By. Søren Rastogi
A recording of Leokadiya Kashperova’s sonatas for cello and piano, Op. 1 Nos. 1 and 2.
These ambitious and large-scale Romantic works have not yet been professionally released on an internationally launched and physically available album. The sonatas are substantial works of high artistic quality: according to Kashperova expert Dr Graham Griffiths, they rank “among the most impressive opus 1 works by a young composer” (1). Kashperova is a composer who, since 1917, has been largely forgotten, but who is now enjoying growing international attention — not least through major initiatives by the publisher Boosey & Hawkes and the BBC. In recent years, her works have been performed by prominent orchestras and conductors, yet there are still no published recordings of her cello sonatas.
Leokadiya Kashperova (1872–1940) was, in her own time, a respected composer and pianist in St Petersburg. Anton Rubinstein predicted that she would surpass her male fellow students, but her career was abruptly interrupted after 1917 as a consequence of the aftermath of the Revolution, and she fell into obscurity. For many years, her name was known only as Stravinsky’s piano teacher.
Her contemporaries, however, recognised her talent: composers such as Rimsky-Korsakov, César Cui and Balakirev held her works in high esteem (2). Today, she is experiencing a genuine revival in the classical music world. In December 2022, BBC Radio 3 dedicated an entire series of programmes to her to mark the 150th anniversary of her birth, featuring new recordings and world premieres. In 2023, Cambridge University Press published the first biography of her life and music, and Boosey & Hawkes has published a number of her scores. Her catalogue comprises works spanning more than 40 years of creative activity, and she is described as “one of the very first female Russian composers of international renown”. The growing interest is clearly evident in concert life and the media, and an increasing number of orchestras have taken up her music (3).
The album features cellist Janne Fredens, will be produced by award-winning producer Daniel Davidsen, and will be released by OUR Recordings with an internationally oriented PR strategy. The recording will take place in the Small Hall of Musikhuset Aarhus on 2–4 April and 15–16 June 2026, and the album will be released in spring 2027.
The sonatas will also be performed in a wide range of concerts in Denmark during the 2025–2026 season.
References
1: https://www.boosey.com/cr/music/Leokadiya-Kashperova-Cello-Sonata-No-2-in-E-minor/103793
2: https://www.boosey.com/cr/news/Leokadiya-Kashperova-first-book-on-the-composer-published/102159
3: For example, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, BBC Concert Orchestra, São Paulo Municipal Symphony Orchestra and Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, with conductors including Daniel Raiskin, Jane Glover, Jader Bignamini and Robert Minczuk.