Anna Yesipova (born ''Anna Nikolayevna Yesipova'' '' /nowiki>russian: Анна Николаевна Есипова', — ) was a prominent

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

. Her name is cited variously as ''Anna Esipova; Anna or Annette Essipova; Anna, Annette or Annetta Essipoff; Annette von Essipow; Anna Jessipowa''.

Life

Yesipova was one of

Teodor Leszetycki Theodor Leschetizky (sometimes spelled Leschetitzky, pl, Teodor Leszetycki; 22 June 1830 – 14 November 1915 was an Austrian-Polish pianist, professor, and composer born in Landshut in the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, then a crown land ...

's most brilliant pupils. She made her debut in Saint Petersburg in 1871 attracting rave reviews and the artistic admiration of both

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky , group=n ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer of the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music would make a lasting impression internationally. He wrote some of the most popu ...

and

Franz Liszt Franz Liszt, in modern usage ''Liszt Ferenc'' . Liszt's Hungarian passport spelled his given name as "Ferencz". An orthographic reform of the Hungarian language in 1922 (which was 36 years after Liszt's death) changed the letter "cz" to simpl ...

, particularly for her effortless virtuosity and singing tone. She then began concert tours which brought her in 1876 to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, where her playing was greatly admired. She heard the playing of Fanny Bloomfield and advised her to train under Leszetycki, whom Yesipova married in 1880 and later divorced. In the Summer of the same year she gave a number of concerts in Lisbon, where she had a very warm reception. Yesipova was probably the first pianist to program the complete set of

Frédéric Chopin Frédéric François Chopin (born Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin; 1 March 181017 October 1849) was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the Romantic period, who wrote primarily for solo piano. He has maintained worldwide renown as a leadin ...

's Preludes, Op. 28 in a recital, for a concert in 1876. Previously the practice was to perform excerpts only. In 1885, Yesipova was appointed

Royal Prussia Royal Prussia ( pl, Prusy Królewskie; german: Königlich-Preußen or , csb, Królewsczé Prësë) or Polish PrussiaAnton Friedrich Büsching, Patrick Murdoch. ''A New System of Geography'', London 1762p. 588/ref> (Polish: ; German: ) was a ...

n Court Pianist. From 1893 to 1908, she was

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

forte at the

Saint Petersburg Conservatory The N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov Saint Petersburg State Conservatory (russian: Санкт-Петербургская государственная консерватория имени Н. А. Римского-Корсакова) (formerly known as th ...

. Among her students were

Sergei Prokofiev Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev; alternative transliterations of his name include ''Sergey'' or ''Serge'', and ''Prokofief'', ''Prokofieff'', or ''Prokofyev''., group=n (27 April .S. 15 April1891 – 5 March 1953) was a Russian composer, p ...

, Leff Pouishnoff,

Sergei Tarnowsky Sergei Vladimirovich Tarnowsky (also spelled Sergei Tarnovsky; russian: Серге́й Владимирович Тарновский; 3 November 188322 March 1976) was a Russian pianist and teacher. Biography Tarnowsky was born in Kharkiv. Visiti ...

Maria Yudina Maria may refer to: People * Mary, mother of Jesus * Maria (given name), a popular given name in many languages Place names Extraterrestrial *170 Maria, a Main belt S-type asteroid discovered in 1877 *Lunar maria (plural of ''mare''), large, da ...

Leonid Kreutzer Leonid Kreutzer (13 March 1884 in St. Petersburg – 30 October 1953 in Tokyo) was a classical pianist. Life and career Kreutzer was born in St. Petersburg into a Jewish family. He studied composition under Alexander Glazunov and piano under Anna ...

Isabelle Vengerova Isabelle Vengerova ( be, Ізабэла Венгерава; 7 February 1956) was a Russian, later American, pianist and music teacher. She was born Izabella Afanasyevna Vengerova (Изабелла Афанасьевна Венгерова) in M ...

Anastasia Virsaladze Anastasia Virsaladze née Abdushelishvili, Georgian: ანასტასია ვირსალაძე, (November 11, 1883 – September 5, 1968) was a Georgian concert pianist and music teacher. In 1921, she began to teach at the Tbilisi Stat ...

, Leo Ornstein, Isidor Achron,

Thomas de Hartmann Thomas Alexandrovich de Hartmann (russian: Фома́ Алекса́ндрович Га́ртман; October 3 .S.: September 21 1884March 28, 1956) was a Ukrainian-born composer, pianist and professor of composition. Life De Hartmann was born o ...

, and Alexander Borovsky (Borowsky) 889–1968

Recordings

In the early 1900s, Yesipova made a number of piano rolls, some of which have made been available as modern recordings (including

Thalberg Thalberg or Talberg is a surname of German origin, which means "valley hill". It may refer to: *Irving Thalberg (1899–1936), American film producer * Irving Thalberg Jr. (1930–1988), American philosopher * Norma Thalberg (1902–1983), Canadian ...

's ''Fantasia on a theme from Bellini's

La Sonnambula ''La sonnambula'' (''The Sleepwalker'') is an opera semiseria in two acts, with music in the ''bel canto'' tradition by Vincenzo Bellini set to an Italian libretto by Felice Romani, based on a scenario for a ''ballet-pantomime'' written by Eu ...

'').''Through the Night'' program
on

BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, Radio drama, drama, High culture, culture and the arts ...

, 28 February 2010Anna Essipova (Welte-Mignon Piano Rolls) - Pupils of Leschetizky Vol.1
There is one extant acoustic recording of her playing, which is Benjamin Godard's Gavotte in G, made onto an Edison cylinder by Julius Block in 1898.

Notes

References

*
Comtesse Angèle Potocka: ''Theodore Leschetizky, an intimate study of the man and the musician''. New York, The Century co., 1903 p. 223 f.

External links

portrait
(by Jose Mora) 1914 deaths 1851 births 19th-century classical pianists 19th-century women musicians from the Russian Empire Russian classical pianists Russian women pianists Piano pedagogues Women classical pianists Women music educators Saint Petersburg Conservatory academic personnel Burials at Tikhvin Cemetery Pupils of Theodor Leschetizky 19th-century women pianists {{Russia-classical-pianist-stub