Maria Lettberg
Maria Lettberg is a Swedish pianist, resident in Berlin.
Biography and artistic work
Lettberg is the daughter of a university professor of Russian literature and a mathematician. When she was seven, Maria's talent was recognised and fostered. She gave her graduate recital at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory. Following that, she pursued her studies further in Stockholm, in Bloomington and in Helsinki. Her most important teachers were Tatyana Zagorovskaja, Andrei Gavrilov, Paul Badura-Skoda, Menahem Pressler, Emanuel Krasovsky, Roland Pöntinen and Matti Raekallio.Maria Lettberg's concert repertoire focuses on Brahms, Schumann, Liszt, Chopin and Scriabin, but, also Debussy, Prokofiev, Schnittke and Bach. Besides these composers, she also regularly plays the work of less well-known ones, in particular, those of Scandinavian and Russian origin. Ms. Lettberg has worked with Deutschlandradio for many years.
Nomination for the 60th Annual Grammy Awards
Maria Lettberg has been nominated for the 60th Annual Grammy Awards – category for her performance of Zara Levina's two piano concertos with the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin.Work on Alexander Nikolayevich Scriabin
Maria Lettberg is an interpreter of Alexander Scriabin. In 2007, she recorded Scriabin's solo piano work completely on eight CDs. This was followed in 2012 by the recording of "Opus Posthum" – the early piano works of Alexander Scriabin which are not numbered and the compositions of Scriabin's son Julian.Inspired by Scriabin's ideas, Maria Lettberg initiated and led two projects under the title of "Mysterium". In both productions, a synaesthetic experience of art was achieved by the linking of musical and visual aspects. In 2008 Maria Lettberg did her PhD at the Sibelius Academy. The subject of her PhD dissertation was "An Historical Overview of Tendencies in the Interpretation of Alexander Scriabin’s piano sonata Nr. 10. - a comparative pianistic analysis".
Recordings
- 2007: Alexander Scriabin: The Solo Piano Works, Complete Recording 8 CD-Box + DVD „Mysterium – The Multimedia Project“
- 2008: Alfred Schnittke: The Piano Concertos Nos. 1–3. Ewa Kupiec and Maria Lettberg, Berlin [Radio Symphony Orchestra (East Berlin)|Rundfunk - Sinfonieorchester Berlin] /Frank Strobel.
- 2011: Erkki Melartin: The Solo Piano Works, 2 CD-Set
- 2011: Alfred Schnittke: Chamber Concerto, Trio for piano, violin and cello, Quartet for piano, violin, viola and cello; Berlin Radio [Symphony Orchestra (East Berlin)|Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin] /Frank Strobel, Petersen Quartet.
- 2012: „Opus Posthum“: [Alexander Scriabin|Alexander und Julian Scriabin], Early Piano Works
- 2013: „The Enchanted Garden“: Piano transcriptions of Russian stage works, Mikhail Glinka, Nikolai Rimski-Korsakov and Igor Stravinsky.
- 2015: „Poème de l'extase“: Works of Alexander Scriabin, Olivier Messiaen, Franz Liszt, Manfred Kelkel and Harald Banter.
- 2017: Zara Levina: The Piano Concertos Nos. 1–2. Maria Lettberg, Rundfunk - Sinfonieorchester Berlin/ Ariane Matiakh.
- 2019: Zara Levina: Piano & Chamber music. Piano Sonatas; Violin Sonata; Poem for viola and piano; Canzonetta for cello and piano; "Hebrew Rhapsody" for piano for four hands. Maria Lettberg, Yury Revich, Gernot Adrion, Ringela Riemke, Katia Tchemberdji.
- 2025: „Europolis“ - European Sound: A musical Journey through 27 countries of the European Union
Publications
- Lettberg, Maria: "Alfred Schnittke's Piano Trio: Learning and Performing", in: The Practice of Practising, Leuven University Press, 2011.
- Lettberg, Maria: "Alexander Skrjabin som pianist. Tekniska aspekter och estetiska principer". Finaali, Journal of Musical Performance and Research, Sibelius Akademie, 2004.
- Lettberg, Maria: Tendenser inom interpretationer av Alexander Skrjabins pianosonat nr 10: En jämförande pianistisk analys., Sibelius Akatemia, DokMus-tohtorikoulu, EST numero 20, 2012. http://ethesis.siba.fi/showrecord.php?ID=371162.