Tchaikovsky & Grieg —

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Tchaikovsky & Grieg — Tchaikovsky & Grieg Piano Concertos — Denis Kozhukhin Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin Vassily Sinaisky Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893) Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-fl at minor, Op. 23 These are two of the most popular piano concertos ever composed, 1 Allegro non troppo e molto maestoso – Allegro con spirito 20. 53 two pieces that have been performed and recorded hundreds of times, 2 Andantino semplice – Prestissimo – Tempo I 7. 04 and yet are still compellingly attractive for every new generation of 3 Allegro con fuoco 7. 11 musicians and music lovers. Both Tchaikovsky and Grieg had strong ties with their respective Edvard Grieg (1843-1907) motherlands, both were inspired by the folk music of their countries Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 16 and one can hear this in every note of these works. 4 Allegro molto moderato 12. 46 For me they represent the most important sides of our existence, such 5 Adagio 6. 14 as beauty, contemplation of the natural world and the distinctive 6 Allegro moderato molto e marcato 10. 12 resonance of the culture of diff erent lands. Denis Kozhukhin Total playing time: 64. 37 Denis Kozhukhin, piano Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin (Radio Symphony Orchestra Berlin) Erez Ofer, concertmaster Denis Kozhukhin Conducted by Vassily Sinaisky © Felix Broede Virtuoso warhorses. more as simple “applause-gatherers,” this move with keen insight. “Grieg’s With the exception of the piano him right. And that came about, to the “Grieg motif” – a frequently fantasy for piano and orchestra than completing the work, Tchaikovsky appealing to thrill-seeking audiences? work mirrors for us the intellectual concerto, the fact that Grieg as a despite his focus on the more intimate deployed sequence of descending a concerto. This is not a musically decided to seek professional advice Really? Let’s try to get to the bottom of this. upheaval going on in the 19th century, composer devoted himself more to musical genres, thanks to his Piano octaves, sevenths, and fi fths – which empty virtuoso concerto, glammed up from a pianist. On Christmas Eve 1874, and his own response to this; as well as the less expansive musical genres Concerto. he borrowed from the traditional with simple eff ects without any claim he played the new concerto for his This CD contains the two piano Although in his teens Edvard Grieg had the make-up of his artistic personality is certainly due in part to his failed Norwegian folk music. In the fi rst to autonomous, musical art; on the friend Nikolai Rubinstein, the principal concertos by Grieg and Tchaikovsky received his basic musical education in and his determination to achieve attempt at a symphony, to which the Grieg composed his only piano movement, Grieg narrates a number contrary, the pianistic demands are on of the recently founded Moscow featuring the exclusive PENTATONE piano and composition at the Leipzig originality.” (Krellmann). Grieg was in great Nils W. Gade had egged him concerto in the summer of 1868 at of small and varied stories, which are a par here with the musical demands Conservatoire. He wanted Rubinstein, artist, Denis Kozhukhin. If one were Conservatory, throughout his lifetime a position to discern new infl uences, on in 1863. The craftsmanship of the the age of 25. His friend Benjamin set out in an extremely diff erentiated of the composition. Here, Grieg has an excellent pianist, to advise him to initially label them collectively as he retained his status as a Norwegian to accept them as innovative and, work is more than solid; however, it Feddersen had rented for him a manner, with intricately chiselled penned a concerto with symphonic on technical issues in particular. “virtuoso warhorses,” then by no means artist born and bred, which ultimately by immediately combining them shows no sign of the individuality of holiday house in Søllerød (just outside instructions regarding both tempo and aspirations. However, the evening turned into a would this be meant disrespectfully. established his world-wide fame. He did with the traditional national styles Grieg’s later style. Less than two years of Copenhagen), where he could style of playing. Thus, he transforms disaster. After an initially icy silence, On the contrary. These exceptional not become embroiled in unedifying of composition, to incorporate them after completing the symphony, the devote himself to his creative work the initially powerful main theme into And Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto in Rubinstein roared his contempt for concertos rank among the most imitation, but discovered his own highly and adjust them to his own musical composer pronounced the verdict without being disturbed. Grieg used something that is almost lyrical. By B fl at minor? The virtuoso warhorse the work, declaring the themes to be magical in the piano repertoire and personal path; here, he was certainly language. This was the only way this that it “should never be performed...”. Schumann’s Piano Concerto as a model means of an extended melody in the par excellence?! In November 1874, hackneyed, clumsy, awkward, and not are equally popular with pianists and encouraged by the cultural-sociological specifi cally Norwegian oeuvre could Rather, Grieg decided to concentrate for his three-movement concerto. strings, the short middle movement Tchaikovsky began work on the worthy of improvement. Next came audiences alike. So far, so good. But a changes taking place with regard to have come about. We understand in future – inspired by his Norwegian Not only did he take over the key of A evokes an image of the harsh and concerto, but it caused gave him allegations such as “feeble concept,” closer look under the brilliantly polished the production and reception of music. from Grieg himself that he perceived compatriots Ole Bull and Rikard minor and the cascading, captivating lonely Norwegian landscape. Most quite some problems. No wonder, and even worse – that Tchaikovsky had surface defi nitely reveals features For centuries, music had been the his study period in Leipzig to be more Nordraak – on a new, nationalistic beginning of the fi rst movement, particularly in the fi nal movement, the up until then piano music had been committed plagiarism. And anyway – and stylistic elements that require a plaything of the wealthy nobility, but a suff ocating straightjacket than a path, by resorting to the rich repertoire other similarities can also be observed Norwegian fl avour is expanded even of secondary interest only to him. the work was unplayable. If Tchaikovsky more detailed diff erentiation. Were now it was moving into the reach of creative liberation of his personal of Nordic folk music, and mixing it with in the details of the movements. further; here, Grieg uses the rhythm of “Basically, I am infl icting violence upon expected him to play the work in public, Grieg’s solitary and Tchaikovsky’s fi rst the emerging middle-class. New works individuality. After all, there he was his ideas and knowledge of Central- Nevertheless, Grieg developed a work the spring dance “Halling” over quint myself by forcing my brain to come then it would have to be completely contribution to the genre perhaps were required for new audiences. And forced to bow to a conservatively European Romanticism in order to based on Schumann’s model that basses. Being less strictly elaborated up with piano passages,” he told his rewritten, apart from two or three not written primarily with an eye having been born in 1843, precisely as classical canon of aesthetics (which create a unique combination. His demonstrates his already mentioned, and rather more free and well-nigh brother Anatol during the course of pages. This deeply stung the insulted to “pianistic showing off ”? Perhaps times were changing, Grieg followed were soon to become history). subsequent world-wide success proved new Nordic sound, in particular thanks rhapsodic, the work feels more like a the composition. Thus, even before and humiliated composer. “I am no English longer a stupid boy, indulging in an swamped by the collective power of between two equal forces,” as he Denis Kozhukhin, with his own Cervantes Trio. After Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester and Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos) attempt at composition; I do not need the orchestra – are considered to be informed his patron, Nadezhda von his studies in Madrid, Kozhukhin was Berlin, San Francisco Symphony, have contributed to shaping the lessons from anyone.” Without further unnecessarily demanding by more than Meck. For although his Piano Concerto Piano invited to study at the Piano Academy Vienna Symphony, Philharmonia and orchestra into a fl exible ensemble that ado, Tchaikovsky then dedicated the just a few pianists. As regards thematic No. 1 is indeed virtuoso and extremely at Lake Como where he received tuition Philadelphia Orchestras. experienced the vicissitudes of German concerto to the German pianist Hans invention, it must be said that the challenging for the soloist, as far as its Denis Kozhukhin was launched onto from amongst others Fou Ts’ong, history during the 20th century in a von Bülow, who was full of praise for truly rousing main theme of the fi rst symphonic aspirations are concerned – the international scene after winning Stanislav Yudenitch, Peter Frankl, Boris particular way. Since its foundation, the work, and was later the soloist at movement has its origins in a Ukrainian and here it is very similar to Grieg’s First Prize in the 2010 Queen Elisabeth Berman, Charles Rosen and Andreas Radio Symphony the RSB has been particularly interested its triumphant première in Boston in folk song, the “Song of the Blind.” In the concerto – it ranks far above all other Competition in Brussels at the age of Staier. He completed his studies with in contemporary music, inviting major 1875. middle movement, a melody (disguised virtuoso concertos of his time.
Recommended publications
  • RUSSIAN, SOVIET & POST-SOVIET SYMPHONIES Composers
    RUSSIAN, SOVIET & POST-SOVIET SYMPHONIES A Discography of CDs and LPs Prepared by Michael Herman Composers A-G KHAIRULLO ABDULAYEV (b. 1930, TAJIKISTAN) Born in Kulyab, Tajikistan. He studied composition at the Moscow Conservatory under Anatol Alexandrov. He has composed orchestral, choral, vocal and instrumental works. Sinfonietta in E minor (1964) Veronica Dudarova/Moscow State Symphony Orchestra ( + Poem to Lenin and Khamdamov: Day on a Collective Farm) MELODIYA S10-16331-2 (LP) (1981) LEV ABELIOVICH (1912-1985, BELARUS) Born in Vilnius, Lithuania. He studied at the Warsaw Conservatory and then at the Minsk Conservatory where he studied under Vasily Zolataryov. After graduation from the latter institution, he took further composition courses with Nikolai Miaskovsky at the Moscow Conservatory. He composed orchestral, vocal and chamber works. His other Symphonies are Nos. 1 (1962), 3 in B flat minor (1967) and 4 (1969). Symphony No. 2 in E minor (1964) Valentin Katayev/Byelorussian State Symphony Orchestra ( + Vagner: Suite for Symphony Orchestra) MELODIYA D 024909-10 (LP) (1969) VASIF ADIGEZALOV (1935-2006, AZERBAIJAN) Born in Baku, Azerbaijan. He studied under Kara Karayev at the Azerbaijan Conservatory and then joined the staff of that school. His compositional catalgue covers the entire range of genres from opera to film music and works for folk instruments. Among his orchestral works are 4 Symphonies of which the unrecorded ones are Nos. 1 (1958) and 4 "Segah" (1998). Symphony No. 2 (1968) Boris Khaikin/Moscow Radio Symphony Orchestra (rec. 1968) ( + Piano Concertos Nos. 2 and 3, Poem Exaltation for 2 Pianos and Orchestra, Africa Amidst MusicWeb International Last updated: August 2020 Russian, Soviet & Post-Soviet Symphonies A-G Struggles, Garabagh Shikastasi Oratorio and Land of Fire Oratorio) AZERBAIJAN INTERNATIONAL (3 CDs) (2007) Symphony No.
    [Show full text]
  • Toccata Classics Cds Are Also Available in the Shops and Can Be Ordered from Our Distributors Around the World, a List of Whom Can Be Found At
    Recorded in the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatoire on 25–27 June 2013 Recording engineers: Maria Soboleva (Piano Concerto) and Pavel Lavrenenkov (Cello Concerto) Booklet essays by Anastasia Belina and Malcolm MacDonald Design and layout: Paul Brooks, [email protected] Executive producer: Martin Anderson TOCC 0219 © 2014, Toccata Classics, London P 2014, Toccata Classics, London Come and explore unknown music with us by joining the Toccata Discovery Club. Membership brings you two free CDs, big discounts on all Toccata Classics recordings and Toccata Press books, early ordering on all Toccata releases and a host of other benefits, for a modest annual fee of £20. You start saving as soon as you join. You can sign up online at the Toccata Classics website at www.toccataclassics.com. Toccata Classics CDs are also available in the shops and can be ordered from our distributors around the world, a list of whom can be found at www.toccataclassics.com. If we have no representation in your country, please contact: Toccata Classics, 16 Dalkeith Court, Vincent Street, London SW1P 4HH, UK Tel: +44/0 207 821 5020 E-mail: [email protected] A student of Ferdinand Leitner in Salzburg and Leonard Bernstein and Seiji Ozawa at Tanglewood, Hobart Earle studied conducting at the Academy of Music in Vienna; received a performer’s diploma in IGOR RAYKHELSON: clarinet from Trinity College of Music, London; and is a magna cum laude graduate of Princeton University, where he studied composition with Milton Babbitt, Edward Cone, Paul Lansky and Claudio Spies. In 2007 ORCHESTRAL MUSIC, VOLUME THREE he was awarded the title of Honorary Professor of the Academy of Music in Odessa.
    [Show full text]
  • Agosto-Setembro
    GIANCARLO GUERRERO REGE O CONCERTO PARA PIANO EM LÁ MENOR, DE GRIEG, COM O SOLISTA DMITRY MAYBORODA RECITAIS OSESP: O PIANISTA DMITRY MAYBORODA APRESENTA PEÇAS DE CHOPIN E RACHMANINOV FABIO MARTINO É O SOLISTA NO CONCERTO Nº 5 PARA PIANO, DE VILLA-LOBOS, SOB REGÊNCIA DE EDIÇÃO CELSO ANTUNES Nº 5, 2014 TIMOTHY MCALLISTER INTERPRETA A ESTREIA LATINO-AMERICANA DO CONCERTO PARA SAXOFONE, DE JOHN ADAMS, COENCOMENDA DA OSESP, SOB REGÊNCIA DE MARIN ALSOP OS PIANISTAS BRAD MEHLDAU E KEVIN HAYS APRESENTAM O PROGRAMA ESPECIAL MODERN MUSIC RECITAIS OSESP: JEAN-EFFLAM BAVOUZET, ARTISTA EM RESIDÊNCIA 2014, APRESENTA PEÇAS PARA PIANO DE BEETHOVEN, RAVEL E BARTÓK MÚSICA NA CABEÇA: ENCONTRO COM O COMPOSITOR SERGIO ASSAD O QUARTETO OSESP, COM JEAN-EFFLAM BAVOUZET, APRESENTA A ESTREIA MUNDIAL DE ESTÉTICA DO FRIO III - HOMENAGEM A LEONARD BERNSTEIN, DE CELSO LOUREIRO CHAVES, ENCOMENDA DA OSESP ISABELLE FAUST INTERPRETA O CONCERTO PARA VIOLINO, DE BEETHOVEN, E O CORO DA OSESP APRESENTA TRECHOS DE ÓPERAS DE WAGNER, SOB REGÊNCIA DE FRANK SHIPWAY CLÁUDIO CRUZ REGE A ORQUESTRA DE CÂMARA DA OSESP NA INTERPRETAÇÃO DA ESTREIA MUNDIAL DE SONHOS E MEMÓRIAS, DE SERGIO ASSAD, ENCOMENDA DA OSESP COM SOLOS DE NATAN ALBUQUERQUE JR. A MEZZO SOPRANO CHRISTIANNE STOTIJN INTERPRETA CANÇÕES DE NERUDA, DE PETER LIEBERSON, SOB REGÊNCIA DE LAWRENCE RENES MÚSICA NA CABEÇA: ENCONTRO COM O COMPOSITOR CELSO LOUREIRO CHAVES JUVENTUDE SÔNICa – UM COMPOSITOR EM Desde 2012, a Revista Osesp tem ISSN, BUSCA DE VOZ PRÓPRIA um selo de reconhecimento intelectual JOHN ADAMS 4 e acadêmico. Isso significa que os textos aqui publicados são dignos de referência na área e podem ser indexados nos sistemas nacionais e AGO ago internacionais de pesquisa.
    [Show full text]
  • Download Booklet
    Edvard Grieg (1843 - 1907) Piano Music Vol. 1 Edvard Grieg, was born in Bergen, on the west coast of Norway. He showed a strong interest in music at very early age, and after encouragement by violinist and composer, Ole Bull (1810 - 1880), he was sent to the Conservatory inLeipzig at tile age of fifteentoreceivehismusiceducation. Atthe conservatoryhe receivedafundamental andsolid training, and through the city's active musicallife, he received impressions, and heard music, which would leave their stamp on him for the rest of his life, for better or for worse. Even though he severely criticized the conservatory, especiall;~ towards the end of his life, in reality he was recognised as a great talent, and one sees in his sketchbooks and practices from the Leipzig period that he had the freedom to experiment as well. He had no basis for criticizing the conservatory or his teachers for poor teaching or a lack of understanding. From Leipzig he travelled to Copenhagenwith a solid musical ballast and there he soon became known as a promising young composer. It was not long before he was under the influence of RikardNordraak,whose glowing enthusiasmand unshakeable that the key to a successful future for Norwegian music lay in nationalism, in the uniquely Norwegian, the music of the people folk-songs. Nordraak came to play a decisive role for Grieg's development as a composer. Nordraak's influence is most obvious in Grieg's Humoresker, Opirs 6, considered a breakthrough. In the autumn of 1866, Grieg settled down in Christiania (Oslo). In 1874 Norway's capital city was the centre for his activities.
    [Show full text]
  • 1 Concert 2 – Nordic Triumph November 16, 2019 Overture To
    Concert 2 – Nordic Triumph November 16, 2019 Overture to Maskarade —Carl Nielsen Carl Nielsen is now acknowledged as Denmark’s most distinguished composer, and more than deserving to take his place with Grieg and Sibelius in the pantheon of Scandinavia’s long-revered composers. It was not always so, of course, and it was not until the middle of the twentieth century that his music enjoyed broad admiration, study, and performance. Not that he ever languished in obscurity, for by his forties, he was regarded as Denmark’s leading musician. He grew up in modest circumstances— certainly not a prodigy—studied assiduously, played in several unpretentious ensembles on various instruments, and began composing in small forms. He was intellectually curious, reading and pondering philosophy, history, and literature, and it must be said, was profoundly aided in his overall growth as a composer and in general intellectual sophistication by his long marriage to a remarkable woman. His wife, Anne Marie Brodersen, was a recognized major sculptor, a “strong- willed and modern-minded woman” who was relentless in the pursuit of her own, very successful career as an artist. Her independence—and penchant for frequently leaving the family to pursue her own career—impacted the tranquility of the marriage, without doubt. But, she was a stimulating, strong partner that unquestionably aided in his development into an artist of spiritual depth and sophistication. Nielsen’s reputation outside of Denmark is largely sustained by his six symphonies—Leonard Bernstein was an influential international champion of them—but he composed actively in almost all major genres.
    [Show full text]
  • Edvard Grieg: Between Two Worlds Edvard Grieg: Between Two Worlds
    EDVARD GRIEG: BETWEEN TWO WORLDS EDVARD GRIEG: BETWEEN TWO WORLDS By REBEKAH JORDAN A Thesis Submitted to the School of Graduate Studies in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts McMaster University © Copyright by Rebekah Jordan, April, 2003 MASTER OF ARTS (2003) 1vIc1vlaster University (1vIllSic <=riticisIll) HaIllilton, Ontario Title: Edvard Grieg: Between Two Worlds Author: Rebekah Jordan, B. 1vIus (EastIllan School of 1vIllSic) Sllpervisor: Dr. Hllgh Hartwell NUIllber of pages: v, 129 11 ABSTRACT Although Edvard Grieg is recognized primarily as a nationalist composer among a plethora of other nationalist composers, he is much more than that. While the inspiration for much of his music rests in the hills and fjords, the folk tales and legends, and the pastoral settings of his native Norway and his melodic lines and unique harmonies bring to the mind of the listener pictures of that land, to restrict Grieg's music to the realm of nationalism requires one to ignore its international character. In tracing the various transitions in the development of Grieg's compositional style, one can discern the influences of his early training in Bergen, his four years at the Leipzig Conservatory, and his friendship with Norwegian nationalists - all intricately blended with his own harmonic inventiveness -- to produce music which is uniquely Griegian. Though his music and his performances were received with acclaim in the major concert venues of Europe, Grieg continued to pursue international recognition to repudiate the criticism that he was only a composer of Norwegian music. In conclusion, this thesis demonstrates that the international influence of this so-called Norwegian maestro had a profound influence on many other composers and was instrumental in the development of Impressionist harmonies.
    [Show full text]
  • ABSTRACT Title of Dissertation: NATIONAL
    ABSTRACT Title of Dissertation: NATIONAL CHARACTER AS EXPRESSED IN PIANO LITERATURE Yong Sook Park, Doctor of Musical Arts, 2005 Dissertation directed by: Bradford Gowen, Professor of Music In the middle of the 19th century, many composers living outside of mainstream musical countries such as Germany and France attempted to establish their own musical identity. A typical way of distinguishing themselves from German, French, and Italian composers was to employ the use of folk elements from their native lands. This resulted in a vast amount of piano literature that was rich in national idioms derived from folk traditions. The repertoire reflected many different national styles and trends. Due to the many beautiful, brilliant, virtuosic, and profound ideas that composers infused into these nationalistic works, they took their rightful place in the standard piano repertoire. Depending on the compositional background or style of the individual composers, folk elements were presented in a wide variety of ways. For example, Bartók recorded many short examples collected from the Hungarian countryside and used these melodies to influence his compositional style. Many composers enhanced and expanded piano technique. Liszt, in his Hungarian Rhapsodies, emphasized rhythmic vitality and virtuosic technique in extracting the essence of Hungarian folk themes. Chopin and Szymanowski also made use of rhythmic figurations in their polonaises and mazurkas, often making use of double-dotted rhythms. Obviously, composers made use of nationalistic elements to add to the piano literature and to expand the technique of the piano. This dissertation comprises three piano recitals presenting works of: Isaac Albeniz, Bela Bartók, Frédéric Chopin, Enrique Granados, Edvard Grieg, Franz Liszt, Frederic Rzewski, Alexander Scriabin, Karol Szymanowski, and Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky.
    [Show full text]
  • Program Notes - by Cathy Wolfson 1 Festival Psalter - Allen Koepke (1939 - 2012) Was Born and Raised in Iowa
    Dr. Jeffry A. Jahn Music Director Gregg Reynolds Accompanist Moments in time April 2013 Festival Psalter Allen Koepke (1939 - 2012) If Ye Love Me Thomas Tallis (c.1505 – 1585) Ave Verum Corpus William Byrd (b?1543 – 1623) Three Madrigals Emma Lou Diemer (b.1927) “O Mistress Mine, Where Are You Roaming?” “Take, O Take Those Lips Away” “Sigh No More, Ladies, Sigh No More!” Tenebrae factae sunt Johann Michael Haydn (1737 – 1806) Festival Te Deum Benjamin Britten (1913 – 1976) Interval Våren (Spring) Edvard Grieg (1843 – 1907)/arr. Paul Christiansen How fair is Thy face Edvard Grieg Ave Maria Giuseppe Verdi (1813 – 1901) “Va, pensiero” (Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves) Giuseppe Verdi from Nabucco Bridal Chorus, from Lohengrin Richard Wagner (1813 – 1883) My Song in the Night arr. Paul Christiansen Feller From Fortune arr. Henry Somers Wayfaring Stranger arr. Alice Parker What Would You Do If You Married a Soldier? arr. Mack Wilberg Alleluia Ralph Manuel (b.1951) Program Notes - by Cathy Wolfson 1 Festival Psalter - Allen Koepke (1939 - 2012) was born and raised in Iowa. He received a master’s degree from the University of Northern Iowa, was Director of Choral Music at St. Mark’s Lutheran Church in Cedar Rapids, and taught for 16 years at Kirkwood Community College as Professor Emeritus. He received a number of awards for his compositions and teaching excellence, including “Iowa Professor of the Year” by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and “Innovator of the Year” by the national organization, “League For Innovation.” Festival Psalter is based upon texts from Psalm 98: 5-10, Psalm 100: 2, and Psalm 29: 11.
    [Show full text]
  • Latvian National Symphony Orchestra Vassily Sinaisky, Conductor 2
    Latvian National Symphony Orchestra Vassily Sinaisky, conductor 2 Latvian National Symphony Orchestra Vassily Sinaisky, conductor Gundaris Pone, conductor* CD1 JEAN SIBELIUS Violin Concerto in D minor, op. 47 1. Allegro moderato / 15:37 2. Adagio di molto / 8:23 3. Allegro, ma non tanto / 7:38 BÉLA BARTÓK Violin Concerto No. 2, Sz 112 4. Allegro non troppo / 19:02 5. Andante tranquillo / 10:06 SKANI would like to express sincerest gratitude 6. Allegro molto / 12:46 for assistance in production of this album: Ilze Medne and Latvian Radio 3 “Klasika”, CD2 GUNDARIS PONE Violin Concerto Baiba Kurpniece, Andris Tone, 1. Allegro non troppo sempre di gran maniera / 11:17 Ilze Zariņa and Zariņš’ family, 2. Adagio elegiaco un poco rubato / 5:38 but foremost - Tamara and Vassily Sinaiski. 3. Allegro molto vivace / 7:29 Recorded: Riga Recording Studio Melodiya 1976 (Bartók); ROMUALDS KALSONS Violin Concerto Latvian Radio Studio 1979 (Kalsons), Great Hall of University of Latvia 1988 (Sibelius), 1990 (Pone) 4. Allegro ma non troppo / 6:23 Remastering: Normunds Šnē, 2019 Booklet text: Ināra Jakubone 5. Adagio elegiaco un poco rubato / 4:20 English translation: Amanda Zaeska 6. Andante con moto / 9:56 Photos: Andris Tone 7. Allegro non troppo / 6:08 Design: Gundega Kalendra, raugs.eu Executive producer: Egīls Šēfers * Gundaris Pone, Violin Concerto Latvijas Radio arhīva ieraksti & Rīgas Skaņu ierakstu studija © LMIC/SKANI 074, 2019 Buklets latviski / Booklet in English TT: 125:15 www.skani.lv 3 4 VALDIS ZARIŅŠ (1942-2018) The early 1960s. Before a concert in Valmiera, Valdis Zariņš – still a student at the conservatory but already first violin in the string In order to better understand the jobs of his orchestra colleagues, such as how well they saw the conductor and concertmaster, quartet of the Latvian Philharmonic – makes a bet with the other members of the quartet that he can walk across the Gauja Zariņš sometimes sat alongside the last chairs in the instrument sections during rehearsals.
    [Show full text]
  • Norway – Music and Musical Life
    Norway2BOOK.book Page 273 Thursday, August 21, 2008 11:35 PM Chapter 18 Norway – Music and Musical Life Chapter 18 Norway – Music and Musical Life By Arvid Vollsnes Through all the centuries of documented Norwegian music it has been obvi- ous that there were strong connections to European cultural life. But from the 14th to the 19th century Norway was considered by other Europeans to be remote and belonging to the backwaters of Europe. Some daring travel- ers came in the Romantic era, and one of them wrote: The fantastic pillars and arches of fairy folk-lore may still be descried in the deep secluded glens of Thelemarken, undefaced with stucco, not propped by unsightly modern buttress. The harp of popular minstrelsy – though it hangs mouldering and mildewed with infrequency of use, its strings unbraced for want of cunning hands that can tune and strike them as the Scalds of Eld – may still now and then be heard sending forth its simple music. Sometimes this assumes the shape of a soothing lullaby to the sleep- ing babe, or an artless ballad of love-lorn swains, or an arch satire on rustic doings and foibles. Sometimes it swells into a symphony descriptive of the descent of Odin; or, in somewhat less Pindaric, and more Dibdin strain, it recounts the deeds of the rollicking, death-despising Vikings; while, anon, its numbers rise and fall with mysterious cadence as it strives to give a local habitation and a name to the dimly seen forms and antic pranks of the hol- low-backed Huldra crew.” (From The Oxonian in Thelemarken, or Notes of Travel in South-Western Norway in the Summers of 1856 and 1857, written by Frederick Metcalfe, Lincoln College, Oxford.) This was a typical Romantic way of describing a foreign culture.
    [Show full text]
  • NDR Radiophilharmonie in Einem Leeren Konzertsaal Gespielt
    KONZERTSAISON 2021/2022 GRUSSWORT Sehr geehrte Damen und Herren, so viele Monate hat die NDR Radiophilharmonie in einem leeren Konzertsaal gespielt. Immerhin vor Mikrofonen und sehr häufig auch vor Kameras, zu jedem Zeitpunkt darauf bedacht, eine „echte“ Konzertatmosphäre zu erzeugen. Dabei haben wir an Sie gedacht und uns vorgestellt, wie Sie uns von zu Hause aus zuhören oder zuschauen. Dass Sie, unser Publikum, ein ganz entscheidender Teil eines Konzerts sind, war uns schon immer bewusst. Aber nun sprechen wir aus gemachter Erfahrung: Ihr Dabeisein ist ein unver- zichtbarer Bestandteil eines jeden Konzerts und macht eine Aufführung erst zu dem, was sie sein soll – ein besonderer Moment musikalischen Schaffens! Das gemeinsame Erleben von Musik lässt sich durch nichts ersetzen und ist ein wesentlicher Teil unseres Seins als Musikerin und Musiker – und als Mensch. Ich freue mich sehr auf das Wiedersehen mit Ihnen! Bleiben Sie weiterhin gesund, Ihr Andrew Manze Chefdirigent der NDR Radiophilharmonie Diese Broschüre gibt Ihnen einen Überblick zu unserer Konzertsaison 2021/22. Aufgrund der aktuellen Situation können sich noch Änderungen ergeben. Deshalb möchten wir Sie bitten, sich stets auf unserer Website zu informieren. Dort finden Sie auch alle Details zu „Musik 21“, den „Konzerten Junger Künstler“, zur Joseph Joachim Akademie oder unserem Freundeskreis. 2 ndr.de/radiophilharmonie BRAHMS-FESTIVAL BRAHMS-FESTIVAL FESTIVAL 1 Unser Brahms-Festival im Kuppelsaal ERÖFFNUNGSKONZERT Für Andrew Manze hat die Musik von SO 20.02.2022 | 18 UHR Brahms geradezu „etwas Magisches“. HANNOVER | KUPPELSAAL Im Februar gibt unser Brahms-Festival Gelegenheit, sich eine ganze Woche Andrew Manze Dirigent lang der Klangwelt dieses bedeuten- Susanne Bernhard Sopran den Komponisten, der vor 125 Jahren Benjamin Appl Bariton starb, zu widmen.
    [Show full text]
  • Gustavo Gimeno Gustavo Gimeno Denis Kozhukhin Orchestre
    GustavoGustavo GimenoGimeno franck symphony in d minor symphonic variations Denis Kozhukhin Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg 1 César Franck (1822–1890) Franck’s Symphonic – nicknamed the franckistes – which included Variations and Symphony: Vincent d’Indy, Ernest Chausson and Henri Symphony in D minor (1887/1888) Design, style and contexts Duparc, leaders of their generation. 1 Lento – Allegro ma non troppo – Allegro 17. 32 2 Allegretto 10.04 Franck composed the Symphonic Variations 3 Allegro non troppo 9. 57 Andrew Deruchie for piano and orchestra in the autumn of 1885. His immediate stimulus came Symphonic Variations for piano and orchestra (1885) It would be no overstatement to call César from the virtuoso pianist Louis Diémer 4 Poco allegro 1. 48 Franck (1822–1890) one of late nineteenth- (1843–1919), who would give the premiere 5 Poco più lento 2. 28 century France’s most important and and who the previous March had dazzled 6 Allegretto quasi andante 0. 35 influential composers. Together with Camille Franck at the premiere of the composer’s 7 Variation I 0. 37 Saint-Saëns, Franck played a seminal role in Les Djinns, a symphonic poem with 8 Variation II 0. 34 the resurgence of orchestral and chamber obbligato piano. «You played splendidly», 9 Variation III 0. 31 music in the decades after the Franco- Franck is said to have told Diémer, «I will 10 Variation IV 0. 58 Prussian war and Paris Commune of 1870/71. write you a special little piece». Hardly 11 Variation V 0. 30 His music’s intense seriousness of purpose, little, the resulting work evinces a strikingly 12 Variation VI.
    [Show full text]