‘…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 ChanVasily GvozdetskyFrank HuangAlexander 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 AndrewsVasily Gvozdetsky, Yuri Paterson-OlenichMaki SekiyaMaya SoltanEvgenia StartsevaDrew SteansonElena 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 VolodinEdith Peña (piano) and members of the London Chamber OrchestraVasko 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

in German and Russian are available.