tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2139516384946441097.post8919854968648359305..comments2024-03-04T11:50:26.682-08:00Comments on Orpheus Complex: Professor Alexander Ivashkin 1948-2014Gavin Dixonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14964697822945501178noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2139516384946441097.post-56254325365138931602014-02-04T21:54:36.225-08:002014-02-04T21:54:36.225-08:00In the photograph at the top of the page, Sasha is...In the photograph at the top of the page, Sasha is sitting with his cello I made back in 1993. He played it often in his contemporary programmes. For me it has always been an honour and a privilege to have been able, in some way, to participate in his music making. He will be missed by all who were touched by his life and music. Bruce CarlsonBruce Carlsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05326048254237300097noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2139516384946441097.post-58654157421703035102014-02-04T12:16:15.707-08:002014-02-04T12:16:15.707-08:00Thank you for this, Gavin. Sad news, indeed. He ha...Thank you for this, Gavin. Sad news, indeed. He had such vitality, such energy. A dynamic and creative force.The Centre for Russian Music, Goldsmiths and beyond have lost a shining light. RIP, Sasha.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10059781817826696851noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2139516384946441097.post-57275229441542624292014-02-03T06:08:31.817-08:002014-02-03T06:08:31.817-08:00I am so saddened at this news. As a testimony to h...I am so saddened at this news. As a testimony to his generous and wide-reaching perspectives, he had agreed to work on a recital of Mary Seacole (libretto by SuAndi) as a project centring black British classical music in conjunction with a cultural event I was planning in this field at Goldsmiths. If it can ever go ahead, his initial enthusiasm will be remembered. Deirdre Osbornenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2139516384946441097.post-61771463475792486902014-02-02T22:54:11.948-08:002014-02-02T22:54:11.948-08:00Very sad to hear the news. I was at Goldsmiths fro...Very sad to hear the news. I was at Goldsmiths from 2003-06. Sasha was tremendously helpful with my (minor) research on Giya Kancheli, fixing up meetings with the composer. And I remember a solo recital he did in college - a semiprivate affair in the college, as a run-through before I think a Wigmore concert - of one of the Bach suites (No 3, I think). He took daring risks that you probably wouldn't on a public stage - it was genuinely breathtaking. He was quite blunt about my own performing skills - with complete justification! - though always with good humour. So when I got a text from him after one performance congratulating me, I was delighted. RIP Sasha. Very sadly missed, fondly remembered.Rob Ainsleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15545429147297468874noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2139516384946441097.post-59773160355362024382014-02-02T10:54:59.284-08:002014-02-02T10:54:59.284-08:00Thanks Gabriel. Yes that was a good evening. It wa...Thanks Gabriel. Yes that was a good evening. It was the last time I saw Sasha too.Gavin Dixonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14964697822945501178noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2139516384946441097.post-75455110307914123882014-02-02T09:53:21.942-08:002014-02-02T09:53:21.942-08:00Gavin, thank you so much for sharing your memories...Gavin, thank you so much for sharing your memories of Sasha. He will be greatly missed by so many friends & colleagues. I have good memories of our meal: you, me, Natasha & Sasha, together in St Petersburg in May 2013.Gabriel Prokofievhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00025280138859016104noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2139516384946441097.post-15812739369041261412014-02-02T02:47:00.348-08:002014-02-02T02:47:00.348-08:00Thank you David. Yes, he had a real gift for those...Thank you David. Yes, he had a real gift for those lecture/recitals didn’t he. Just thinking back, the last time I heard him play, and possibly his last ever public appearance, was in the Prokofiev Op. 58, in St Petersburg last Spring. A very fine performance.Gavin Dixonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14964697822945501178noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2139516384946441097.post-28322877738946372182014-02-02T01:49:03.024-08:002014-02-02T01:49:03.024-08:00Oh, Gavin, I am so, so sad to hear of this - from ...Oh, Gavin, I am so, so sad to hear of this - from you first (I'm in Reykjavik and feel quite alone with the grief). I knew Sasha was ill, and have twice replaced him at events, but couldn't get out of him what was the matter and decided to leave well alone. I loved his company and his lightness of touch; I always marvelled at his perfect English and style, especially in his Schnittke book; and I'll never forget his demonstration of why Prokofiev's Symphony Concerto was easier to play than its original, the First Cello Concerto. <br /><br />Your tribute is note perfect and the choice of the Peer Gynt epilogue absolute perfection. I also remember Sasha's analogy of the end of the Symphony Concerto as the soloist flying into heaven through the narrowest of entrances.<br /><br />Thank you.David Nicehttp://www.davidnice.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.com