Prokofiev Piano Concerto No. 2 CD

Svetlana's new CD of the Prokofiev Piano Concerto No. 2 featuring the Omsk Academic Symphony Orchestra conducted by Vladimir Rylov will be released in September 2014... 

However, since you read this post, your curiosity gets rewarded with a taste of the recording...




In other news: We are very happy to see the Omsk Academic Symphony Orchestra -rebranded Siberian Symphony for the occasion- and its music director Dmitry Vasiliev receive rave reviews for their latest CD of world premiere music by Weinberg (1919-1996).

MusicWeb International writes: "This was my first experience of hearing the Siberian Symphony Orchestra (Omsk Philharmonic) who under the reliable baton of principal conductor Dmitry Vasilyev excel in this wonderful and inexplicably neglected music. The Symphony makes compelling listening with Vasilyev’s unfailing instinct producing assured orchestral playing of striking directness. The engineers provide clear sound with a natural and realistic balance."

And in Sinfini, Norman Lebrecht writes: The Siberian Symphony Orchestra, conductor Dmitry Vasilyev, play as if their lives depend on it and the sound in the Omsk Philharmonic Hall is immaculate.

Those who listened to Svetlana's 2010 Rachmaninov Live CD already knew of Vasiliev's flair and this orchestra's musicality and will also discover the sound quality of the new Omsk concert hall through her Prokofiev recording.

"The Battle": Upstaged backstage..

An hour before the concert, Antoine checks the stage while I practice

As is customary, many gathered in the maestro's dressing room after the concert for a glass of champagne. We were all high from the Prokofiev concerto and a powerful performance of Scriabin's "Poème de l'Extase" from the orchestra led by Vladimir Rylov. My 7 y old was very moved as he took the full blast of fortissimos of this soaring piece to heart... So Maestro Rylov invited him to the upright piano and then Antoine unleashed his second opus entitled "The Battle"... Epic!

He's handing me flowers!

Classic107 plays Couperin

This snowy morning in Vancouver a kind email by Program Director Eric Friesen informed us that Winnipeg based Classic107 FM was going to play the Couperin tracks of my Musique de France 2011 CD!

In his words, "Very fine French Baroque keyboard playing".

Thank you!

Greetings for 2014

Little Nastia's Dream on the New Year Eve by V.A. Gavrilin

В. Гаврилин. «Настенькин сон под Новый год»

A World Premiere!

A student at the Vancouver North Shore Music Academy in the class of composer and teacher Alexander Pechenyuk, our son Antoine Villéger, 7 y old, premiered his own composition: "Sarabande with Variations"  Op.1 (2013) this Sunday November 24th during their fall recital...

... Coincidentally on Alfred Schnittke's birthday, most definitely a good omen!

P.S.: At the 2014 North Shore Music Festival, Antoine received the trophy for Creative Composition

In Memory...

Yuri Nikolaevsky, the conductor, colleague and friend of Alfred Schnittke (1934-1998) who conducted my performance of the Concerto for Piano & Strings ten years ago in Omsk passed away in November 2003.

So in memory of both the maestro and the composer, here is Schnittke's lovely piano 4 hands Sonatina composed in 1994.

Bach & Backhands...

Having my Bach French Suite No. 5 BWV 816 presented alongside Gould's, Serkin's and others in John Terauds' Musical Toronto latest blog post about illustrating interpretation versus realisation, I thought interesting to put side by side two different processes that yet share similarities and reinforce each other. This 7 y old is 2 weeks into studying the Little Prelude in D minor BWV 926 and has been now 6 months training on the courts... combining Bach and backhands!