The Damira Trio
Haydn: Piano Trio No.44 in E, Hob XV/28
Rachmaninov: Trio elegiaque in G Minor, op.post.
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Schubert: Piano Trio in E Flat, D924
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The Damira Trio
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The Damira Ensemble is an exciting new ensemble of musicians with national and
international success, both as soloists and chamber musicians. Named after the eminent Swiss-Italian painter and sculptor Brunilde Damira, the members of the
Trio draw on their Russian, German and British heritages to give their performances a uniquely international flavour.
Pianist Béla Hartmann has established a reputation for lively and
individual interpretations of a wide repertoire, ranging from Rameau to Jörg
Widmann. Schubert, Mozart and Beethoven form the core of this extensive range,
and he was both prize-winner in the International Schubert Competition, Dortmund
(1997), and winner of the Beethoven Medal of the Beethoven Piano Society of
Europe (1995). In 2000, he was a semi-finalist at the Leeds International Piano
Competition.
In 2005 Béla Hartmann performed the complete piano sonatas and dances by
Schubert, in a series of eight recitals at Steinway Hall, London. He has given
recitals at prestigious venues in London, across the UK and Europe, as well as
in the U.S.A., where he appeared at the Carnegie Recital Hall, New York.
Concerto performances include concertos by Brahms, Prokofiev, Stravinsky,
Dvorak, Liszt, Beethoven and Mozart. Béla Hartmann is also a keen musical
essayist and has published both in print and online on areas such as performance
practice and artistic identity.
Oliver Nelson MA (Mus) (Open) FRSM CCAD was born in Glasgow and began
learning the violin at the age of six. He gained a music scholarship to Canford
School and an exhibition to the Royal Academy of Music. During his time at the
Academy, Oliver studied the violin with Xue-Wei and conducting with Denise Ham
and Colin Metters. He is now in high demand as a recitalist with Andrew Ball,
Vasilis Rakitzis, and Roy Stratford having recently performed at venues such as
St.Martin-in-the-Fields and St James’s Piccadilly in London. As a soloist he has
appeared with orchestras in this country and abroad including the Amaretti
Ensemble, Dorset Chamber Orchestra, Dorking Philharmonia, Gorton Philharmonic,
High Peaks Symphony Orchestra, Hertford Symphony Orchestra, Manchester Beethoven
Orchestra, Unley Symphony Orchestra of Adelaide, Royal Oman Symphony Orchestra,
Wilmslow Symphony Orchestra and the Winchester Symphony Orchestra. Oliver’s
concerto performances have ranged from performing Bruch’s 1st Violin Concerto at
both the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama and Edinburgh Central Hall,
the Tchaikovsky Concerto in Adelaide, Australia, and Mozart Concertos 3 and 5
with the Royal Oman Symphony Orchestra in Muscat, Oman. With the latter
orchestra, Oliver was invited to perform as soloist in a private performance in
the palace of the Sultan of Oman.
Mikhail Lezdkan studied at the Leningrad Conservatoire and while still a
student won second prize in the Belgrade International Cello Competition in
1984. After graduation he worked in the celebrated
chamber ensemble "Soloists of Saint Petersburg". In 1991 Mikhail moved to France
where he led the cello section of the Lyon Opera Orchestra and became a member
of a chamber music ensemble in Lille. With the violinist Vanessa Mae, Mikhail
toured Asia, Australia, New Zealand and Europe in 1995 and 1996. He has
performed as a soloist with various Russian orchestras, the Berlin Radio
Orchestra, the Belgrade Radio Orchestra and several chamber orchestras in France
and most recently played the Shostakovitch Concerto No 1 in E minor with the
Southern Orchestral
Concert Society Orchestra in Petersfield, England. Mikhail played in the
Contemporary Music Festival, St Petersburg in 1987, giving the first performance
in Russia of Messagesquisse by Pierre Boulez, and in the Royal Festival,
Stockholm in 2003, playing a Concerto by Gil Shohat. Mikhail has recorded
several CDs, most recently Divertimento, music from the baroque period, with the
pianist Irina Ryumina.