Castleton CEO and Artistic Director Dietlinde Turban Maazel, a renowned German actor and opera coach, will be joined by award-winning Russian pianist Ilya Kondratiev for an open masterclass and classical performance Sunday, May 19, at 5 p.m. at Castleton.
This Castleton in Performance event will feature transcriptions by Hungarian Romantic composer Franz Liszt. The transcriptions will feature three famous works by Austrian composer Franz Schubert, based on poetry by the great German author Goethe. During the masterclass, Maazel and Kondratiev will examine the fascinating connectivity between the music and the text. Kondratiev’s performance at Castleton will first feature three of Liszt’s Schubert’s transcriptions: Serenade, Gretchen at the Spinning Wheel, and Erlkönig.
After an intermission, Kondratiev will end the evening with two of Liszt’s own compositions, 3 Sonetti del Petrarca S.161 and Après une lecture du Dante: Fantasia quasi Sonata S.161. Austrian-born Schubert (1797-1828) bridged the Classical and Romantic musical periods, and his compositions greatly inspired other musicians, including Liszt (1811-1886), who transcribed various works by other composers, taking them from large-scale arrangements to pieces fit for solo works. Presented by the London-based Keyboard Charitable Trust, the Trust’s mission is to help young pianists build a professional musical career.
Tickets prices for this CiP concert are $15 to $35, and the performance will be held in the Theatre House at Castleton (663 Castleton View Road, Castleton, Va.), an intimate, state-of-the-art 140-seat proscenium theatre. Call Connie Payne at 540.937.3454 for more information and visit www.CastletonFestival.org to purchase tickets.
Russian-born Kondratiev is the prize-winner of several renowned international music competitions, including the Frederyk Chopin Hannover 2011, Franz Liszt Budapest 2011, Franz Liszt Weimar 2011, the Fifth Tbilisi 2013, and Brant Birmingham 2015. He began studying music at the age of seven at the Samara College of Music and, from the age of 16, at the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory. In 2014, Kondratiev moved to London in order to further his studies at the Royal College of Music, graduating with a Master of Performance and an Artist Diploma in Performance. He later won the Beethoven Senior Intercollegiate Competition in 2015 and the prestigious Chappell Gold Medal in 2016.
Kondratiev performs extensively as a soloist and chamber music player at venues such as the Great Hall of Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory, Gasteig Munich, Weimarhalle, Palacio de Festivales de Santander, the Palace of Arts in Budapest, and the Great Hall of the Tbilisi Conservatoire. In 2009, he founded a chamber music ensemble, the Robert Quintet, and won top prizes at the Sixth Stasys Vainunas Chamber Music Competition in 2009 and The Premio Vittorio Gui in Florence in 2011.
In 2011, Kondratiev was invited to work with Elisabeth Leonskaya at the Franz Liszt Piano Academy in Schillingfürst, Germany, and with Pavel Gililov at the Eppan Piano Academy in Italy. He has also performed in the masterclasses with famous musicians around Europe. In 2015 and 2017, Kondratiev was invited to the “Encuentro” Festival in Santander and in 2016 appeared as a guest artist in the Gumusluk Festival in Turkey, and the Beethoven Music Festival and Academy in Altaussee in Austria. He is generously supported by the Keyboard Charitable Trust and Talent Unlimited Foundation. In addition to his performances, Kondratiev is developing his teaching career and, in 2019, he joined the Royal College of Music London as a deputy piano professor.
The Keyboard Charitable Trust helps the most gifted musicians, ages 18 to 30, perform on international stages, with débuts in London, New York, Mexico, Berlin, Rome, and other music capitals. Over the past 25 years, the Trust has presented more than 200 young international pianists, historic keyboard players, and organists in concerts worldwide. With such notable musicians as the late Claudio Abbado and Alfred Brendel among its trustees, this formula has proved its worth.
“We are thrilled to welcome Ilya Kondratiev to the Castleton stage, and so thankful to the Keyboard Charitable Trust for highlighting such exceptional young talent,” said Castleton CEO and Artistic Director Dietlinde Turban Maazel. “I am immensely looking forward to showing my German heritage with Ilya and the audience,” said Maazel. In 1997, she and her late husband, Maestro Lorin Maazel, created the Castleton Theatre House, one of the most exquisite performance spaces in the world.
Castleton is ideally suited for a weekend trip and a variety of accommodations are available on the idyllic grounds of Castleton Farms. Cottage and home rates begin at $100/night and include access to amenities such as the spa (large heated lap pool, Turkish steam room, Finnish sauna), petting zoo, six miles of hiking trails, and tennis courts. To inquire about booking, please contact Connie Payne at 540.577.8820 or [email protected]
The grounds of Castleton Farms have been home to a prestigious performance series since 1997, when the late Maestro Lorin Maazel inaugurated the Theatre House, a “mini-Globe” European-style pocket theatre with unparalleled acoustics. Since then, CiP has given audiences in Rappahannock County multicultural experiences of the highest caliber bringing internationally acclaimed artists to the venue. Artists have included Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, Itzhak Perlman, José Carreras, Emanuel Ax, Sir James Galway, Gil Shaham, the Paris Piano Trio, Mariachi Los Camperos Group, Chinese traditional soloists Wu Man and Ma Xiaohui, classical guitarists Pepe Romero and Berta Rojas, Indian dance companies, and famous actors such as Alec Baldwin and Claire Bloom.
In 2009, the late Maestro Maazel and his wife, Dietlinde Turban Maazel, established the Castleton Festival, a combination of music festival and summer academy for young artists. During this period, Dietlinde developed a wildly popular acting training studio for opera singers. Ranked by The New York Times as one of the top 10 festivals in the country, the Castleton Festival formed an educational partnership with Wynton Marsalis, his Summer Jazz Academy, in 2015. The monthly CiP (Castleton in Performance) events continue throughout the year as well as the Educational Community Outreach programming that furthers Castleton’s mission of nurturing the arts in the lives of children through in-school programs.
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