In 1907 there appeared a book called “The Fiery Angel”, by the Russian autor Valery Bryusov. It’s an exciting story about an impossible love triangle between Renata, a passionate young woman; Ruprecht, a knight; and Madiel, the Fiery Angel.

Based on the novel, Sergei Prokofiev wrote the likewise-named opera The Fiery Angel, Op. 37, in 5 acts. The first version was finished in 1923, but unfortunately, Prokofiev never saw the complete performance of the opera, since it was performed one year after he died, in 1954.

In 2015, inspired by my new collaboration with Artem Belogurov, I came to an idea to arrange this opera for cello and piano. We recorded this arrangement in the end of the same year and were finally able to release it last Sunday, the 4th of February 2018.

I feel very passionate about this music and the story and hope I can share it with you.

This autumn passed by so fast and I completely forgot to update you about all wonderful things that happened lately! On the 23rd of October the debut album of my beloved band Dinosaur was finally released.. We’ve been playing together since 2012 and, even though all three of us live in different countries at this moment, we hope to perform our music again in nearby future. Here is the link to our website where you can find the music: https://dinosaurtrio.com

Hope you like it!

And… I became one of the four finalists of Dutch Classical Talent http://dutchclassicaltalent.nl/kandidaten-seizoen-1819-bekend/ !!! I am very grateful for this opportunity and can’t wait to share my new solo program with you!

Yesterday I presented a little glimpse of this program at my solo concert at the Muziekkamer in Zaandam – the 1st song from Maxim Shalygin’s “Canti d’inizio e fine” (the complete cycle of “Canti” will be premiered in 2018). Very soon I will tell you a bit more about my collaboration with Maxim as well as about the other projects I will work on during my residency at Gaudeamus.

My summer was full of exciting events: I’ve released my solo CD Red Velvet, performed at various festivals with wonderful musicians… And now I’m getting ready to play a solo recital at the Gaudeamus Muziekweek in a few hours! I’m deeply grateful and honoured to be musician-in-residence with Gaudeamus from season 2017/18 onwards. I’m going to work hard to present some new and adventurous projects soon! Here is my first interview where I talk about the music I like:

https://www.vpro.nl/vrije-geluiden/lees/tips/2017/week35-36/maya-fridman.html

About half a year ago, Brendon and I decided that to celebrate being married to each other for a year, we would give each other the gift of an album recording.

Red Velvet, therefore, is a celebration of love. But more than just a celebration of love between husband and wife; a celebration of love between members of a family, a love for a certain place on earth; a love for the abstract divine…

Love, like music, is something poetical, and therefore best expressed through poetry. Some of the pieces on this album were inspired by poetry, other pieces seemed to have a deep connection with pre-existing pieces of poetry. Reading through the booklet of the physical CD while listening to the music, reads like a collection of assorted poems in many languages, from many different cultures, displaying many different sides of love.

The album title was named after the one piece interconnecting all others: Red Velvet, written by Iranian composer Kaveh Vares.  After the premiere of the piece during my solo concert at the old Synagogue room of MerkAz, the whole album fell into place. Written about the atrocities in the Middle-East, with its beastly chaos, screams of victims of a war with no winning side, ultimately expressed by an almost inaudibly silent ending, Red Velvet seemed to be the perfect ending to an album that displays the infinitely many sides of love.

After Red Velvet, the album is ultimately concluded by Alisa Apreleva’s Silentium. Seven years ago, I heard this piece being performed by Apreleva herself, and it inspired me to also combine the voice of the cello with my own voice. Silentium, however, is not the only piece in which I sing while playing the cello. Louis Andriessen’s La Voce, was specifically written for not just the cello itself, but the cellist, where intertwining of the human-like voice of the cello and singing become one cluster of sound.

I hope you will enjoy the album and share my passion for this music!

The premiere of the Carrousel by NNT & Club Guy & Roni & Asko|Schönberg, and the CD release by ÆON Trio are going to happen in the same weekend! It is really hard for me to tell which event is more exciting.. I’m really looking forward to both of them!!! Tomorrow the premiere will take place in Stadsschouwburg in Groningen. And on Sunday Atsuko, Frans and I will release our first CD as ÆON Trio in a cosy hall of Fenix Music Factory in Rotterdam. If you can’t join us Sunday, please feel free to get to know our music through TRPTK website https://trptk.com/product/elegy-download/

My new website is ready and, as you can see, the calendar is already full of new exciting events! I was invited to join the ‘Fantasía para Violonchelo y Flamenco’ production at the Flamenco Biënnale in the end of January! Can’t wait to play together with the amazing Rocío Márquez, Efrén López and others!!! Right after the rehearsals for Carrousel, co-produced by NNT & Club Guy & Roni & Asko|Schönberg, will start in a full swing…