Good to have [Medtner’s] Sonata-Ballade […] in a performance rivalling that of Hamelin’s — Colin Clarke, International Piano
…groundwork reading no pianist should miss — Ates¸ Orga on New Light on Nikolay Medtner
…an avid Medtner crusader — Gramophone
Alexander is an international expert of the music of Russian composer-pianist Nikolay Medtner (1880-1951). His doctoral thesis ‘New Light on Nikolay Medtner: Edna Iles Medtner Collection at the British Library‘ is downloaded worldwide on the regular basis.
In 2013 Alexander took part in international conference ‘Medtner Family in the Russia and World Culture’ at the Glinka Museum in Moscow.
In 2014 Alexander organised Medtner Day, one-day festival dedicated to Medtner.
In 2016 and 2017, for the first time in the UK Alexander organised two international Medtner festivals in London. Events took place in the Royal College of Music, British Library, Pushkin House, City, University of London and Merchant Taylor’s Hall. World’s most renowned Medtnerians, professors Dmitry Alexeev, Christoph Flamm, Hamish Milne and Francis Pott, as well as younger musicians and musicologists from around the globe took part. See below for more details.
In 2017 Alexander have recorded Medtner’s Sonate-Ballade, Op. 27 for Claudio Records and in 2018 some of composer’s finest songs with internationally acclaimed Russian soprano Sofia Fomina. The CD was released by Chandos Records in 2021 to a great critical acclaim.
In 2018 Alexander took part in the International Medtner festival in Berlin, organised by Internationale Nikolaj Medtner Gesellschaft.
In 2019 Alexander delivered a keynote lecture-recital ‘Perspectives on re-interpreting Nikolai Medtner’ at the University of Surrey, part of the New Takes on Recoded Music, Performance Studies Network Research Forum, organised by Dr Georgia Volioti.
In 2020 Alexander performed Medtner’ Second Concerto in London’s St John Smith Square. The following year an article about the Second Concerto was published by Olms Verlag as part of the festschrift Nikolai Medtner: Music, Aesthetics, and Contexts, edited by Christoph Flamm and Wendelin Bitzan.
In 2023 Alexander’s second all-Medtner CD was released by SOMM Recordings. Reviews appeared in American Record Guide, BBC Music magazine, Fanfare magazine, Pizzicato.lu, Music Web, Opera Today, The Quarterly Review & Podbean.com.
Alexander was featured in Channel 4’s Great Canal Journeys (Series 13, Episode 3), discussing Medtner with Dame Sheila Hancock and Gyles Brandreth, as well as playing excerpts from Medtner’s Third Concerto.
#MedtnerFest 2016
With the support of the British Library, British Library Sound Archive, Royal College of Music, Royal Musical Association, Pushkin House, Russian Embassy, Dutch Embassy, GB-Russia Society and Musica Nova Academy
28-30 January 2016, London
Honorary Patron Nikolay Lugansky
Artistic Director Dr Alexander Karpeyev
Academic Advisor Dr Anastasia Belina-Johnson
Thursday 28 January
Medtner Masterclass with Dmitry Alexeev at the Royal College of Music
Concert at the Pushkin House with Dr Cahill Smith, Alexander Karpeyev and Elena Mindlina
Friday 29 January
RMA International Study Day ‘Revealing Medtner: Emerging Research and Repertoire’ at the British Library
Film screening ‘Mystery of Medtner’ by Aida Soboleva at the Musica Nova Academy
Saturday 30 January
Trip to Medtner’s grave at the Hendon Cemetery, London. Meeting by Finchley Central Underground
Pre-concert discussion at the Royal College of Music (Corelli Room) with Hamish Milne and Christoph Flamm. Chair: Dr Anastasia Belina-Johnson
Closing concert at the Amaryllis Fleming Hall with RCM students Tamara Bakoch, Lucy Colquhoun, Alexey Demchenko, Djumash Durusaliev, Eunsley Park, Victoria Skornyakova, Varvara Tarasova and Veniamin Zhukov, and Caspar Vos
#MedtnerFest 2017
With the support of the Eastern Seasons, Pushkin House, Russian Embassy, GB-Russia Society, Rossotrudnichestvo and City, University of London
26-27 November 2017
Honorary Patron Nikolay Lugansky
Artistic Director Dr Alexander Karpeyev
Sunday 26 November
Conversation and Medtner masterclass by Iain Burnside
Opening concert with Alasdair Beatson, Matthew Chan, Vasily Gvozdetsky, Frank Huang, Alexander Karpeyev (piano), James Boyd (viola), Sofia Fomina (soprano), John Myerscough (cello) and Beatrice Philips (violin) at the Pushkin House
Monday 27 November
Lunchtime concert with Marcus Andrews, Vasily Gvozdetsky, Yuri Paterson-Olenich, Maki Sekiya, Maya Soltan, Evgenia Startseva, Drew Steanson, Elena Toponogova (piano), Ilona Revolskaya (soprano) and Elisabeth Turmo (violin)
Dmitri Alexeev‘s Medtner masterclass
Closing concert with Alexey Volodin, Edith Peña (piano) and members of the London Chamber Orchestra: Vasko Vassilev, Kathy Shave (violins), Rosemary Warren-Green (viola), Julia Graham (cello) in Merchant Taylors’ Hall
This concert was organised and presented by Eastern Seasons
Report on the festival was published by Internationale Nikolaj Medtner Gesellschaft in German and Russian.