With deep gratitude to my dear friend R o b e rt o P olo for his support. H is love for music made this production possible. RECORDING Keeping the Square Round

A concertante performance by its very nature involves many mu- sicians who belong to a given orchestra, choir or large ensemble, and who usually meet the soloist at a first rehearsal that is shortly before the perform- ance. A concertante performance therefore tends to be more reactive and less conceptual. The orchestra members (and at times even the conductor) merely try to follow, “catch”, anticipate the next move; fit into the next moment. As a result the overview of the piece is often lost.

However, even more discouraging is the general “averaging effect” that occurs in the sound production. Especially modern recordings of concertos tend to sound careful and hesitant. Although the sound of the orchestra is al- ways healthy and voluminous, it mostly lacks the necessary edge, clear shape and a penetrating quality. 3

Orchestral counterpoints and solo parts that need to create tension with and be free of the rest of the texture, sound conformed and adaptive, often anemic and loud.

Generally, hard edges, sudden movements and subtle differentiation, whether in temporal or dynamic phrasing, become impossible. In fact, present- ing such challenges to an orchestra is considered a lack of experience on the soloist’s side.

Recording concertos in my experience could be compared to keeping a sharp square round a smooth – a contradiction of terms: Orchestra members are encouraged to interact and express: To implode, be off time, play against each other and experiment with different sonorities and inconsistencies. This expressive way of playing and interacting is then challenged by an unrealisti- cally detailed interpretative concept that the conductor and I have prepared. The deep conceptual work must be done on the side of the soloist and the con- ductor, in the hope that the orchestra members will follow and be convinced by the resulting interpretative approach. At least we enjoy the challenge! Gavriel Lipkind 5 Heroics Series A Soloist’s Diary

Cello Heroics recording series aims to become an exhaustive anthology of the one concertante repertoire for cello, but also serves as a kind of touring diary of cellist one cellist Gavriel Lipkind. one conductor one orchestra “There is a reason why composers chose to write a concerto instead of a cham- one album ber work or a piece for a solo instrument. The concertante style in itself lends a certain heroic framework to the music. In a concerto, the voice of the soloist is superimposed to that of a group of players – an ensemble or an orchestra. This superimposing implies, on one level or another, a certain “confrontation” of the soloist “against” the group. Therefore, most concerti – or otherwise concertante pieces – carry within them an intrinsic “heroic” quality resulting from the very fact that the piece has been orchestrated as a concerto.” Gavriel Lipkind 7

Cello Heroics was created to take a deeper look at the concertante lite- rature for cello: “The Heros of the Cello“. It is a carefully planned recording series wherein every composition is seen as a “Hero”, and each is celebrated as a stand alone production especially planned to serve the needs of that work. Gavriel Lipkind Cello

An intellectual performer with an unparalleled technique and an im- “… Lipkind played mediately recognizable sound – a true virtuoso, whose interpretation is deeply with authority, most expressive and highly personal. impressive technique and fine lyricism …” Gavriel Lipkind, born in in 1977, enjoyed an early stellar rise to The Washington Post international renown as a young cellist, before making the decision to rethink a predefined life and halt a predictable path. He took a three-year long period of retreat from stage life, during which he devoted himself to extensive further studies and recording. Not satisfied with concertizing alone, and being a genuine fanatic of audio documentation as an art form in its own right, Lipkind decided to choose a radical path of innovation in his profession. Today Gavriel Lipkind directs a specialist recording label – Lipkind Productions. Every aspect of his various activities as a cellist, is an inseparable part of a larger plan to record cello repertoire and publish related music editions and educational materials. “Gavriel Lipkind … proves that he is certainly the finest cellist playing today.” Bernard Greenhouse, 2006

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The recording activity therefore defines and determines all other aspects of his career. The first and final goal, behind every composition he undertakes to work on and perform, is the aim to record it.

Gavriel Lipkind has appeared in some of the world’s most prestigious venues in recitals and with preeminent orchestras. The long list includes the Concertgebouw, Suntory Hall, Kennedy Center and Philharmonie, and orchestras like the Philharmonic, the Munich Philharmonic and the Bal- timore Symphony. He has worked alongside outstanding musicians – , Philippe Entremont, Giuseppe Sinopoli, , , and .

An iconoclastic thinker Gavriel Lipkind is also fascinated by the con- tinued evolution of the music industry, and the new creative possibilities it

“… Lipkind is a total one-off … he plays as if possessed … This was edge-of-the seat, white knuckle playing …” The Independent (five stars review) 11

“… a significant introduces to artists and audience. Above all however, it is the production of percentage of listeners unique recordings and the way they relate to his concert activities that has set left the hall in tears.” Lipkind apart in a niche of his own. The Strad Gavriel Lipkind plays a unique Italian cello labeled (erroneously) “Aloysius Michael Garani (Bologna, 1702)”. It is estimated, to have been com- pleted in the years 1670-1680; An enigma which has come to be known as “The Zihrhonheimer Cello”. Andrea Kleibel MISHA KATZ Conductor

Misha Katz was born at Rostov on Don, in , and after beginning to learn the cello, attended the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in to study with . He soon later began studies with his father, Leonid Katz, a conductor and popular artist.

In 1976 Mr. Katz won the Grand Prix of the All of Russia’s Competition, and obtained his doctorate at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow. He went on to study conducting with . After his arrival in France in 1985, Misha Katz formed the “Shostakovich Trio”. The trio was invited to record on Sony Classical and performed at major inter- national festivals, among others in Monte Carlo, Palma de Mallorca, Bregenz, Mexico City, Jerusalem, Cannes, Flanders, Luxembourg, and at some of the most prestigious concert halls in the world, such as the Concertgebouw in Am- sterdam, Alte Oper in , the Salle Pleyel in Paris, Moscow’s Tchaikovsky 13 Conservatory Concert Hall, the in Malta, the Wigmore Hall in London, Ateneul Român in Bucharest, the Bolshoi Theater, the Auditorium in Monte Carlo and Herkules Saal in Munich. In 1996 Misha Katz was appointed Permanent Conductor of the Belorussian National Philharmonic Orchestra in Minsk, and in 1998 became Principal Guest Conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukrania. Since 1998 he is also the Permanent Conductor of the chamber orchestra “The Soloists from Russia”, and in 2002 was named Principal Guest Conductor of the Philhar- monic Orchestra of Mexico City.

He has conducted orchestras in England, Belgium, Russia, France, the Czech Republic, Spain, Switzerland, Romania, , , Sweden, Slovakia, Israel, Monaco, Ukraine, , Mexico and Italy. 15

In 2003 he was named Artistic Director of the “Solomon Mikhoels” International Festival in France, under the auspices of President Jacques Chirac, and in 2005 was appointed Artistic Director of “The International Peace Festival”, under the auspices of the President Nicolas Sarkozy. He is permanent “Such a deep guest conductor of the Slovak . understanding of music can only be explained by a divine gift.” Leonard Bernstein Varsovia Orchestra

In April of 1984, the legendary violinist Yehudi Menuhin was invited Marc Minkowski, to Poland to perform as soloist and to conduct the Polish Chamber Orchestra. Music director In order to match the exigencies of the planned repertoire, the orchestra , increased the number of its members, inviting Poland’s finest musicians to Artistic director participate in the venture. Janusz Marynowski The first concerts conducted by Menuhin were enthusiastically received by audi- General, Director ences and appreciated by critics. Yehudi Menuhin accepted the proposition of Franciszek Wybranczyk, the ensemble’s general director, without hesitation, be- coming the chief guest conductor of the orchestra, which was named Sinfonia Varsovia.

Sinfonia Varsovia has performed in the world’s most celebrated concert halls, including New York’s Carnegie Hall, Théatre des Champs Elysées in Paris, the in London, ’s Musikverein, Teatro Colon in Buenos “... they are wonderful, they are one of the best orchestras, not only in Poland. First class.”

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Aires, Suntory Hall in and Herkulessaal in Munich. The orchestra played at renowned festivals in Salzburg, Gstaad (the Yehudi Menuhin Festival), Aix-en-Provence, Montreux, La Roque d’Antheron, Schleswig- Holstein, the Festival, Würzburg, Alte Oper (Frankfurt am Mein), the Sea Music Festival, the Beethoven Festival in Bonn, and many more.

The celebrated “La Folle Journée” music festival organised by the French C.R.E.A. association and its director René Martin holds a special slot in the orchestra’s performing calendar each season. Each year, the festival adopts a different theme and is hosted by a different city around the world, including Nantes, Bilbao,Tokyo and Rio de Janeiro. The festival is a unique undertaking on a worldwide scale. In 2010 for the first time “La Folle Journée”

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“No orchestra work I ever did has proven as satisfactory as the work I did as a soloist and conductor for the Sinfonia Varsovia orchestra.” Yehudi Menuhin Festival will take place in Warsaw (June 11-13). Sinfonia Varsovia has performed with many distinguished conductors, including , Gerd Albrecht, , Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Hans Graf, Leopold Hager, Jacek Kaspszyk, Kazimierz Kord, Jan Krenz, Emmanuel Krivine,Witold Lutosławski, Paul McCreesh, Jerzy Maksymiuk, Yehudi Menuhin, Marc Minkowski, Grzegorz Nowak, Krzysztof Penderecki, Michel Plasson, Mstislav Rostropovich, Volker Schmidt-Gertenbach, Jerzy Semkow, Antoni Wit and Bruno Weil. During its numerous concerts, the orchestra has accompanied such renowned soloists as Salvatore Accardo, Piotr Anderszewski, Maurice André, Martha Argerich, Yuri Bashmet, Teresa Berganza, Rafał Blechacz, , Piotr Paleczny, José Carreras, Sarah Chang, Kyung-Wha Chung, José Cura, Placido Domingo, Augustin Dumay, Nelson Freire, , Fou Ts’ong, Sharon Kam, , Nigel Kennedy, Gidon Kremer, Alicia de Larro- 21

cha, Elisabeth Leonskaja, Christa Ludwig, , , , Yehudi Menuhin, , Olli Mustonen, Anne-Sophie Mutter, Olga Pasiecznik, , Maria João Pires, Ivo Pogorelic, Jean-Pierre Rampal, , Katia Ricciarelli, Mstislav Rostropovich, Heinrich Schiff, Howard Shelley, Henryk Szeryng, Maxim Vengerov, Andreas Vollenweider, Christian Zacharias, Frank Peter Zimmermann, and Grigori Zhyslin.

Sinfonia Varsovia has made numerous recordings on compact disc and for radio and television. The orchestra boasts a discography of more than 200 albums, recorded for famous international labels: , Decca, Sony, EMI, Virgin Classics, Naxos and Denon Nippon Columbia, as well as for Polish labels, including CD Accord, Polskie Nagrania, BeArTon, DUX and Polskie Radio. Many of these recordings received prestigious music awards, including the Diapason d’Or, Grand Prix du Disque, and, on more than one occasion, the Polish “Fryderyk” award. Krzysztof Penderecki became the orchestra’s musical director in 1997 and its artistic director in July 2003, a position he still holds, often also working together with the ensemble as its conductor. The orchestra performs in Poland and abroad, playing many works by the composer. In June 2008 the post of the orchestra’s musical director was given to the world-famous French conductor Marc Minkowski.

The Sinfonia Varsovia Foundation was established in the year 2000 by Franciszek Wybranczyk. The foundation initiates and supports the orchestra’s artistic endeavours. It promotes in particular Polish composers and young talents and organises the annual Sinfonia Varsovia To Its City festival. The activities of the Sinfonia Varsovia Foundation are supported by the Polservice Patent and 23

Trademark Attorneys’ Office and by the BHP Bank.

In 2004, Franciszek Wybranczyk handed over the duties of the director of Sinfonia Varsovia to Janusz Marynowski – his assistant and long-time musi- cian in the orchestra. Until 31 December 2007, the orchestra operated from the St. I. Witkiewicz STUDIO Art Centre in Warsaw. On 1 January 2008, the Sinfonia Varsovia Orchestra became a council cultural institution. The Orchestra’s coordinator is the Capital City of Warsaw.

Robert Schumann Concerto for cello and orchestra Op. 129 in A Minor 1. Nicht zu schnell 2. Langsam 3. Sehr lebhaft

Robert Schumann often composed in waves: although he had con- centrated on music from 1833 onwards, 1840 was dedicated over to the production of songs; 1841 was a year of symphonies; the next saw the production of much of his chamber music, and 1843 was given to oratorio; and so on. But his concertos appeared at discrete stages in his life: true, there were several attempts at a piano concerto in the late 1820s, and again at either end of the 1830s, but his two best-known concertos arose from specific stimuli.

The Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 54, began as a Phantasie for piano and orchestra in 1841; he expanded it as a full concerto four years later at the urging of his wife, Clara, who gave the premiere. And the , Op. 129, also in A minor, was written on the crest of a wave of enthusiasm: Schumann had been appointed conductor of the orchestra in Düsseldorf – indeed, he finished the draft of the score on the day of his debut. His behaviour 25

and his conducting – equally erratic – would soon provoke a breakdown in his relationship with the board of the Musikverein and in his own mental stability, but at the time of the composition his hopes were running high, and the Cello Concerto reflects his optimistic outlook.

Schumann was familiar with the cello: he had taken up the instrument in 1832 when an injury took him away from the piano. But just as the Piano Concerto avoided the virtuoso display that was common in the concertos of the period, so, too, the Cello Concerto avoids flashy passagework, with the solo part intricately bound with the orchestral writing. He initially called the work a Concertstück mit Begleitung des Orchesters, which both indicates his intention to break with convention and explains why the three movements are played without pause. The first movement is in sonata form, announcing the first subject by the cello after three chords from the woodwind, the second after an orchestral episode – a procedure Schumann adopts to present the material also in his other concertos. The brief central movement, in F major, is a simple ABA form. Its opening between solo cello and the principal orchestral cellist may be a homage to Clara: a duet between soloist and solo cello is familiar in piano concertos by Liszt (No. 2, 1839–40) and Brahms (No. 2, 1878–81), but the use of a solo orchestra cello as a dialogue partner seems to have originated in Clara Schumann’s own Piano Concerto in A minor, written in 1836. The finale, which returns to the home key before modulating to the major, is a blend of rondo and sonata form where Schumann again signals his wish to avoid empty pyrotechnics: the is accompanied, so that the soloist must stick to the letter of the score. 27

The Concerto was slow to make its mark: two publishers turned it down, and Schumann couldn’t find a soloist; it was not performed until 1860, four years after the composer’s death. Now, of course, it is one of the best-loved of all concertos. Martin Anderson

LIPKIND PRODUCTIONS Objects of Desire

Lipkind Productions is a conceptually driven recording label and pro- duction company founded by cellist Gavriel Lipkind. It is dedicated to one of the most fundamental building blocks of human experience: The process of grasping, capturing and communicating an abstract idea.

“An idea, by it’s very nature, cannot be communicated without losing some of its original quality. In a studio recording, where the eventual listener is not part of the resonating space; the musical idea is put into sound in an isolated environ- ment where the performer is alone with the instrument and microphones. To quote , ‘Recording is a one-to-zero relationship’. A recording pro- duction is therefore a unique opportunity for a performer to document her ideas about a given composition in their purest form.” Gavriel Lipkind All aspects of each stage of every project are executed by a staff of creative directors who take an active interest in the connected work of their colleagues. As a result, the programmatic study, the derived interpretative approach, per- formance, editing process, mastering, design and promotion all happen as one homogenous process. 31 Sinfonia Varsovia Orchestra Collaborating Members

1 s t V i o l i n 2 n d V i o l i n V i o l a C e l l o Jakub Haufa Zbigniew Wytrykowski Artur Paciorkiewicz Jerzy Klocek Artur Gadzała Paweł Gadzina Grzegorz Katarzyna Drzewiecka Łukasz Turcza Grzegorz Kozłowski Stachurski Ewa Wasiółka Anna Gotartowska (Librarian) Włodzimierz Zurawski Piotr Krzemionka Edyta Czyzewska Krystyna Walkiewicz- Janusz Biezynski Kamil Mysinski Krzysztof Oczko Rzeczycka Jacek Nycz Konrad Bukowian Agnieszka Zdebska Bogusław Powichrowski Małgorzata Szczepanska D o u b l e B a s s Magdalena Pokrzywinska Artur Konowalik Dariusz Kisielinski Krzysztof Mróz Andrzej Staniewicz (Orch. Speaker and Marek Bogacz Pawel Maslanka Art. Coord.) Karol Kinal Robert Dabrowski Radoslaw Nur Anna Wybranczykc (hired for this recording) (hired for this recording) C o n d u c t o r s o l o i s t G e n e r a l D i r e c t o r Wojciech Rodek Gavriel Lipkind Janusz Marynowski

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F l u t e C l a r i n e t T r u m p e t Andrzej Krzyzanowski Aleksander Romanski Jakub Waszczeniuk (Orch. Speaker) Dariusz Wybranczyk Andrzej Tomczok Hanna Turonek Radoslaw Soroka T i m pa n i

O b o e B a s s o o n Piotr Kostrzewa Adam Szlezak Zbigniew Płuzek C e l e s ta Konrad Mika Wiesław Wołoszynek Agnieszka Kopacka

H o r n (hired for this recording) Henryk Kowalewicz Roman Sykta Instrument Gavriel Lipkind plays a unique Italian cello labeled “Aloysius Michael Garani The Zihrhonheimer Cello (Bologna, 1702)” estimated, however, to have been completed in the years 1670- could become an 1680. An enigma which has come to be known as “The Zihrhonheimer cello”. inseparable part of Mr. Lipkind’s music Recording making thanks to the Recording Producer Christoph Claßen Recording Engineer Julita support of M. & D. P. Emanuilow Executive Producer Gavriel Lipkind General Manager and Director, Lipkind Productions Andrea Kleibel Manager, Advisor and Coordinator Florentine Gallwas Advisor Carolyn Steinbeck Recording Location Witold Lutoslawski Concert Hall of the Polish Radio Sound Encoding Robin Schmidt 24/96 Mastering, Germany

Object Designed by alessandri-design.at Production Jan Scheffler prints- professional.de Text Editing Martin Andersen, Andrea Kleibel Photogra- phy Marco Borggreve Disc Manufacturing interdisc-berlin.de

P & C 2006 Gavriel Lipkind S single-voice polyphony C chamber music H cello heroics

single voice GAVRIEL LIPKIND cello polyphony cello WOJCIECH RODEK conductor #S01 heroics SINFONIAVARSOVIA chamber #H01 music SHOSTAKOVICH #C01 CELLO CONCERTO #1 OP. 107 IN E-FLAT MAJOR

GAVRIEL LIPKIND cello MISHA KATZ conductor SINFONIA VARSOVIA GAVRIEL LIPKIND GAVRIEL LIPKIND cello R. SCHUMANN ALEXANDRA LUBCHANSKY piano CONCERTO FOR CELLO & ORCHESTRA OP. 129 IN A MINOR

BACH6 SUITES A VIOLONCELLO SOLO MINIATURES SENZA BASSO & FOLKLORE cello 2 23 CHALLENGES FOR CELLO & PIANO heroics #H02

chamber music #C02 single voice cello polyphony heroics cello #S02 heroics #H03 #H04

MEMBERS OF THE LIPKIND CONSORTIUM GAVRIEL LIPKIND cello GAVRIEL LIPKIND cello IVAN MEYLEMANS conductor GAVRIEL LIPKIND ANTONY HERMUS conductor HET GELDERS ORKEST NEW SINFONIA VARSOVIA GEORGY WORLDS C. SAINT-SAENS ERNST V. WORKS BY BLOCH BRITTEN CELLO CONCERTO #1 OP. 33 A MINOR LIGETI RACHMANINOFF SONATA FOR CELLO SOLO DOHNANYI STRAVINSKY & DVORAK KONZERTSTÜCK FOR CELLO & ORCHESTRA OP. 12

LiPkind PRodUCTionS — oBJECTS oF dESiRE Find the complete product line of Lipkind Productions at www.LiPkind.inFo All recordings are available digitally for download also as high resolution and surround. Many titles are available as special exclusive editions and sheet music bundles.