“A very gifted romantic pianist, highly emotional, with a great temperament and bright, creative individuality” – is how the late Vladimir Krainev characterized Victoria Lyubitskaya. Born in Moscow, Victoria studied at the Conservatory-affiliated music schools, first with Valentina Sedova-Berman and then with the well-known pianist and teacher Victor Bunin. She continued her education in the Moscow Conservatory under Professors Samvel Alumyan and Lev Naumov. Victoria Lyubitskaya is currently a soloist of the Moscow State Philharmonic Society. She is a laureate of several international competitions.
Victoria's concert repertoire is wide and diverse, embracing works from the 18th to the 20th century. Rachmaninov occupies a special place for her, and she performs all of his solo piano works as well as all four concertos and Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. Victoria has collaborated with such well-known conductors as Saulius Sondeckis, Mark Gorenstein, Veronika Dudarova, Vladimir Verbitsky; she has performed with leading orchestras such as the State Academic Symphony Orchestra of Russia, the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra, the Russian Symphony Orchestra, and the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra. Victoria has given concerts at the Grand Hall of the Moscow Conservatory and at the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall, and in the Grand Hall of the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Society; she has also gave concerts in other Russian cities. Internationally, she has performed in Switzerland, Italy, Montenegro, Croatia, Poland, Latvia, Germany, Hungary and Australia and participated in a number of international and national music festivals.
Ms. Lyubitskaya has been recorded for various radio, television and CD companies. In 2008, her recording of Alfred Schnittke's piano works, released on the Belgian label Fuga Libera, was awarded the top rating by the prestigious French classical-music magazine Diapason (“The only possible reproach one could make… is that there isn’t more of it”). We present three pieces from that CD. First, the recording of Schnittke’s Concerto for Piano and Strings, written for Vladimir Krainev in 1979. Schnittke was not satisfied with the original version and re-wrote the concerto. Although the initial reception to the concerto was cool, it is now recognized as one of Schnittke’s most significant compositions. Reviewing the CD for the classical music magazine La Scena Musicale, René Bricault praised Ms. Lyubitskaya’s recording as setting a new standard for this work. Ms. Lyubitskaya is accompanied by the Russian State Academy Orchestra, Mark Gorenshtein, conductor. We’ll also hear two pieces for piano solo: Schnittke’s Variations on one chord and Improvisation and Fugue, Op. 38. To listen, click here.
June 13, 2011
“A very gifted romantic pianist, highly emotional, with a great temperament and bright, creative individuality” – is how the late Vladimir Krainev characterized Victoria Lyubitskaya. Born in Moscow, Victoria studied at the Conservatory-affiliated music schools, first with Valentina Sedova-Berman and then with the well-known pianist and teacher Victor Bunin. She continued her education in the Moscow Conservatory under Professors Samvel Alumyan and Lev Naumov. Victoria Lyubitskaya is currently a soloist of the Moscow State Philharmonic Society. She is a laureate of several international competitions.
Victoria's concert repertoire is wide and diverse, embracing works from the 18th to the 20th century. Rachmaninov occupies a special place for her, and she performs all of his solo piano works as well as all four concertos and Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. Victoria has collaborated with such well-known conductors as Saulius Sondeckis, Mark Gorenstein, Veronika Dudarova, Vladimir Verbitsky; she has performed with leading orchestras such as the State Academic Symphony Orchestra of Russia, the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra, the Russian Symphony Orchestra, and the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra. Victoria has given concerts at the Grand Hall of the Moscow Conservatory and at the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall, and in the Grand Hall of the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Society; she has also gave concerts in other Russian cities. Internationally, she has performed in Switzerland, Italy, Montenegro, Croatia, Poland, Latvia, Germany, Hungary and Australia and participated in a number of international and national music festivals.
Ms. Lyubitskaya has been recorded for various radio, television and CD companies. In 2008, her recording of Alfred Schnittke's piano works, released on the Belgian label Fuga Libera, was awarded the top rating by the prestigious French classical-music magazine Diapason (“The only possible reproach one could make… is that there isn’t more of it”). We present three pieces from that CD. First, the recording of Schnittke’s Concerto for Piano and Strings, written for Vladimir Krainev in 1979. Schnittke was not satisfied with the original version and re-wrote the concerto. Although the initial reception to the concerto was cool, it is now recognized as one of Schnittke’s most significant compositions. Reviewing the CD for the classical music magazine La Scena Musicale, René Bricault praised Ms. Lyubitskaya’s recording as setting a new standard for this work. Ms. Lyubitskaya is accompanied by the Russian State Academy Orchestra, Mark Gorenshtein, conductor. We’ll also hear two pieces for piano solo: Schnittke’s Variations on one chord and Improvisation and Fugue, Op. 38. To listen, click here.