Tchaikovsky
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Anna Esipova

Anna Nikolaevna Esipova (Анна Николаевна Есипова), sometimes known as Anna Yesipova, Annette Essipoff or Annette Essipoff-Leschetizky, was a Russian pianist born in Saint Petersburg on 31 January/12 February 1851.

The daughter of a high-ranking civil servant, she studied under Tedor Leszetycki (Theodor Leschetizky) (1830–1915) at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory, and in 1880 she became his second wife (they divorced twelve years later). After a successful debut in Saint Petersburg in 1874, she undertook concert tours of Russia, Western Europe, and the United States. From 1893 to 1903 she was professor of pianoforte at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory, where her students included Sergei Prokof'ev.

The early editions (two-piano arrangement and orchestral parts) of Tchaikovsky's Concert Fantasia for piano with orchestra, Op. 56 (1884) carry the dedication "à Madame Annette Essipoff", although in the full score published in 1893 her name had been replaced by that of Sophie Menter. Neither name appears on the autograph score, and the composer did not refer to the matter in his correspondence.

Anna Esipova died on 5/18 August 1914 at Saint Petersburg, Russia, aged 63.