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 CONCERTOS 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 CELLO HEROICS SERIES A Soloist’s Diary Cello Heroics recording series aims to become an exhaustive anthology of the one concerto 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 Tel Aviv 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 9 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 Berlin Philharmonie, and orchestras like the Israel Philharmonic, the Munich Philharmonic and the Bal- timore Symphony. He has worked alongside outstanding musicians – Zubin Mehta, Philippe Entremont, Giuseppe Sinopoli, Yehudi Menuhin, Pinchas Zukerman, Yuri Bashmet and Gidon Kremer. 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 Russia, and after beginning to learn the cello, attended the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow to study with Mstislav Rostropovich. He soon later began conducting 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 Leonard Bernstein. 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 Frankfurt, the Salle Pleyel in Paris, Moscow’s Tchaikovsky 13 Conservatory Concert Hall, the Manoel Theatre 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, Poland, Denmark, Sweden, Slovakia, Israel, Monaco, Ukraine, Germany, 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 Sinfonietta. understanding of music can only be explained by a divine gift.” Leonard Bernstein SINFONIA 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 Krzysztof Penderecki, 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 Barbican Centre in London, Vienna’s Musikverein, Teatro Colon in Buenos “... they are wonderful, they are one of the best orchestras, not only in Poland. First class.” Martha Argerich 17 Aires, Suntory Hall in Tokyo 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 Pablo Casals 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.