Enigma Yuki Negishi

• Nikolai Kapustin (1937 - 2020): Piano Sonata No. 1, Op. 39 "Sonata-Fantasia":
• 1 Kapustin: Piano Sonata No. 1, Op. 39 "Sonata-Fantasia": I. Vivace 03:53
• 2 Kapustin: Piano Sonata No. 1, Op. 39 "Sonata-Fantasia": II. Largo 04:31
• 3 Kapustin: Piano Sonata No. 1, Op. 39 "Sonata-Fantasia": III. Scherzo. Vivace 03:29
• 4 Kapustin, Kapustin, Kapustin: Piano Sonata No. 1, Op. 39 "Sonata-Fantasia": IV. Allegro molto 07:22
• Melanie Spanswick (b. 1969): Enigma:
• 5 Spanswick: Enigma 03:53
• Robert Mitchell (b. 1971): Our Hearts Dance the Infinite:
• 6 Mitchell: Our Hearts Dance the Infinite 06:32
• Frédéric Chopin (1810 - 1849): Berceuse in D-Flat Major, Op. 57, B. 154:
• 7 Chopin: Berceuse in D-Flat Major, Op. 57, B. 154 04:48
• Piano Sonata No. 2 in B-Flat Minor, Op. 35, B. 128:
• 8 Chopin: Piano Sonata No. 2 in B-Flat Minor, Op. 35, B. 128: I. Grave. Doppio movimento 07:21
• 9 Chopin: Piano Sonata No. 2 in B-Flat Minor, Op. 35, B. 128: II. Scherzo. Piu lento 06:47
• 10 Chopin: Piano Sonata No. 2 in B-Flat Minor, Op. 35, B. 128: III. Marche funebre. Lento 08:16
• 11 Chopin: Piano Sonata No. 2 in B-Flat Minor, Op. 35, B. 128: IV. Presto 01:50
• Bill Evans (1929 - 1980): Peace Piece:
• 12 Evans: Peace Piece 05:28
• Total Runtime 01:04:10

Info for Enigma

The brilliant Nikolai Kapustin wrote music for himself. The tiring sense of having to explain the exact place where the divide between his obvious deep love and influence of Jazz and Classical lies must have left him feeling resentful of ever agreeing to talk about his unique work. Kapustin simply did not wish to put energy into it - compared to the actual act of composition. And that answer is - there is not a divide - so perhaps listening without a divide can put us closer to the magical place from which he operated. A place that could only come from infinitely curious spirit, a famously rigorous Classical training in Russia, and not only an influence but a love and highly developed Jazz talent - combined - but expressed primarily through a Classical means. Melanie Spanswick, composed in February 2019 especially for Japanese pianist Yuki Negishi, is a miniature programmatic work inhabits an atmospheric, dreamy sound world. It employs the full range of the keyboard and seeks to showcase the enigmatic resonance of the instrument.

Yuki Negishi, piano

Yuki Negishi
has established herself as a pianist of rare poetry, passion and virtuosity, equally at home as an adjudicator, educator and researcher, captivating audiences wherever she performs around the world. Yuki has already performed in over 500 concerts in the UK alone, including many of the most important halls and festivals, and regularly performs about 30 concerts a year as recitalist, concerto soloist and chamber musician in countries such as the Netherlands (Concertgebouw), France, Germany, Switzerland (Tonhalle), Italy (Festival di Londra, Blanc European Festival), Romania, Japan, China and the USA. She has been broadcast on BBC Radio 3, Scala Radio, ITV, Channel 4, Dutch, Polish, Romanian and French television and radio. ​​​​​​​​​​

She will be releasing her second CD through the Quartz label (www.quartzmusic.com) in 2022, including music by Chopin, Kapustin, the world-premiere recordings of Melanie Spanswick's "Enigma" written for Yuki in 2019, and Robert Mitchell's "Our Hearts Dance the Infinite (As the Giant Puya Blooms)". Another CD will be released in conjunction with the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation of unrecorded works by the Japanese composer Koichi Kishi, with violinist Yukiko Ishibashi in summer 2022, by the Japanese label Tobu Recordings. Her articles have been published by Early Music Journal (Oxford University Press) amongst many other journals and blogs.

During the 2020-2021 COVID-19 pandemic, she performed for various online festivals including the AndraTuttoBene Festival Online, Absolute Classics Festival Online (which featured on ITV News and her 5 recitals have reached over 100K views), Piano Week Online Festival and CityMusic Live (8 recitals). Her "Piano Music by Women" series in June/July 2020 was chosen in the TOP 5 online performances for the week of 29 June alongside Wigmore recitals by Angela Hewitt and Mitsuko Uchida/Mark Padmore by PIANIST Magazine.

She also served as a jury member for the Sussex International Piano Competition four times consecutively since its inauguration in 2010 (including the most recent 2018 edition) alongside such distinguished pianists as Artur Pizarro (Leeds 1st prize 1990), Vanessa Latarche (RCM Head of Keyboard) and Idil Biret. Other competitions she has adjudicated include the Open Piano Competition (2012), the London Youth Piano Competition (2019, 2021), Music and Stars Awards (2020 & 2021), the Artepiano International E-Competition (2021) and the International Competition of Music and Arts 2021- "Tokyo Stars", "Empire of Music", "London in Spring", "Le Ciel de Cannes" and "London Bridges". She will be on the jury of the Indonesia International Youth Music Olympics in April 2022, and the Jean Sibelius International Instrumental Music Competition in Finland in Nov 2022.

Born in Tokyo, Japan, Yuki Negishi started playing the piano at the age of 5 in New York City. At the age of 10, she was accepted to The Juilliard School of Music Pre-College Division as an honorary scholarship student. Yuki has since worked with such eminent figures as the late Takahiro Sonoda, Christian Zacharias, the late Irina Zaritskaya, Dominique Merlet, Dr Peter Katin and Murray Perahia at the Toho Gakuen School of Music, Amsterdam Conservatory and the Royal College of Music where she obtained her Masters Degree with distinction and Artist Diploma in 2006. At the age of 16, she was the youngest prize-winner at the Takahiro Sonoda Piano Competition and she was awarded the 2nd prize at the 2000 International Jeunesses Musicales Competition in Bucharest. Since coming to the UK in 2001, she has additionally won no less than 10 coveted prizes at the RCM and elsewhere. As a chamber musician, Yuki has collaborated with members of the London Mozart Players, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Japan Philharmonic, the Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra. and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, and regularly performs with the award-winning London Myriad Ensemble (www.londonmyriad.com), the Solomon Piano Quintet and the Aletheus Trio. In 2018, she performed with the 1st prize winners of the Munich International String Trio Competition 2012, Trio Oreade (www.trio-oreade.ch) in Switzerland and the UK.

Booklet for Enigma