Felix Blumenfeld Works
Felix Blumenfeld (1863 - 1931) was a Russian composer, conductor, pianist, and teacher.
As a pianist, he played many of the compositions of his Russian contemporaries. His compositions, apparently influenced by Frédéric Chopin and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, include a symphony, pieces for solo piano, anAllegro de Concert for piano and orchestra, and lieder. His virtuoso pieces for piano in particular are enjoying something of a renaissance in recent years.
Felix Blumenfeld served as conductor of the Mariinsky Theatre, a historic theatre of opera and ballet in Saint Petersburg. There he conducted the premieres of the operas composed by his teacher Rimsky-Korsakov, and he conducted the Russian premiere of Wagner's opera Tristan und Isolde. He also conducted the Paris premiere of Modest Mussorgsky's opera Boris Godunov.
He was the director of the Music-drama school of Mykola Lysenko in Kiev, where Vladimir Horowitz was a pupil in his masterclasses. Famous pupils of his at the Moscow Conservatory include Simon Barere, Maria Yudina and Maria Grinberg.
He was the uncle of pianist Heinrich Neuhaus, and first-cousin once-removed of composer Karol Szymanowski.
Felix Blumenfeld's Etude for the Left Hand Alone in A-flat Major (Etude in A Flat Major pour la main gauche seule), Opus 36, was composed in 1905. It consists of one movement, marked "allegro non tanto" (moderately lively). According to Naxos Records' online description of its recording BLUMENFELD, F.: Piano Etudes (Complete):
"It opens tenderly enough, with an accompanied melody that makes use of the middle and higher range of the keyboard. It goes on to a more demonstrative section, extending the range of the keyboard used and suggesting more than ever the use of two hands."