Here’s a lively and energetic performance from cellist Konstantin Manaev and pianist Danae Dörken. They play Burlesque by Russian pianist and composer Nikolai Kapustin (1937-2020) that features on their new album Love Stories. Fitting, given that today is Valentine’s Day!

Manaev studied at Moscow Conservatory with Kyrill Rodin, at the Carl Maria von Weber Academy of Music in Dresden with Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt, and at the Music Academy in Basel with Ivan Monighetti. He has won numerous prizes at national and international competitions, including at the Wiłkomirski Competition in Poznań, the Adam Cello Competition in Christchurch, the Rahn Kulturfonds Competition in Zurich, and the Young Concert Artists European Audition in Leipzig. He plays a cello by Johannes Theodorus Cuypers from 1762 and a modern instrument by Yury Pochekin, donated by the Pirolo Foundation Basel.

Pianist Dörken was encouraged at the early age of seven by Yehudi Menuhin and went on to study with Karl-Heinz Kämmerling. She enjoys an international performing career, appearing as a soloist with orchestras globally. As a passionate chamber musician, she has performed with artists such as Lars Vogt, Gustav Rivinius, Sharon Kam, Artur Pizarro, Christiane Oelze, Carolin Widmann, Benedict Klöckner and Katia & Marielle Labèque.