Pianist James Kreiling and cellist Liubov Ulybysheva explore some lesser known works of the cello and piano repertoire, including works by Myaskovsy, Tcherepnin, Gedike, and Roslavets, culminating in Alfred Schnittke's dark and devastating Sonata.
Programme:
Myaskovsky Cello Sonata no. 1
Roslavets The Dance of the White Girls
A. Tcherepnin Cello Sonata no. 1
Gedike Three improvisations for cello and piano
Schnittke Cello Sonata
Liubov Ulybysheva cello James Kreiling piano
Liubov Ulybysheva was born in Moscow and started playing the cello at the age of five. Having studied at the Gnessin Special Music School and the Russian Music Academy, she came to London in 2003 to continue her studies at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama with Stefan Popov and Oleg Kogan, graduating with 1st class honours. Following that, Liubov completed a Master of Music Degree at the Royal Academy of Music with Professor Felix Schmidt, winning the Moir Carnegie Prize for cello on graduation.
Liubov became the only cellist to win a prestigious scholarship from the Paganini International Competition funded by the Investment Programme Foundation, Moscow. She was also featured in the Reader's Digest magazine as one of the young stars of the Russian Hope feature.
In 2006 she won the First Prize at the Tunbridge Wells International Young Concert Artist Competition, followed by winning the MBF Music Education Award, the Muriel Taylor Young gifted Cellist Award, the Hattori Foundation, the Jellinek and the Kenneth Loveland awards. Liubov was also a recipient of the Meyer Foundation Award and the English Speaking Union Scholarship. The same year Liubov has made her solo debut at the Wigmore Hall as part of the Razumovsky Young Artists Recital Series.
As a concerto soloist, Liubov has performed in Russia, UK, and Europe with the Moscow State Symphony Orchestra, Moscow Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra, Russian State Symphony Orchestra Young Russia, and more. As a soloist and chamber musician, she has performed across Russia, in venues such as Moscow Conservatoire Great Hall, Rachmaninov Hall, Moscow Kremlin, Sheremet'evo and Arkhangelsk Palaces. She has also widely performed across England and toured in Europe and Japan.
Liubov's performances in Russia have been broadcast by the main TV channels such as Culture and the radio stations, such as Orpheus and in England, on BBC Radio Ulster and live on the In Tune programme for BBC Radio 3.
James Kreiling’s solo career has focused on music of the early 20th century - in particular the piano works of Scriabin - as well as composers still living. This has led to performances in the major concert halls of London, notably as a soloist at the 2007 BBC Proms. In 2008 James became a Park Lane Group young artist with solo recitals at the Purcell Room and St Martin-in-the-Fields. More recently, James has broadcast for BBC Radio 3, presenting the music of Jonathan Harvey, David Matthews, Peter Eotvos, Thomas Ades and Pierre Boulez.
In 2017 he completed a performance-based doctorate at the Guildhall School of Music focusing on the interaction of research, analysis, and performance practice in the interpretation of Scriabin’s late piano sonatas. In the last two years he has recorded two discs encompassing the composer’s complete late piano music, released by Odradek on October 19th, 2018. Determined to bring Scriabin’s often misunderstood work to a wider public, he has experimented with presenting music in unusual formats and locations. He is a co-founder of Multiphonic Arts, mounting concerts which mix classical piano with other performance arts - poetry, drama and dance, folk and jazz.
He has also performed throughout Europe and the UK in a piano duo with his wife, Janneke Brits. Highlights have included a tour of France with Stravinsky’s Les Noces as well as four-hand recitals at the En Blanc et Noir piano festival in Lagrasse, France, where the duo is now a regular fixture.