Description

ELENA ALEKSANDROVNA BEKMAN-SHCHERBINA (RUSSIAN: ЕЛЕНА АЛЕКСАНДРОВНА БЕКМАН-ЩЕРБИНА; NÉE KAMENTSEVA; MOSCOW, 12 JANUARY, 1882 – MOSCOW, 30 SEPTEMBER, 1951)

 

 

 

 

The mother of the future pianist died a few days after giving birth, and she was raised by her mother’s sister and her husband, Elizaveta Alexandrovna and Evgeny Nikolayevich Shcherbin. Officially, she was not adopted, but later, in gratitude to her adoptive parents, she took their surname, to which she then added the surname of her husband, L. K. Beckman. From the age of six she studied with Valentina Zograf, from the age of seven – with Nikolai Zverev, then studied at the Moscow Conservatory with Pavel Pabst, and after his death with Vasily Safonov. She completed the course in 1899 with a gold medal, having prepared the entire Well-Tempered Clavier for the final exam. She began teaching as a student, at the suggestion of Safonov, studying with the young Julius Iserlis. In 1900 she made her debut in a concert of the Russian Musical Society, performing as a trio with Ivan Grzhimali and Alfred von Glen. The first great concert success of Beckman-Shcherbina was associated with the performance of works by Jean Sibelius in a concert from the cycle “Musical Exhibitions” by M.  A.  Deisha-Sionitskaya (1907), then the attention of the musical community was attracted by her performances in the cycle of Konstantin Saradzhev “Evenings of Modern Music” (1909), where for the first time in Russia she performed piano pieces by Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel. In the first half of the 1910s. intensive cooperation connected Beckman-Shcherbina with Alexander Scriabin, whose works she sought to perform in the author’s interpretation and according to the author’s instructions.

In 1912-1918. she directed her own piano school in Moscow. She participated in many charity concerts – in particular, in concerts for the poor and students within the walls of the Petrovsky Academy, organized with the participation of her husband. In the post-revolutionary era, she intensively toured throughout the Soviet Union, since 1924 she constantly performed on the radio, performing a total of about 700 works for radio listeners. Beckman-Shcherbina’s repertoire ranged from baroque composers to young contemporary musicians; among her partners in ensemble performances were, in particular, violinist Boris Sibor, cellists Grigory Pyatigorsky, Semyon Kozolupov, Rudolf Erlich, clarinetist Sergei Rozanov.

In 1921 – 1930. assistant professor at the Moscow Conservatory, then taught at the Central Correspondence Musical Pedagogical Institute, since 1940 professor.

In 1942-1943, while evacuated to Kazan, she composed (together with musicologist Valentina Konen) and performed a large – scale series of concertos from the history of pianoforte art.

In 1947 and 1949 _ songs and piano pieces for children composed by Beckman-Shcherbina in the mid-1900s were republished, partly – together with her husband Leonid Beckman – including the famous “A Christmas Tree Was Born in the Forest “.

On November 26, 1950, she performed in the Column Hall of the House of the Unions with a farewell concert to mark the 50th anniversary of her concert activity. Honored Artist of the RSFSR (1937). Cavalier of the Order of the Red Banner of Labor (02/14/1945). Great-granddaughter – composer Elena Anatolyevna Sokolovskaya. She was buried at the Donskoy cemetery (plot No. 3), next to her husband and relatives.

 

 

TRACKLIST

 

 

Bekman-Shcherbina – F. Mendelssohn / F. Chopin – Fantasia On Polish Themes / Andante Spianato And Grand Polonaise / Concerto No.1 For Piano And Orchestra

Label: Mezhdunarodnaya Kniga – D 011201-11201 (a)

Format: Records, LP, Reissue, Mono

Country: USSR

Genre: Classical

Style: Romantic

Concerto No.1 For Piano And Orchestra In G Minor, Op. 25

Composed By – F. Mendelssohn

A.1 1. Molto Allegro Con Fuoco

A.2 2. Andante

A.3 3.Presto

B1 Fantasia On Polish Themes, Op. 13

Composed By – F. Chopin

B2 Andante Spianato And Grand Polonaise In E Flat Major, Op. 22

Composed By – F. Chopin

Conductor – S. Samosud (tracks: B2), A. Orlov (tracks: B1), S. Gorchakov (tracks: A1)

Orchestra – Moscow Radio Symphony Orchestra

Piano – E. Bekman-Shcherbina

Matrix / inner ring (A, stamped runout): 33Д011201/2-2

Matrix / inner ring (B, stamped runout): 33Д011202/2-1

 

Frédéric Chopin – E. Bekman-Shcherbina

Label: Melodiya – 33D—029165, Melody – 33D—029166

Format: Vinyl, LP, Mono

Country: USSR

Date released: 1970

Genre: Classical

Style: Romantic

A-1 Chopin- Variations on La ci darem la mano – (from Mozart’s Don Giovanni), Op.2

All-Union Radio Symphony Orchestra

Samuil Samosud (conductor)

B-1 Chopin- Krakowiak, Grand Rondeau de Concert, Op.14

All-Union Radio Symphony Orchestra

Samuil Samosud (conductor)

B-2 Chopin- Allegro de Concert in A major, Op.46

Proizvoditel gramplastinki – Апрелевский Завод Грампластинок (Aprelevka Record Plant)

Composed By – F. Chopin

Orchestra – Bolshoy Symphonic Orchestra

Piano – E. Bekman-Shcherbina

A: Zapis 1950 g. [=Recording of 1950].

B: Записи 1947 ‎– 1950 гг. [=Recordings of 1947 ‎–1950].

Матрица / внутреннее кольцо (Side A, Stamped Runout): 33Д029165/1-1

Матрица / внутреннее кольцо (Side B, Stamped Runout): 33Д029166/1-1