Unveiling a Forgotten Masterpiece: Kashperova's Symphony in B Minor

Also available on the Boosey & Hawkes YouTube channel.

This mini-documentary follows the New York Repertory Orchestra (NYRO) as it prepares to perform Leokadiya Kashperova's Symphony in B minor, a long-forgotten Romantic masterpiece by a celebrated composer whose glittering career at the turn of the 20th century was upended by political strife and whose legacy was lost over the decades. Conductor David Leibowitz leads the orchestra in rediscovering the work by Kashperova, who was also Stravinsky's piano teacher.

The Symphony in B minor was Kashperova's magnum opus, an orchestral gem in the Romantic tradition that was recently rediscovered by musicologists and is now published by Boosey & Hawkes in a new critical edition, edited by Graham Griffiths. NYRO gave the US premiere of the new edition on April 2, 2022, at the Church of St. Mary the Virgin in New York City.

Learn more about Kashperova, who celebrates her 150th anniversary in 2022.

Special thanks to the New York Repertory Orchestra, David Leibowitz, Shanda Wooley, and Stephen Fillare. Visit www.nyro.org to learn more about the New York Repertory Orchestra.

Music:
Symphony in B minor, Op. 4
Composed by Leokadiya Kashperova
Critical Edition edited by Graham Griffiths
Performed by the New York Repertory Orchestra
and David Leibowitz, Music Director

Video and sound recording by David Merrill and Joseph Patrych
Film produced by Jesse Yang
Executive producer: Carol Ann Cheung,
Director, Publicity & Marketing, Boosey & Hawkes