In Search of Kashperova: Episode 1

Also available on the Boosey & Hawkes YouTube channel.

Episode 1: Symphonic memories
Kashperova’s major work, the Symphony in B minor, was the first of her scores to be rediscovered at the St Petersburg Conservatoire, revealing memories of her childhood near Yaroslavl.
Music includes Symphony in B minor.

A new series of five short video documentaries from Boosey & Hawkes, In Search of Kashperova, reveals a Russian composer lost to history. The name of Leokadiya Kashperova (1872-1940) existed solely in a historic footnote as Stravinsky’s piano teacher but the researches of Graham Griffiths have now uncovered her role as a significant composer in her own right, leading to the new Boosey & Hawkes Kashperova Edition.

Episode 2: Rubinstein's Pupil
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Kashperova was a star pupil of Anton Rubinstein and her pianistic brilliance informed many of her own works, including her final Piano Trio, unperformed until 2020.
Music includes Piano Trio in A minor.

Episode 3: Cello sonatas
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After her graduation in St Petersburg in 1895, Kashperova composed her opus 1, consisting of two expansive Romantic cello sonatas which she performed with the eminent Alexander Verzhbilovich.
Music includes Cello Sonata No.1.

Episode 4: Stravinsky's teacher
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Between 1899 and 1901 Kashperova taught Stravinsky, providing the technical backbone for his later career as a solo pianist. Her own Piano Concerto, acclaimed in Moscow and St Petersburg, dates from this period.
Music includes Kashperova Piano Concerto, Stravinsky Concerto for piano and winds.

Episode 5: Russian voices
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Kashperova’s range encompassed many genres, including vocal music, but all was to fall into silence after her flight from Petrograd in 1917 and her death in obscurity in Moscow two decades later.
Music includes Songs of Love: 12 Romances.

Music licensed courtesy of BBC Concert Orchestra, Hyperion Records, Pushkin House, Edinburgh International Festival, Susan Edward, David Levi.

Executive Producers: David Allenby & Bronte Larsen-Disney
Production and Editing: Julian Langham