Maria Lettberg

Biography and artistic work

Maria 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 Conservatory in Saint Petersburg. Following that, she pursued her studies further in Stockholm (Royal College of Music), in Bloomington (Indiana University) and in Helsinki (Sibelius Academy). 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 und 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.

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” (with Kaisa Salmi, Finland, and Andrea Schmidt, Germany). 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

Publications