Performer (viola), teacher, musical public figure.
She graduated with honours from the Gnesin State Musical and Pedagogical Institute (now the Gnesin Russian Academy of Music) in viola (class of Professor G. S. Talalyan). She studied chamber ensemble with Professor A. D. Gotlib and string quartet with People’s Artist of the RSFSR and first violin of the Borodin Quartet R. D. Dubinsky.
Her passion for quartet playing has been the defining element of A. E. Frantseva’s artistic career. Since 1972 she has been a permanent member and artistic director of the String Quartet of the Tver State Philharmonic (now the Gnesin Russian Academy of Music Quartet). In 1975 the quartet became a laureate of the International String Quartet Competition held within the Prague Spring Festival.
Over the years of the quartet’s existence A. E. Frantseva has appeared in more than two thousand concerts in around 250 cities in Russia and abroad. Her solo viola programmes have enjoyed great success in the USA, Norway, the Netherlands, Spain and Germany. Highlights of these programmes include performances with outstanding soloists such as E. Brunner, V. Popov, D. Marshall, I. Mozgovenko, A. Korneev, V. Sokolov, A. Lyubimov, L. Blok, N. Lagerspetz, V. Kuleshov, D. Burshtain, A. Maykapar, A. Belsky, N. Latinsky, V. Mokrosh, M. Roussi, Heidi Turner and the Borodin Quartet.
As a member of the quartet she continues active collaboration with contemporary composers, premiering many new works at festivals such as «Moscow Autumn» and «Panorama of Russian Music».
A. E. Frantseva’s repertoire encompasses virtually all chamber literature written for viola and piano and for viola in ensemble with other instruments. With the quartet she has taken part in jubilee and portrait concerts of leading contemporary composers, including M. Weinberg, B. Tishchenko, A. Schnittke, K. Khachaturian, G. Buzogly, S. Tsintsadze, M. Rauchverger, B. Tchaikovsky and S. Nasidze. In 2004 she received an award from the Regional Public Foundation «Russian Performing Art». Numerous radio and television recordings have been made with her participation.
Since 1980 A. E. Frantseva has taught at the Gnesin Russian Academy of Music, combining her work in the Violin and Viola Department with teaching in the Chamber Ensemble and String Quartet Department. She has trained around 150 graduates, many of whom perform in leading ensembles in Russia and abroad, teach in higher and secondary music institutions, and are laureates of Russian and international competitions. She has been invited many times to give masterclasses in Russia and in Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and the USA.
In 1992 A. E. Frantseva was awarded the title of Honorary Professor of the Madrid Conservatory. She has served on juries of numerous regional and republican competitions for violists and chamber ensembles, contributed to the development of the national degree curriculum in viola and is the author of the curriculum for string quartet.
Since 1995 she has been artistic director of the International Chamber Music Festival in the town of Alexandrov.
Her discography includes two solo CDs released in 1999 and 2001, featuring works by Hindemith, Shostakovich, Frid and Golovin. With the string quartet she has recorded two LPs, two CDs and numerous archival recordings for radio.
