‘…international expert on Nikolay Medtner’. Katie Derham, BBC Radio3, In Tune (2021)
[on Alexander’s New Light on Nikolay Medtner] ‘…groundwork reading no pianist should miss.’ (Ates Orga, Russian Arts & Culture)
‘The playing of the Medtner sonata compares well with the very best recordings in the catalogue, including those by Hamelin, Tozer and Milne.’ Robert Beattie, MusicWeb International (2018)
‘Good to have [Medtner’s] Sonata-Ballade […] in a performance rivalling that of Hamelin’s. Karpeyev’s grasp of the structure of the piece is remarkable, enabling a real sense of flow and beauty.’ Colin Clarke, International Piano (2018)
Alexander is an international expert of the music of Russian composer-pianist Nikolay Medtner (1880-1951). His doctoral thesis ‘New Light on Nikolay Medtner: Edna Iles Medtner Collection at the British Library‘ is downloaded worldwide on the regular basis.
In 2013 Alexander took part in international conference ‘Medtner Family in the Russia and World Culture’ at the Glinka Museum in Moscow and organised Medtner Day, one-day festival dedicated to Medtner. For the first time in the UK Alexander organised two international Medtner festivals in London (2016, 2017). Events took place in the Royal College of Music, British Library, Pushkin House, City, University of London and Merchant Taylor’s Hall. World’s most renowned Medtnerians, professors Dmitry Alexeev, Christoph Flamm, Hamish Milne and Francis Pott, as well as younger musicians and musicologists from around the globe took part. For the first time in history, an international Medtner Study Day in English was held (2016). Russia’s People Artist Nikolay Lugansky was the festival’s Honorary Patron.
In 2017 Alexander have recorded Medtner’s Sonate-Ballade, Op. 27 for Claudio Records and in 2018 some of composer’s finest songs with internationally acclaimed Russian soprano Sofia Fomina. The CD was released by Chandos Records in 2021 to a great critical acclaim. In 2020 Alexander performed Medtner’ Second Concerto in London’s St John Smith Square (Young Musicians Symphony Orchestr, James Blair MBE, conductor). In 2021 an article about the same Concerto was published by the prestigious Olms Verlag as part of the festschrift Nikolai Medtner: Music, Aesthetics, and Contexts, edited by Christoph Flamm and Wendelin Bitzan.
Most recently, Alexander was featured in Channel 4’s ‘Great Canal Journeys‘ (Series 13, Episode 3), discussing Medtner with Dame Sheila Hancock and Gyles Brandreth, as well as playing an excerpt from Medtner’s Third Concerto. In 2023 Alexander latest Medtner CD will be issued by SOMM Recordings.
#MedtnerFest 2016
With the support of the British Library, British Library Sound Archive, Royal College of Music, Royal Musical Association, Pushkin House, Russian Embassy, Dutch Embassy, GB-Russia Society and Musica Nova Academy
An international festival dedicated to Nikolay Medtner
28-30 January 2016, London
Honorary Patron Nikolay Lugansky
Artistic Director Dr Alexander Karpeyev
Academic Advisor Dr Anastasia Belina-Johnson
Thursday 28 January
15:00-17:00 — Medtner Masterclass with Dmitry Alexeev at the Royal College of Music
19:00-20:30 — Concert at the Pushkin House with Cahill Smith, Alexander Karpeyev and Elena Mindlina
Friday 29 January
10:00-16:30 — RMA International Study Day ‘Revealing Medtner: Emerging Research and Repertoire’ at the British Library
18:00-19:00 — Film screening ‘Mystery of Medtner’ by Aida Soboleva at the Musica Nova Academy
Saturday 30 January
12:00 — Trip to Medtner’s grave at the Hendon Cemetery, London. Meeting by Finchley Central Underground
18:00-19:00 — Pre-concert discussion at the Royal College of Music (Corelli Room) with Hamish Milne and Christoph Flamm. Chair: Dr Anastasia Belina-Johnson
19:30-21:30 — Closing concert at the Amaryllis Fleming Hall with RCM students Tamara Bakoch, Lucy Colquhoun, Alexey Demchenko, Djumash Durusaliev, Eunsley Park, Victoria Skornyakova, Varvara Tarasova and Veniamin Zhukov, and Caspar Vos
#MedtnerFest 2017
With the support of the Eastern Seasons, Pushkin House, Russian Embassy, GB-Russia Society, Rossotrudnichestvo and City, University of London
Second International Festival dedicated to Nikolay Medtner
26-27 November 2017
Honorary Patron Nikolay Lugansky
Artistic Director Dr Alexander Karpeyev
Sunday 26 November
14:30-16:00 — Conversation and Iain Burnside‘s Medtner masterclass with GSMD students Mandee Madrid-Sikich, Sofia Marafona and Ema Nikolska (soprano)
17:00-19:00 — Opening concert with Alasdair Beatson, Matthew Chan, Vasily Gvozdetsky, Frank Huang, Alexander Karpeyev (piano), James Boyd (viola), Sofia Fomina (soprano), John Myerscough (cello) and Beatrice Philips (violin)
Pushkin House 5A Bloomsbury Square, London, WC1A 2TA. Tickets (£20/£15) are available via Pushkin House web-site
Monday 27 November
12:30-13:30 — Lunchtime concert with Marcus Andrews, Vasily Gvozdetsky, Yuri Paterson-Olenich, Maki Sekiya, Maya Soltan, Evgenia Startseva, Drew Steanson, Elena Toponogova (piano), Ilona Revolskaya (soprano) and Elisabeth Turmo (violin)
15:00-17:00 — Professor Dmitri Alexeev‘s Medtner masterclass with Thomas Ang and Mihai Ritivoiu (piano)
Performance Space, City, University of London 280 St John Street, London, EC1V 4PB. Free entry.
19:30-21:30 — Closing concert with Alexey Volodin, Edith Peña (piano) and members of the London Chamber Orchestra: Vasko Vassilev, Kathy Shave (violins), Rosemary Warren-Green (viola), Julia Graham (cello). This concert is organised and presented by Eastern Seasons
Merchant Taylors’ Hall 30 Threadneedle Street, London, EC2R 8JB. Tickets (£36/£24/£15) are available via Eastern Seasons web-site
Report was pubslished by
Internationale Nikolaj Medtner Gesellschaft