Anna Yesipova (born ''Anna Nikolayevna Yesipova'' ''
russian: Анна Николаевна Есипова">/nowiki>russian: Анна Николаевна Есипова', — ) was a prominent Russian
Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including:
*Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
*Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
pianist
A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, j ...
. Her name is cited variously as ''Anna Esipova; Anna or Annette Essipova; Anna, Annette or Annetta Essipoff; Annette von Essipow; Anna Jessipowa''.
Life
Yesipova was one of Teodor Leszetycki's most brilliant pupils. She made her debut in Saint Petersburg in 1871 attracting rave reviews and the artistic admiration of both Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky , group=n ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer of the Romantic music, Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer Music of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, whose music would make a lasting impressi ...
and Franz Liszt
Franz Liszt, in modern usage ''Liszt Ferenc'' . Liszt's Hungarian passport spelled his given name as "Ferencz". An orthographic reform of the Hungarian language in 1922 (which was 36 years after Liszt's death) changed the letter "cz" to simpl ...
, particularly for her effortless virtuosity and singing tone. She then began concert tours which brought her in 1876 to the United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...
, where her playing was greatly admired. She heard the playing of Fanny Bloomfield and advised her to train under Leszetycki, whom Yesipova married in 1880 and later divorced. In the Summer of the same year she gave a number of concerts in Lisbon, where she had a very warm reception.
Yesipova was probably the first pianist to program the complete set of Frédéric Chopin
Frédéric François Chopin (born Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin; 1 March 181017 October 1849) was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the Romantic period, who wrote primarily for solo piano. He has maintained worldwide renown as a leadin ...
's Preludes, Op. 28 in a recital, for a concert in 1876. Previously the practice was to perform excerpts only.
In 1885, Yesipova was appointed Royal Prussia
Royal Prussia ( pl, Prusy Królewskie; german: Königlich-Preußen or , csb, Królewsczé Prësë) or Polish PrussiaAnton Friedrich Büsching, Patrick Murdoch. ''A New System of Geography'', London 1762p. 588/ref> (Polish: ; German: ) was a ...
n Court Pianist. From 1893 to 1908, she was professor
Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professor ...
of piano
The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a musica ...
forte at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory. Among her students were Sergei Prokofiev
Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev; alternative transliterations of his name include ''Sergey'' or ''Serge'', and ''Prokofief'', ''Prokofieff'', or ''Prokofyev''., group=n (27 April .S. 15 April1891 – 5 March 1953) was a Russian composer, p ...
, Leff Pouishnoff
Lev Nikolaevich Pouishnoff (Russian: Лев Николаевич Пышнов, ''Lev Nikolayevich Pyshnov'') (28 May 1959) was a Russian-born pianist and composer, who made his home in the United Kingdom and whose career was largely in the West, ...
, Sergei Tarnowsky
Sergei Vladimirovich Tarnowsky (also spelled Sergei Tarnovsky; russian: Серге́й Владимирович Тарновский; 3 November 188322 March 1976) was a Russian pianist and teacher.
Biography
Tarnowsky was born in Kharkiv. Visiti ...
, Maria Yudina
Maria may refer to:
People
* Mary, mother of Jesus
* Maria (given name), a popular given name in many languages
Place names Extraterrestrial
*170 Maria, a Main belt S-type asteroid discovered in 1877
*Lunar maria (plural of ''mare''), large, da ...
, Leonid Kreutzer
Leonid Kreutzer (13 March 1884 in St. Petersburg – 30 October 1953 in Tokyo) was a classical pianist.
Life and career
Kreutzer was born in St. Petersburg into a Jewish family. He studied composition under Alexander Glazunov and piano under An ...
, Isabelle Vengerova
Isabelle Vengerova ( be, Ізабэла Венгерава; 7 February 1956) was a Russian, later American, pianist and music teacher.
She was born Izabella Afanasyevna Vengerova (Изабелла Афанасьевна Венгерова) in ...
, Anastasia Virsaladze Anastasia Virsaladze née Abdushelishvili, Georgian: ანასტასია ვირსალაძე, (November 11, 1883 – September 5, 1968) was a Georgian concert pianist and music teacher. In 1921, she began to teach at the Tbilisi Cons ...
, Leo Ornstein
Leo Ornstein (born ''Лев Орнштейн'', ''Lev Ornshteyn''; – February 24, 2002) was an American experimental composer and pianist of the early twentieth century. His performances of works by avant-garde composers and his own innovative ...
, Isidor Achron
Isidor Yulyevich Achron (russian: Изидор Юльевич Ахрон) (November 11, 1892 (Julian calendar; November 24 on the Gregorian calendar) - May 12, 1948) was a pianist, composer and music teacher.
Birth and early childhood
Isidor Ach ...
, Thomas de Hartmann
Thomas Alexandrovich de Hartmann (russian: Фома́ Алекса́ндрович Га́ртман; October 3 .S.: September 21 1884March 28, 1956) was a Ukrainian-born composer, pianist and professor of composition.
Life
De Hartmann was born o ...
, and Alexander Borovsky
Alexander Borovsky (Borowsky) (1889-1968), a Russian-American pianist, was born in Mitau, Russia. His first piano teacher was his mother, a pupil of Vasily Safonov. He completed his studies at the St. Petersburg Conservatory in 1912 with a gold me ...
(Borowsky) 889–1968
Recordings
In the early 1900s, Yesipova made a number of piano rolls, some of which have made been available as modern recordings (including Thalberg's ''Fantasia on a theme from Bellini's La Sonnambula
''La sonnambula'' (''The Sleepwalker'') is an opera semiseria in two acts, with music in the ''bel canto'' tradition by Vincenzo Bellini set to an Italian libretto by Felice Romani, based on a scenario for a ''ballet-pantomime'' written by ...
'').''Through the Night'' program
on BBC Radio 3
BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, drama, culture and the arts also featuring. The st ...
, 28 February 2010Anna Essipova (Welte-Mignon Piano Rolls) - Pupils of Leschetizky Vol.1
There is one extant acoustic recording of her playing, which is Benjamin Godard
Benjamin Louis Paul Godard (18 August 184910 January 1895) was a French violinist and Romantic-era composer of Jewish extraction, best known for his opera ''Jocelyn''. Godard composed eight operas, five symphonies, two piano and two violin concer ...
's Gavotte in G, made onto an Edison cylinder by Julius Block in 1898.
Notes
References
*
Comtesse Angèle Potocka: ''Theodore Leschetizky, an intimate study of the man and the musician''. New York, The Century co., 1903 p. 223 f.
External links
portrait
(by Jose Mora)
1914 deaths
1851 births
19th-century classical pianists
19th-century women musicians from the Russian Empire
Russian classical pianists
Russian women pianists
Piano pedagogues
Women classical pianists
Women music educators
Saint Petersburg Conservatory academic personnel
Burials at Tikhvin Cemetery
Pupils of Theodor Leschetizky
19th-century women pianists
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