NINA KOTOVA ◆ TCHAIKOVSKY Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra ◆ Vladimir Fedoseyev DE 3521 1 DELOS DE 3531 NINA KOTOVA • TCHAIKOVSKY • TCHAIKOVSKY DE 3531 NINA KOTOVA DELOS • TCHAIKOVSKY DE 3531 NINA KOTOVA DELOS NINA KOTOVA ◆ TCHAIKOVSKY Pyotr IlyIch tchaIkovsky: Pezzo capriccioso, Op. 62 (6:24) Variations on a Rococo Theme, Op. 33 (18:54) Serenade for Strings, Op. 48 (34:08) Nina Kotova, cello Vladimir Fedoseyev, conductor Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra Total Playing Time: 59:37 DE3531 © 2017 Delos Productions, Inc., P.O. Box 343, Sonoma, CA 95476-9998 (800) 364-0645 • (707) 996-3844 [email protected] • www.delosmusic.com NINA KOTOVA ◆ TCHAIKOVSKY PYOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY: 1. Pezzo capriccioso, Op. 62 (6:24) Variations on a Rococo Theme, Op. 33 (18:54) 2. Moderato assai quasi Andante—Thema: Moderato semplice (2:46) 3. Variation I: Tempo della Thema (0.53) 4. Variation II: Tempo della Thema (1:25) 5. Variation III: Andante sostenuto (3:52) 6. Variation IV: Andante grazioso (1:51) 7. Variation V: Allegro moderato (3:18) 8. Variation VI: Andante (2:42) 9. Variation VII e Coda: Allegro vivo (2:04) Serenade for Strings, Op. 48 (34:08) 10. Pezzo in forma di sonatina: Andante non troppo—Allegro moderato (10:44) 11. Valse: Moderato—Tempo di valse (4:51) 12. Élégie: Larghetto elegiaco (10:27) 13. Finale (Tema russo): Andante—Allegro con spirito (8:06) Nina Kotova, cello Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra Vladimir Fedoseyev, conductor Total Playing Time: 59:37 2 nown for his warm, expansive melodies solo cello part. This character brings to mind and profound expressions of emotion, the expression of ‘light sadness,’ a term coined KRussian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky by Pushkin to describe the Russian soul. The (1840-1893) pursued composition studies at the middle section and coda are contrasting and newly opened St. Petersburg Conservatory in highly virtuosic with shimmering spiccato and 1862. He studied music theory and composi- scherzo-like rhythmic elements. The solo cello tion with the Russian composer and piano vir- part ends with a crescendo culminating with a tuoso Anton Rubinstein, who was the founder dizzying passage in the third octave.” of the conservatory. Upon graduating in 1865, Tchaikovsky immediately accepted a position as Tchaikovsky’s Variations on a Rococo Theme, professor of music theory at the Moscow Con- Op. 33, for Cello and Orchestra is a major servatory, which had just been opened by Nicolai component of the literature for solo cello and Rubinstein, Anton’s younger brother. orchestra. The Variations were first performed by Wilhelm Fitzenhagen, who was teaching at the Tchaikovsky wrote the Pezzo capriccioso, Op. 62 Moscow Conservatory at the time. Fitzenhagen, in one week in August 1887. It was first per- who was also a composer, took liberties with formed in Paris by cellist Anatoliy Brandukov, the cello part and even rearranged the order of with Tchaikovsky playing the piano part. Bran- the variations. Still, Fitzenhagen’s version is the dukov also gave the first performance of the one most often performed, and it is the version piece with orchestra, with Tchaikovsky conduct- heard on this recording. ing. The work is dedicated to Brandukov, who had studied with the German cellist Wilhelm For the most part, Fitzenhagen seems to have Fitzenhagen at the Moscow Conservatory. been more concerned with showing off his technique than paying conscientious attention The composition has been in Nina Kotova's to Tchaikovsky’s musical intentions. As he wrote recital and concerto repertoire since she was to Tchaikovsky after a performance of the work fifteen. Nina writes this about the piece: “Pez- in Wiesbaden in 1879: “I produced a furor with zo capriccioso connotes capriciousness in the your variations. I pleased so greatly that I was sense that there are multiple changes in musi- recalled three times, and after the Andante cal character in the score. The work’s introduc- variation in D minor there was stormy applause. tion opens with a dramatic line after which the Liszt said to me: ‘You carried me away! You mood changes into a captivating lyrical melody played splendidly.’” followed by alternating thematic material of or- nate refinement, changes from minor to major, Nina Kotova quotes Konstantin Sergeievich Stan- running passages and broad lyrical lines in the islavsky, the originator of a system of training 3 and preparing actors, who said that “Cliché and Tchaikovsky began work on the Variations in convention are the chains that enslave perform- December 1876, at about the time when his ers and deprive them of their artistic freedom." remarkable relationship with Nadezhda von Meck began. Having been deeply moved by a About the music on this album, Nina Kotova performance of Tchaikovsky’s symphonic tone writes, “Although the Variations on a Rococo poem The Tempest, von Meck, a wealthy wid- Theme showcase cellistic virtuosity, a thoughtful ow, wrote to Tchaikovsky and commissioned a interpretation of the score is key to a truly deep few pieces of chamber music. Tchaikovsky had understanding of the music. A refined sense of just finished these pieces when he began work style encapsulated in the work’s title, ‘Rococo,’ is on the Rococo Variations. Von Meck was his required to capture the elegance, depth, and patron for thirteen years, providing him with a poeticism of Tchaikovsky’s music. The music generous stipend, which allowed Tchaikovsky to does not tolerate interpretive clichés imbued leave his position at the Moscow Conservatory with sweetness, lightness, and an emphasis on and concentrate exclusively on composing. Al- the performer’s own personality. though the two agreed they would never meet, they exchanged more than 1,200 letters over “The theme is said to be in the rococo style, the thirteen years of their association. yet it also reflects the purity of Russian melod- icism. There are certainly references to the ro- Tchaikovsky composed the Serenade for Strings coco style in both the music and its structure, following his 1812 Overture, two pieces about but the work is in its essence, full, spirited, warm, which he wrote to Nadezhda von Meck: “The and Slavic. The very first sounds of the orches- overture will be very loud and noisy, but I wrote tral introduction with its melodic intervals set the it without any warm feelings of love and so, it Romantic mood for the entire score, recalling the will probably be of no artistic merit. But the ser- musical verse of Pushkin’s Eugene Onegin. enade, on the contrary, I wrote from inner com- pulsion. This is a piece from the heart, and so, “From the first phrases of the recording session I venture to hope that this work is not without with conductor Vladimir Ivanovich Fedose- artistic qualities.” yev, his clear vision and powerful interpretive insight into honoring Tchaikovsky’s intentions The Serenade’s first movement, marked “piece were reassuring of my own beliefs. For me, the in the form of a sonatina,” bears little resem- journey of recording Tchaikovsky in his home- blance to a sonatina by Clementi or Mozart. It land with a great conductor reaffirmed the true begins with a slow, majestic introduction that purpose of making music." also ends the movement. In the Allegro moder- ato section, Tchaikovsky presents and develops 4 his themes, but omits a development section; Russian-American cellist Nina Kotova, “a strong in this sense, the movement may be called a and individual artist whose depth of feeling and sonatina rather than a sonata. technical control are never in doubt” (Gramo- phone), has performed in recital and as a soloist The second movement is marked Tempo di with major orchestras across the globe, touring valse. The waltz grew out of the 18th-century the capitals of Europe, Asia, and the Americas minuet, a courtly dance in 3/4 time. The waltz and performing in the world’s great concert is faster than the minuet, but the biggest differ- halls, including London’s Wigmore Hall, New ence between the two dances is that in a waltz, York’s Carnegie Hall, Amsterdam’s Concertge- the dancers touch. bouw, the Berliner Philharmonie, and the Great Hall of the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow. The third movement, an elegy, is the dark, She has had the distinction of performing in a emotional core of the Serenade. To intensify live broadcast from Red Square in Moscow, for the elegiac emotions, Tchaikovsky enriches his the Imperial Family of Japan, and at Buckingham soaring melodies with lush harmonies and intri- Palace in a special concert for Prince Charles. cate counterpoint. Born in Russia, Nina Kotova belongs to the The fourth movement, based on a Russian folk third generation of a family of musicians—most song, demonstrates how brilliantly Tchaikovsky notably her father, the renowned virtuoso dou- succeeded in integrating Russian subject mat- ble-bass player Ivan Ivanovich Kotov. At the age ter and Western European form into a personal of seven, she was accepted into an adult cello style that, above all, communicates profound class at the Moscow Conservatory. At fifteen, feeling. His musical expression of deep emo- she won First Prize at the Prague International tions, especially when tempered by a classical Competition. And at nineteen, having graduat- refinement and when written “from the heart,” ed from the Moscow Conservatory, she left her has ensured the endurance of his works for homeland to continue her studies in Germany generations. and the United States, where she now resides. —David Brin In addition to performing as a soloist and collaborative artist, Nina Kotova has long ex- pressed a strong interest in expanding the cello repertoire. Her previous release on the Delos label includes her performance of her own Concerto for Cello and Orchestra as well as works by Ernest Bloch and Max Bruch.