablo Casals, 'Slava' received early paternal grounding in his chosen instrument.

The G major Anton Rubinstein violin concerto is a fine and powerful work, quite as good as many a lesser-known Russian example in the same genre, and easily as deserving of wider currency as, say, the Taneyev Suite de Concert, which is just as rarely heard these days. Nishizaki gives a committed and polished reading, though you often feel that this is music written by a pianist who had marginally less facility when writing for the violin. Still, here’s a well-schooled performance, full of agreeable touches of imagination (the Andante shows Nishizaki’s fine-spun tone to particularly good effect) delivered with crisply economical urgency that makes good musical sense even of the work’s plainer and less idiomatic passages.

In 2023, Brazilian cellist Raïff Dantas Barreto and Russian pianist Anastasiya Evsina came together to produce an album entirely dedicated to composer Sergei Rachmaninoff, in celebration of his 150th birthday. ‘Rachmaninoff: Cello Sonata, Op. 19 & Romances’ highlights the vocal nuances of the Russian composer’s melodies, while exploring some of the most significant works in the repertoire for these instruments.

In 2023, Brazilian cellist Raïff Dantas Barreto and Russian pianist Anastasiya Evsina came together to produce an album entirely dedicated to composer Sergei Rachmaninoff, in celebration of his 150th birthday. ‘Rachmaninoff: Cello Sonata, Op. 19 & Romances’ highlights the vocal nuances of the Russian composer’s melodies, while exploring some of the most significant works in the repertoire for these instruments.

In 2023, Brazilian cellist Raïff Dantas Barreto and Russian pianist Anastasiya Evsina came together to produce an album entirely dedicated to composer Sergei Rachmaninoff, in celebration of his 150th birthday. ‘Rachmaninoff: Cello Sonata, Op. 19 & Romances’ highlights the vocal nuances of the Russian composer’s melodies, while exploring some of the most significant works in the repertoire for these instruments.