Ekaterina Dershavina (Piano)

Born: 1967 - Moscow, Russia

The Russian pianist, Ekaterina Dershavina, began her piano training at the age of 6, as a student of Yuri Polunin. At age 14 she was admitted into the Gnessins Music School in Moscow, where she studied with Valeria Polunina; at age19 she entered the Moscow Gnessins Academy of Music, studying with Professor Vladimir Tropp. Among her early success in piano competitions include Third Prize, and the special prize for best interpretation of a Romantic work (Schumann's Kreisleriana), at the All-Russian Piano Competition in 1989; and especially the award of First Prize at the International Piano Competition "J.S. Bach" in Saarbrücken, Germany in 1992, for her performance of the Goldberg Variations (BWV 988)

Ekaterina Dershavina has given concerts in Austria, Germany, France, Slovakia, Luxemburg, Liechtenstein, Finland, Canada, Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus. She has likewise performed at several international music festivals, including the Mosel Festwochen and Thüringer Bachwochen in Germany, the International Festival of Lanaudière in Canada, and the Bratislava Music Festival in Slovakia.

Since 1993, Ekaterina Dershavina has taught piano at the Gnessins Music Academy.

Ekaterina Dershavina's recording of the Goldberg Variations (BWV 988) was released in 1996, to rave reviews - and received the "Choc" Award from the French journal Le monde de la Musique (1999). More recent are her recordings of six Haydn piano sonatas, and one in collaboration with soprano Catherine Nick, both featured at the Classical Archives. She is currently in the process of recording the complete Haydn sonatas for the Saarbrücken radio.

"There are no problems of technique; [Dershavina's playing] reveals a precision of melodic line, powerful chords, and full sonority... in other words, true piano music. And no wrong notes! Her concentration, expression, and technique never falter, and her musical presence is felt at all times." La press (Montreal, Canada)
"Performing Haydn, it is as though [Dershavina] speaks her own language, treating time playfully, and bringing her Baroque-styled ornaments into recurring episodes... This is a living, cheerful, and often humorous world; yet at times wistfully profound. One begins to recognize this as great music imitating neither Mozart's achievements nor Bach's discoveries." Russian Musical Paper No.4

Source: Classical Music Archives Website
Contributed by Aryeh Oron (June 2007)

Ekaterina Dershavina: Ekaterina Dershavina | Recordings of Instrumental Works
Reviews of Instrumental Recordings: Review: Goldberg Variations Ekaterina Dershavina, piano
Discussions of Instrumental Recordings: Goldberg Variations BWV 988 - played by Ekaterina Dershavina

Links to other Sites

Classical Music Archives MP3/WMA: Ekaterina Dershavina