- Wassily Sapellnikoff
Wassily Sapellnikoff (
2 November 1867 (N.S.) or21 October 1867 (O.S.) -17 March 1941 ), was aRussia n pianist.A more true transliteration of his name is Vasily Leonidovich Sapelnikov, however when he concertised in England he chose the above version.
He was born in
Odessa . He studied at the Odessa Conservatory under Louis Brassin and Sophie Menter, and became professor of piano atMoscow Conservatory in 1897. He eventually moved toLeipzig and finally settled inMunich .He was one of Tchaikovsky's lovers, having gone with the composer on a tour to
Germany ,France andEngland . At his debut inHamburg in 1889, he played Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 in B flat minor with the composer conducting. This concert was a great success and a catalyst for his budding career as a concert pianist in Western Europe. He was the first to play this concerto in England.In spring 1910 Sapellnikoff recorded 12 pieces for the
reproducing piano Welte-Mignon , six from his own works.He died in
San Remo ,Italy .Sources
*Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 5th edition, reprinted 1966
*http://www.infopt.demon.co.uk/tchaikov.htm
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