MARIA VERETENINA (soprano)
Eduard Kiprsky (piano)
Eduard Kiprsky was born in Leningrad in 1986. Graduated from the St Petersburg State Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatoire, also completing a postgraduate study there (piano class of Alexander Sandler) and a master’s degree at the Musikhochschule Essen (class of Boris Bloch). He is currently a student at the faculty of composition of the St Petersburg Conservatoire (class of Grigory Korchmar) and the Folkwang Universität der Künste in Essen.
Prize winner at the International Liszt Piano Competition Premio Mario Zanfi in Parma (2015). Prize winner at the International Seiler Competition in Greece (3rd prize, 2003), the International Prokofiev Competition in Kazakhstan (3rd prize, 2004), the Köhler-Osbar-Foundation Competition in Duisburg (1st prize, 2009) and the Steinway International Competition in Dusseldorf (1st prize, 2012). Recipient of the Georges Cziffra Prize (2007).
In 2008 he was a prize-winner at the international competition of song and piano duets Three Centuries of Classical Romance in St Petersburg (at that competition he also took 1st prize as a composer), while in 2014 he won the composition competition Der Rhein in Dreiklang in Germany and received a diploma as best accompanist at the International Elene Obraztsova Opera Singers’ Competition.
Frequently tours to cities throughout Russia, Germany, Austria, Italy, The Netherlands, Spain and Switzerland. Has given concerts in Luxembourg, Brussels and Vilnius, at the Klavier-Festival Ruhr, International Piano Festival in St Petersburg, Palaces of St Petersburg, Nights of Music in Modena, Größer Klaviermusik in Germany, Bistrampolio in Lithuania, Orpheum in Switzerland, the Liszt Festival in Raiding (Austria) and at the International Music Academy of the Manhattan School of Music. He is a regular guest at festivals run by the Georges Cziffra Foundation in Austria.
In 2013 he made his debut with the Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra at the Tonhalle in Zurich. In 2014 he twice gave recitals at the Musikverein in Vienna. In 2015 he made his debut at the Stars of the White Nights festival in St Petersburg.
Has collaborated with Martin Haselböck, Martin Sieghart, Thierry Escaich, Mario Brunello, Oliver Leo Schmidt, Matthias Foremny, Pyotr Simonechek, Rosa Fain, Vladimir Fedoseyev, Alexander Chernushenko and Alexander Sladkovsky.
The pianist’s concerts have been broadcast by the channels Ö1 in Austria and TV Parma in Italy. Has appeared in live broadcasts for WDR radio in Cologne. Has composed several song cycles and instrumental chamber music, piano transcriptions and works for chamber orchestra. In 2013 at the Mariinsky Theatre came the premiere of Kiprsky’s opus Adagio for Harp and Strings, following which the work was performed by Mariinsky Theatre soloists at Carnegie Hall in New York. In 2014 the Small Hall of the St Petersburg Philharmonic hosted the first performance of Kiprsky’s Concertino for String Quartet and Harp. In 2015 at the Rossini Festival in Bad Wildbad (Germany) came the premiere of his songs to verse by Hermann Hesse. Kiprsky’s song cycle Latin Triptych was included on a programme on Estonian TV.
Eduard Kiprsky is a member of the union of contemporary music composers ÖGZM in Vienna.
https://www.mariinsky.ru/en/company/orchestra/piano/eduard_kiprsky
Maria Veretenina (soprano)
Maria Veretenina was born in Tallinn, Estonia and currently lives in the United Kingdom. She began her professional music education at the Georg Ots Music College and continued her studies at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre with Prof. Jaakko Ryhanen, graduating from the Master’s programme in 2010 with the highest achievable grade. In 2009-2010, she studied at the National Academy of Music, Santa Cecilia in Rome with Prof. Rebecca Berg.
Maria made her debut as an invited soloist at the Finnish National Opera, singing in Mussorgsky’s “Boris Godunov” in Helsinki (2011). In November 2014 Maria became the Grand Prix winner of the London Song Festival at Royal College of Music. That same year, she was a semi-finalist in the London Handel Singing Competition, performing at the Parish Church of St George, Hanover Square in London. Maria has won many international awards, notably the first prize at the International Vocalist Contest dedicated to Vello Jurna in Tallinn, Estonia (2009), the third prize at the Sixth Claudia Taev International Competition of Opera Singers (2009), the first prize at the Baltic International Competition of Folk and Academic Song for Young Singers (2009). In addition, she took part in the 28th International Hans Gabor Belvedere Singing Competition in Vienna, Austria (2009).
Maria’s repertoire is extensive and includes the roles of: Cleopatra (Handel, Giulio Cesare), Queen of the Night (Mozart, Die Zauberfloete), Fiordiligi (Mozart, Cosi fan tutte), Zerlina (Mozart, Don Giovanni), Olympia and Antonia (Les Contes d’Hoffmann), Liu (Puccini, Turandot), Lauretta (Puccini, Gianni Schicchi), Musetta (Puccini, La Boheme), Violetta (Verdi,
La Traviata), Marfa (Rimsky-Korsakov, Tsars Bride), Xenia (Mussorgsky, Boris Godunov), Tatjana (Tchaikovsky, Eugene Onegin).
Maria participated in a number of master classes, particularly with Montserrat Caballé (Spanish operatic soprano), Wilma Vernocchio (Italian operatic soprano), Teresa Zylis-Gara (Polish operatic soprano), Ingrid Kremling (German operatic soprano, professor at the University of Music and Theatre Hamburg), Maria Acda (Royal Conservatory in The Hague), Larissa Gergieva (National Artist of Russia, Artistic Director of the Mariinsky Academy of Young Singers), Peter Woss (Wiener Saenger Studio and Vienna-Gala Opera-Operetta Productions) amongst others.
Maria has given numerous concerts and stage performances. She actively performs as a soloist internationally, touring many countries in Europe, particularly Sweden, Finland, Russia, Italy, Spain, Austria, Hungary, Germany and Great Britain. Maria is a frequent guest soloist at the Estonian National Opera and the St. Petersburg Philharmonia. Notably, Maria appeared as a soloist in Handel’s oratorio “Saul” staged in Vadstena, Sweden (2007).
http://mariaveretenina.com/biography/english
