Franck, Hindemith & Scriabin

Musicians:

Mikhail Zemtsov, viola

Borys Fedorov, piano

Program:

A. Scriabin, 5 pieces (arr. for viola and piano)

P. Hindemith, Sonata in F mayor op 11 n 4

C. Franck, Violin Sonata (arr. for viola and piano)

This evening’s program moves through shifting musical worlds of passion, clarity, and transformation. Scriabin’s Five Pieces (arranged for viola and piano) open like fragments of a dream—intimate, perfumed with late-Romantic harmony, and full of whispered longing. Hindemith’s Sonata in F major, Op. 11 No. 4 offers a striking contrast: its clear lines and rhythmic drive reveal a composer seeking balance and order amid the turbulence of a new century. The journey ends with César Franck’s Violin Sonata—heard here in the viola’s burnished voice—a sweeping tale of ardor and redemption, where every theme returns transformed, like light refracted through deepening shades of emotion.

Mikhail Zemtsov is an internationally acclaimed and versatile musician. He combines his busy career as a prominent soloist and conductor with chamber music and teaching.

Zemtsov’s solo appearances include performances with the Moscow Conservatory Chamber Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestras of Mexico, Estonia and Lithuania; Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra, Wiener Volksoper, Hamburger Symphoniker, Stavanger Symphony Orchestra, The Hague Philharmonic with the conductors like Neeme Jarvi, Jaap van Zweden, Leif Segerstam, Dmitri Kitajenko.

Mikhail has participated in numerous International Festivals in Europe,Far East and the Americas as chamber music partner to Bella Davidovitch, Boris Berezovsky, Dmitri Sitkovetski, Sarah Chang, Janine Jansen, Julian Rachlin, Misha Maisky; Leipziger, Jerusalem, Borodin quartets. He has recorded numerous CDs for Sony Masterworks, Tower Records, Deutsche Welle, Ottavo, D&G, Toccata, as well as recordings for TV and radio. His Solo CD "The Last Rose of Summer" has been placed as number 2 among Top 50 of the TROS - Dutch Broadcast/TV Channel and it has got 9 points (excellent) in the main Dutch recording magazine "LUISTER". 

His 2016 recording for Chandos label of Rapsody - Concerto by B. Martinu with Maestro Neeme Jarvi and National Symphony Orchestra of Estonia has been highly acclaimed by international press, including Gramophone magazine. 

The Ukrainian pianist Borys Fedorov is a gifted concert pianist with rare creative talent. He taught at the Kiev Conservatory and the Lysenko Music college for exceptional young talent for more than 30 years. His passion for coaching young pianists in competitions, concerts and CD recordings has helped many of his students in their international careers. Borys Fedorov was awarded the honorary title of "Extraordinary Artist of Ukraine" by the president in 2020.

When the war broke out in Ukraine, Borys and his wife Tatiana fled to The Hague, Netherlands. As a very successful educator, he became a professor of the new Davidsbündler Music Academy, founded by his daughter Anna Fedorova and Nicholas Schwartz. He also became a professor at the Sweelinck Academy of the Amsterdam Conservatory.

Borys’ latest CD release with music of Ukrainian composer Valentyn Silvestrov, recorded together with violinist Daniel Rowland and cellist Maja Bogdanovic, was given 5 stars by BBC Music Magazine and received a “choice of the month” award. It also received 5 stars in the Dutch newspaper, the NRC.

Since 2020, Borys has discovered a hidden talent for composition and is now in demand as both a pianist and composer. His pieces are regularly performed by top musicians and he has received commissions from a number of music festivals in The Netherlands and Germany.

Since his arrival in the Netherlands he has also frequently performed in concerts at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, the Doelen Rotterdam, Oosterpoort Groningen, as a piano duo and piano trio with his daughter Anna Fedorova and his equally talented wife Tatiana Abayeva.

Our beautiful Steinway is on loan from the National Music Instrument Fund (NMF)