Anna Yesipova (born Anna Nikolayevna Yesipova; ; ) was a Russian pianist.
Life
Yesipova was one of Teodor Leszetycki's most brilliant pupils. She made her debut in Saint Petersburg in 1874 attracting rave reviews and the artistic admiration of both Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and Franz Liszt, particularly for her effortless virtuosity and singing tone. She then began concert tours which brought her in 1876 to the United States, where her playing was greatly admired.
Yesipova was probably the first pianist to program the complete set of Frédéric Chopin's Preludes, Op. 28 in a recital, for a concert in 1876. Previously the practice was to perform excerpts only.Paul Kildea, Chopin's Piano (2018), p. 311n
In 1877, she heard the playing of Fanny Bloomfield and advised her to train under Leszetycki, whom Yesipova went on to marry in 1880, becoming his second wife, and (after they had two children, a daughter, Theresa, who became a well-known singer and teacher, and a son Robert) divorced in 1892.Grove 2001 In the Summer of 1880 she gave a number of concerts in London (Covent Garden) and Lisbon, where she had a very warm reception.Cf. e.g. Diario Ilustrado (Lisboa) of July 15th p.1 column 2, 1880.
In 1885, Yesipova was appointed Royal Prussian Court Pianist. From 1893 to 1908, she was professor of pianoforte at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory. Among her students were Sergei Prokofiev, Leff Pouishnoff, Sergei Tarnowsky, Maria Yudina, Leonid Kreutzer, Isabelle Vengerova, Anastasia Virsaladze, Leo Ornstein, Isidor Achron, Thomas de Hartmann, and Alexander Borovsky (Borowsky).
Recordings In the early 1900s, Yesipova made a number of piano rolls, some of which have made been available as modern recordings (including Thalberg's Fantasia on a theme from Bellini's La Sonnambula).Anna Essipova (Welte-Mignon Piano Rolls) - Pupils of Leschetizky Vol.1 (www.78rpm.net - 78rpm recordings reissued on Supraphon) featured on Through the Night program on BBC Radio 3, 28 February 2010
There is one extant acoustic recording of her playing Benjamin Godard's Gavotte in G, recorded on an Edison cylinder by Julius Block in November 1898. This is one of a series of c. 200 cylinders recorded by Block in Russia in the 1890s and believed to be lost, until they were relocated at Pushkin House in Saint Petersburg and published for the first time in 2008.The Dawn of Recording: The Julius Block Cylinders (Marston Records 53011-2): Liner notes; D. J. Wakin, "Classical Ghosts, Audible Once Again", New York Times, October 24, 2008.
Notes
References
Sources
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
Yesipova plays Godard's Gavotte in G, Op. 81, no. 2 (YouTube)