The L’Ermitage Foundation was founded 50 years ago in 1983 by Severyn Ashkenazy to support worthy charities and present small-venue concerts. Its exquisite concert series takes place from June until November each year at the Luxe Sunset Boulevard Hotel.
Purchase a subscription to the foundation’s exclusive concert series here.
The concert I attended featured Cellist Ruslan Biryukov (of Encino, CA) and Harpsichordist Nathan Lewis (of Newport Beach, CA) performing three Italian Baroque virtuoso cello sonatas from the works of Vivaldi, Boccherini, and Locatelli.
Watch the artists perform in rehearsal in the quick video below.
About the musicians
Cellist RusLan Biryukov was born in Azerbaijian and now lives in Encino. He masterfully played a cello that was crafted by Pierre Gaggini (1976). It was provided by Robert Cauer, the Hollywood-based string instrument restorer for the Colburn School’s instrument collection and the Los Angeles Philharmonic string instrument collection.
Biryukov is a renowned cello graduate of the USC Thornton School of Music. He is the founder of the Glendale Philharmonic Orchestra and the Los Angeles Cello Quartet and is artistic director of Positive Motions Concert Series in Los Angeles.
You can read more about his career here.
The evening was enhanced by Biryukov’s magnetic personality as he thoroughly charmed the audience who were sitting in the Grand Ballroom of the cozy Luxe Hotel. He is also a skillful teacher and made the evening even more enjoyable sharing his vast knowledge of Italian Baroque and personal stories.
Nathan Lewis played a famous 60-year-old Neupert Harpsichord owned by the Kasimoff-Blüthner Piano Co. in Los Angeles, which was making a rare appearance.
Lewis was born in Auckland, New Zealand and now lives in Newport Beach. By the age of seven, he was proficient in both piano and violin and later studied at the Colburn School of Music and UC Irvine. He is currently an educator.
Biryukov mentioned before the concert that none of the three Italian Baroque sonatas had ever been played with both cello and harpsicord together.
The Harpsicord
You may remember this particular harpsicord being featured in The Partridge Family television show back in the 1970s. It also provided some of the music for the films “Titanic”, “The Little Mermaid” and “Kung Fu, ” among many others.
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