Artist description MARGARITA FYODOROVA is one of the leading Russian pianists of her generation, a protege of Heinrich Neuhaus. She is on the faculty of the Moscow Conservatory.

Music Style Classical

Musical Influences Scriabin, Prokofieff, Beethoven, Schubert, Neuhaus

Similar Artists Not applicable

Artist History Acclaimed throughout the world, Russian pianist MARGARITA FYODOROVA is considered one of the greatest pianists of her generation. Her long and distinguished career has included appearances throughout the former Soviet Union, Europe, Asia, South America and the United States. She has performed as soloist with all the major Russian orchestras, including the Moscow and Leningrad Philharmonic, under the batons of Mravinsky, Svetlanov, Rozhdestvensky, Ivanov and others. At the request of Dmitri Shostakovich, Madame Fyodorova gave the western European premiere of his Second Piano Concerto, using the original manuscript Shostakovich entrusted to her on that occasion. Madame Fyodorova is noted for the breadth of her repertoire, and commands one of the largest of any living pianist; she plays more than 70 piano concertos. She has performed the complete works of many major composers in her celebrated "monograph" concerts. These include the complete keyboard works of Bach, Chopin, Beethoven, Schubert, Mozart, Prokofieff, Shostakovich, Rachmaninoff and many others. She is renowned for her interpretations of the music of Alexander Scriabin, whose complete works she presented in a series of five concerts for the 100th anniversary of his birth in 1972. She is also a champion of contemporary Russian music, and frequently programs significant new compositions.zBefore winning the Smetana Competition in Prague and the Silver Prize in the J.S. Bach Competition in Leipzig in 1951 (alongside Tatiana Nikolayeva's Gold and Jorg Demus' Bronze) Madame Fyodorova was a protégé, along with her colleagues Richter and Gilels, of Heinrich Neuhaus at the Moscow Conservatory. A versatile performer, she is also a leading Russian harpsichordist and an authority on baroque music. Madame Fyodorova is a senior faculty member of the Moscow Conservatory where she has taught for more than 25 years, and has recorded extensively for Melodiya records. Margarita Fyodorova's outstanding career earned her the distinguished title of Honored Artist of the RFSFR, awarded her by the Soviet government in 1972. Margarita Fyodorova concert tours have brought her to the United States on four occasions since 1992. Awarded a generous grant from the Soros Foundation, she has performed with the Princeton Chamber Orchestra the Charleston Symphony Chamber Orchestra, and on the concert series of the College of the Arts in Charleston, South Carolina. She has also been heard on the recital series of several major universities, including Oberlin College, the University of South Florida, Jacksonville University, the University of Arizona, Arizona State University, and the University of Florida. Much in demand for her master classes, Madame Fyodorova has been a visiting professor at leading institutions throughout the U.S., including Oberlin, the Manhattan School of Music, Peabody, Princeton University, the University of Florida, Stetson University, the South Carolina College of the Arts, Brown University and many others. She recently recorded the Scriabin Piano Concerto with the Moscow Radio Symphony under the baton of Fuat Mansurov. Muzika published a biography of Margarita Fyodorova, by the celebrated Russian music critic Sofia Khentova, in 1995. Americus Records will release her recording of music of Shostakovich, Scriabin and Babazhanian in 2000.

Instruments Piano

Albums Melodiya Records. Music of Chopin, Schubert, Beethoven, Bach, Scriabin

Press Reviews Shame on the American musical establishment! It is a disgrace that pianist Margarita Fyodorova, making her second appearance in the United States in the last two years, is yet again playing only a handful of engagements...How is it possible that so eminent an artist can suffer such neglect? Now at age 65 this tall, portly, elegant woman is at the height of her powers. Her fingers obey her will and her fabulous memory stands steadfast...a tradition of Russian pianism courses through her veins. One can only marvel at how Fyodorova handled the percussive , propulsive motoric score of the Shostakovich First Piano Concerto Sure-footed as an Ibex, she leapt over its rocky, craggy landscape. In the slow waltz of the second movement she evoked magic and in the fourth movement...she made the erratic tonal and tempo shifts sound reasonable... Of course one reveled in the dexterity and the subtlety. It was overwhelming to hear this music as it actually was made in those earlier, no less unhappy times. Faubion Bowers The American Record Guide January 1993One of the world's finest, most intelligent pianists,..Fyodorova, by virtue of her position in the world of Soviet music and as friend and confidante of yesterday's and today's leading composers, stands both as keeper of the past's flame and a way-shower into the future. Above all, she is a repository of traditions and authenticity, a weighty responsibility that only impeccable musicianship and immaculate intelligence can support... An event of magnitude.Keyboard Classics Magazine, 1991Fyodorova has keen vitality much to give new links to forge the great tradition of Russian music that has been passed on to her. She spins a bit of Chopin - the Aeolian Harp etude - from the piano, releasing the melody gradually, subtly from the musical current. Her hands are strong and plain, eager and certain at their work... And she brought all of that - the history, the heritage, the repertoire - to Jacksonville. It was remarkable to be with her, to watch her and listen to her, and to know that she is a strong and unique link in the unbroken chain of Western music.Ann Hyman, The Florida Times-Union, 1992 A truly phenomenal memory, a flawless, thoroughly mature technique, and a fine artistic sensibility helped her achieve and convey the nobility, the emotional richness of Scriabin's music and, at the same time, its searching complexity and originality, singular in the history of music. Fyodorova's playing is evidence not only of the greatest artistry, but also of the most profound intelligence, allowing the pianist to shed light on the early development of Scriabin's genius.J.F. Belza, PravdaFamous compositions, so tightly constrained by the traditions of Russian piano literature, receive a new life with Fyodorova's interpretations and a great, living emotional embodimentL, M. Zhivov, excerpted from Contemporary Pianists by L. Grigoriev and L. Platek, Moscow 1990Fyodorova works magic with Beethoven and Chopin...Beethoven's Sonata Op. 14 No. 1...moved with a rhythmic clarity... and was full of warm, introspective sensitivity...A sizzling and dynamic performance of Chopin's Fantasie in F minor drew immediate applause. The three Mazurkas and the Scherzo in E all sparkled with freshness and vitality, making the Chopin group a highlight of the program. Scriabin's Nocturne for the Left Hand and the Sonata No. 4 were outstanding.Claire McPhail, Charleston Post and Courier, 1994For many years I have known Margarita Fyodorova as a superior musician, and one of the most outstanding Russian pianists. She merited great renown as a vivid and inspiring performer of numerous programs of Russian and western classics as well as works of 20th century composers. It is no accident that she became the first performer in the west of Shostakovich's Second Piano Concerto, which for this occasion Shostakovich personally entrusted to her his own, autograph manuscript. I have collaborated as conductor on many occasions with Margarita Fyodorova as soloist, and can attest to the very high level of her artistic mastery. Her enormous repertoire and many years of successful concert performances in various countries of the world fill out the creative portrait of this remarkable pianist.Gennadi Rozhdestvensky, Moscow 1994

Location Moscow - Russia

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