Polovinkin: Piano Works

Featuring

Anait Karpova
Leonid Alekseyevich Polovinkin

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Cultural Impact

Polovinkin wrote about a dozen operas or musical tales for children, preceding Prokofiev's famous 'Peter and the Wolf' in this genre.

Performer Biography

Anait Karpova, the pianist on this recording, is the great-granddaughter of Natalia Sats, the director of the Central Children's Theatre in Moscow with whom Polovinkin collaborated.

Historical Context

Polovinkin managed to avoid the disgrace and condemnations that affected many of his contemporaries during Stalin's reign, possibly due to his work at the Children's Theatre.

Critical Reception

Much of Polovinkin's music, despite its quality, has been unjustly neglected and remained in the shadow of composers like Rachmaninov and Prokofiev.

Composition History

Polovinkin's career involved alternating modernism and neoclassicism, and he was known for his individual eclecticism and pedagogical activities.

Composer Biography

Leonid Polovinkin, the composer, studied law at university while also pursuing piano, composition, and conducting at the conservatory for 18 years.

Historical Context

Polovinkin's generation of composers, often called 'Scriabinists', focused on the exhaustion of tonality and renewal of language, but many were dispersed due to the difficulties of the early Revolution and hostility towards innovation.