Asya Fateyeva and the saxophone in classical music | Interview and performance excerpts

Saxophone and classical music? Certainly! Young saxophonist Asya Fateyeva tells us how the saxophone was invented for classical music before it moved on to jazz, and how she is now trying to re-establish it in classical music. We meet Asya Fateyeva at the Rheingau Music Festival 2021, where she is giving a concert together with the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Johannes Klumpp. The program bears the motto 'Homage to the Russian soul', and includes works by Russian composers Rachmaninoff, Prokofiev and Mussorgsky. The venue – the cloisters of the Eberbach Monastery, a former Cistercian abbey located near Kiedrich, in Germany’s Rheingau region. Fateyeva – herself born on the Crimean Peninsula – lets us in not only on what the Russian soul is all about; she also explains how she came to playing the saxophone. As the popular instrument currently serves only a minor role in classical music, Fateyeva sees it as her calling to once again give the saxophone a permanent position in the classical world. The interview is framed by two improvisations Asya Fateyeva shares with us; opening with an improvisation on Johann Sebastian Bach, and ending with free jazz improvisation. If you’ve ever wondered what the Russian soul might sound like on the saxophone, this video is for you! Subscribe to DW Classical Music:    / dwclassicalmusic   Watch more portraits of classical musicians:    • MUSICIAN PROFILES   #AsyaFateyeva #saxophone #RheingauMusicFestival