Ekaterina Mechetina |

Ekaterina Mechetina

One of the brightest stars of the new generation of Russian musicians, the brilliant pianist Ekaterina Mechetina performs with the best orchestras in Russia and Europe, gives solo concerts all over the world. The listeners are captivated not only by the pianist’s virtuoso performing skills, but also by her amazing charm, and such a rare combination of bewitching grace and incredible concentration. Hearing her play, Rodion Shchedrin entrusted Ekaterina Mechetina with the premiere performance of his Sixth Piano Concerto.

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Ekaterina Mechetina was born into a family of Moscow musicians, she began to study music from the age of four. The pianist received her musical education at the Central Music School at the Moscow Conservatory (class of teacher T.L. Koloss) and the Moscow Conservatory (class of Associate Professor V.P. Ovchinnikov). In 2004, E. Mechetina completed her postgraduate studies at the Moscow Conservatory in the class of an outstanding musician and teacher, Professor Sergei Leonidovich Dorensky.

The pianist gave her first solo concert at the age of 10, and two years later she already made a tour of the cities of Japan, where she played 15 solo concerts with two different programs in a month. Since then, she has performed in more than 30 countries on all continents (with the exception of Australia).

E. Mechetina performs on world-famous stages, including the Big, Small and Rachmaninov halls of the Moscow Conservatory, the Big and Chamber halls of the Moscow International House of Music, the P.I. Tchaikovsky, Bolshoi Theatre; Concertgebouw (Amsterdam), Yamaha Hall, Casals hall (Tokyo), Schauspielhaus (Berlin), Theater des Champs-Elysees, Salle Gaveau (Paris), Great Hall of the Milan Conservatory and Auditorium (Milan), Sala Cecilia Meireles (Rio de Janeiro ), Alice Tully Hall (New York) and many others. The pianist actively gives concerts in the cities of Russia, her performances are held in St. Petersburg, Rostov-on-Don, Vologda, Tambov, Perm, Ulyanovsk, Kursk, Voronezh, Tyumen, Chelyabinsk, Kemerovo, Kostroma, Kurgan, Ufa, Kazan, Voronezh, Novosibirsk and many other cities. In the 2008/2009 season on the stage of the Nizhny Novgorod State Academic Philharmonic. M. Rostropovich hosted a cycle of concerts by Ekaterina Mechetina “Anthology of the Russian Piano Concerto”, in the 2010/2011 season the pianist presented the “Anthology of the Western European Piano Concerto”. As part of the 2009/2010 concert season, the pianist took part in Denis Matsuev’s Stars on Baikal festivals in Irkutsk and Crescendo in Pskov and Moscow, performed with the State Academic Symphony Orchestra of Russia named after. E.F. Svetlanova and conductor Maria Eklund in Tyumen and Khanty-Mansiysk, with solo concerts toured the Far East (Vladivostok, Khabarovsk, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Magadan).

Ekaterina Mechetina is a laureate of many international competitions. At the age of 10, the pianist won the Grand Prix of the Mozart Prize competition in Verona (the main award of the competition was a Yamaha piano), and at the age of 13 she was awarded the II prize at the First Youth Piano Competition. F. Chopin in Moscow, where she also received an unusual special prize – “For artistry and charm.” At the age of 16, she, the youngest laureate of the International Piano Competition. Busoni in Bolzano, was awarded the prize for the best performance of Liszt’s most difficult etude “Wandering Lights”. In those days, the Italian press wrote: “Young Catherine is already at the top of world pianism today.” This was followed by other achievements at competitions: in Epinal (II prize, 1999), im. Viotti in Vercelli (2002nd prize, 2003), in Pinerolo (absolute 2004st prize, XNUMX), in Cincinnati at the World Piano Competition (XNUMXst prize and Gold Medal, XNUMX).

Ekaterina Mechetina’s extensive repertoire includes more than thirty piano concertos and many solo programs. Among the conductors with whom the pianist has performed are M. Rostropovich, V. Spivakov, S. Sondetskis, Y. Simonov, K. Orbelian, P. Kogan, A. Skulsky, F. Glushchenko, A. Slutsky, V. Altshuler, D. Sitkovetsky, A. Sladkovsky, M. Vengerov, M. Eklund.

Ekaterina has taken part in major international festivals, including the world-famous Svyatoslav Richter December Evenings festival in Moscow, the Dubrovnik Festival (Croatia), Consonances in France, Europalia in Belgium, the Moscow Rodion Shchedrin Music Festivals (2002, 2007), as well as the festival Crescendo in Moscow (2005), St. Petersburg (2006) and Yekaterinburg (2007).

In the summer of 2010, Catherine performed at a festival in Lille (France) with the National Orchestra of Lille, as well as in Stockholm at a reception on the occasion of the wedding of the Swedish Princess Victoria.

The pianist has recordings on radio and television in Russia, USA, Italy, France, Japan, Brazil, Kuwait. In 2005, the Belgian label Fuga Libera released her first solo disc with works by Rachmaninoff.

In addition to solo performances, E. Mechetina often plays music in ensembles of various composition. Her stage partners were R. Shchedrin, V. Spivakov, A. Utkin, A. Knyazev, A. Gindin, B. Andrianov, D. Kogan, N. Borisoglebsky, S. Antonov, G. Murzha.

For several years now, Ekaterina Mechetina has been combining concert activity with teaching, being an assistant in the class of Professor A.A. Mndoyants at the Moscow Conservatory.

In 2003, Ekaterina Mechetina was awarded the prestigious Triumph Youth Prize. In 2007, the National Committee of Public Awards awarded the artist with the Order of Catherine the Great III degree “For merits and great personal contribution to the development of national culture and art.” In June 2011, the pianist was awarded the 2010 Russian Presidential Prize for Young Cultural Workers “for her contribution to the development of the traditions of Russian musical art and the high level of performing skills.” In the same year, Ekaterina Mechetina became a member of the Council for Culture and Art under the President of Russia.

Source: Moscow Philharmonic website Photo from the pianist’s official website