Prometheus Editions EDITION006 SHOSTAKOVICH Preludes Op.34 / PROKOFIEV Visions Fugitives EVGENIA STARTSEVA

SHOSTAKOVICH: Preludes Op. 34
PROKOFIEV: Visions Fugitives Op. 22

Evgenia Startseva

Recorded in August 2007 | Time 54:16 | Cover Image by Silja Holm

From the liner notes:
Shostakovich had already found his unique voice when he wrote these 24 miniatures . . . Prokofiev's ‘unencouraged’ lyricism finds its wonderful space together with brave harmonic and textural experiments
. . . I find pairing these two particular cycles, where each miniature has been allowed the freedom to find its own shape and language, reveals essentially how very different these contemporaries are.—ES

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Paul Ingram, Fanfare Nov/Dec 2009
I like the pianist's restraint and concentration. Startseva emphasizes quiet, unexaggerated beauty of line, all through. Which is to say she stops short of grotesquerie. Her approach is convincing as you listen,
because it's so consistent...[In] Prokofiev's miniatures...Startseva is individual, not impetuous. You get sensitivity, good quiet playing (Hallelujah!) and a rethink of all the notes. I'd want to own this
version of the Visions anyway, because it's an adult, thoughtful interpretation.

EVGENIA STARTSEVA, born in Kazakhstan and now based in London, is a pianist with a growing international concert career. She studied in Moscow with Irina Savina, Theodor Gutmann and Ekaterina Derzhavina (followers of the Neuhaus tradition) and then completed her studies in Germany with Robert Leonardy. Her busy concert schedule has subsequently taken her to the former USSR, all over Europe and the United States. She has also featured in numerous broadcasts for radio and television in Great Britain, Germany, Kazakhstan and Ireland.

Recently she has been partnering the renowned violinist Maxim Vengerov. They gave an extensive and highly acclaimed Brahms recital tour across Europe and the United States, and appeared together at the televised 2003 Classical Brit Awards in London. She also appears regularly as a soloist and chamber music player in concert series and festivals throughout Europe and the UK. With the violinist Nadezhda Korshakova she has made a recording of works by Mozart, Prokofiev and Shchedrin for DMK Classics.

Performing the Shostakovich Preludes: "Startseva’s lyrical talent bloomed even more in [the] Preludes. These most leanly arranged and focused short pieces demand plausible characterisations, in which Startseva succeeded eminently, on the one hand with a tender tone, supple fluidity, a flexible differentiation of the individual voices, but also with wit, tongue-in-cheek piquancy and dance-like verve on the other hand…A superior and singular achievement” Saarbrücker Zeitung 2005
Evgenia Startseva is currently represented by Kings Barn Artist Management.