Artist Series: Ani Kavafian Program
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The following program notes may only be used in conjunction with the one-time streaming term for the corresponding Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center (CMS) Front Row National program, with the following credit(s): Program notes by Laura Keller, CMS Editorial Manager © 2021 Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Any other use of these materials in connection with non-CMS concerts or events is prohibited. ARTIST SERIES: ANI KAVAFIAN PROGRAM Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) Scherzo, WoO 2, from “F-A-E” Sonata for Violin and Piano (1853) Ani Kavafian, violin • Alessio Bax, piano Arno Babadjanian (1921-1983) “Andante” from Trio in F-sharp minor for Piano, Violin, and Cello (1952) Gloria Chien, piano • Ani Kavafian, violin • Mihai Marica, cello INTERMISSION (Q&A with the artist) Antonín Dvořák (1841-1904) Trio in F minor for Piano, Violin, and Cello, Op. 65 (1883) Allegro ma non troppo Allegretto grazioso Poco adagio Finale: Allegro con brio Orion Weiss, piano • Ani Kavafian, violin • Carter Brey, cello NOTES ON THE PROGRAM Scherzo, WoO 2, from “F-A-E” Sonata for Violin and Piano (1853) Johannes Brahms (Hamburg, 1833 – Vienna, 1897) The F-A-E Sonata was an unusual joint composition project at the behest of Robert Schumann. The violinist Joseph Joachim came to visit him in Düsseldorf in October 1853, and Schumann rallied two of his young students, Brahms and Albert Dietrich, to compose a violin sonata with him. Brahms had only met Schumann the previous month, arriving with an introduction from Joachim, but Schumann was Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center immediately taken with Brahms and the two had become fast friends. Schumann wrote the intermezzo and finale, Dietrich wrote the first movement, and Brahms wrote the scherzo. The sonata is based on the letters from Joachim’s personal motive, Frei aber einsam (free but lonely). Joachim performed the sonata at Schumann’s house on October 28, 1853 with Clara Schumann at the piano and easily guessed which composer had written each movement. After the visit, Joachim retained ownership of the manuscript and allowed Brahms’ scherzo to be published in 1906. This compact, five-minute movement has a fiery main theme interspersed with pastoral episodes that show off the dramatic control of the young Brahms. FROM ANI KAVAFIAN: The powerful and energetic Brahms Sonatensatz, the Scherzo movement of the F-A-E Sonata, is a staple of the Violin and Piano repertoire and is one of my favorite short works. Originally it was written as a collaborative effort by the young Brahms, his friend and mentor, Robert Schumann and Schumann’s pupil, Albert Dietrich. Complete with virtuosity writing for both instruments, a beautifully elegant middle section, and an exciting finish, it stands alone as the most popular movement from the original four movement collaboration. It is a wonderful opening to this short program. It was such a great pleasure working with pianist Alessio Bax as we toured with this work. “Andante” from Trio in F-sharp minor for Piano, Violin, and Cello (1952) Arno Babadjanian (Yerevan, 1921 – Yerevan, 1983) Arno Babadjanian was a mid-20th century Armenian (and therefore Soviet) composer and pianist who developed his own unique style based on the folk music of his native country. He was initially encouraged by Khachaturian in Armenia, went to Moscow to finish his studies, and then returned to Yerevan to teach at the conservatory there. Not only are the echoes of Armenian folk music audible in his alluring music, but his sense of dramatic pacing is heavily influenced by the country’s epic folk tales and folklore. The slow movement of Babadjanian’s Piano Trio, written while he was a new teacher at the Yerevan Conservatory, starts with an ethereal, shimmering violin solo that nearly makes time stand still. The cello joins later and the two instruments play intertwined meditations with support from the piano, creating a crystalline soundscape that is touchingly familiar yet slightly removed. Trio in F minor for Piano, Violin, and Cello, Op. 65 (1883) Antonín Dvořák (Nelahozeves, 1841 – Prague, 1904) Dvořák came late to fame. He struggled to gain recognition outside Prague until his breakout hit Slavonic Dances of 1878. The printed music sold out almost immediately and the orchestral version was performed across Europe and as far away as New York. A prolific composer, Dvořák quickly turned his attention to writing other works in a similar style, combining the German tradition with his native Czech influences. But his music was received through the lens of the culture wars of the time. Vienna was a particularly important city for Dvořák as it was the capital of the Austrian Empire and home of Brahms, Dvořák’s champion and mentor. Some Viennese saw Czech-influenced music as a threat to German cultural hegemony in the empire. The issue came to a head with the Six Symphony, which the Vienna Philharmonic commissioned in 1880 but repeatedly postponed giving the premiere. Perhaps because of his problematic reception in Vienna, Dvořák wrote more German-sounding music for a while. “Viennese audiences seem to be prejudiced against compositions with a Slavic flavor,” he wrote in 1884. Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center This piano trio, written in February and March 1883, is one of Dvořák’s decidedly German works, and the one that sounds most like Brahms. The trio is also one of his more dramatic works, perhaps because of the artistic crisis he was facing or because his mother died just a few weeks before he began it. Though it doesn’t have Dvořák’s characteristic Czech sound, the trio does have his many other strengths in abundance, including rousing melodies and a sweeping sense of drama. The piece is one of the heavyweights of the piano trio literature and for good reason. The first movement engages all three instruments to give the movement a big, lush sound. The expected development section is short, but colorful developmental moments peek through the recapitulation in various spots. The second and fourth movements are both rousing dance-like movements with busy two-against-three cross rhythms and stomping melodies. The heart of the trio is the time-suspending slow movement, sweetly melodic, gently wistful, and with the strings echoing each other throughout. The movement stays with the listener long after the piece has ended. Notes by Laura Keller, CMS Editorial Manager © 2021 Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center FROM ANI KAVAFIAN: I always think about what 5 works one would like to have with them if stranded on a desert island. For me, the Dvořák F minor Trio is, hands down, at the top of that list. All of us who have experienced performing or listening to the emotional, touching, and the most memorable slow movement of this work cannot forget what we feel each time we hear Dvořák’s melodies. He is a master of the moments in music which gives us, what I call, goosebumps. This is a spectacular piece of music, a performance that I share with my dear colleagues, Carter Brey and Orion Weiss, and one of the highlights of my many years at the Chamber Music Society. ABOUT THE ARTISTS Pianist Alessio Bax—a First Prize winner at both the Leeds and Hamamatsu International Piano Competitions, and the recipient of a 2009 Avery Fisher Career Grant—has appeared with more than 100 orchestras, including the London Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, Dallas Symphony, Houston Symphony, Japan’s NHK Symphony, St. Petersburg Philharmonic, and City of Birmingham Symphony. In summer 2017 he launched a three-season appointment as artistic director of Tuscany’s Incontri in Terra di Siena festival, having also appeared at such festivals as Music@Menlo, the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Switzerland’s Verbier Festival, Norway’s Risør Festival, Germany’s Klavier-Festival Ruhr and Beethovenfest, and England’s Aldeburgh Festival, Bath Festival, and International Piano Series. An accomplished chamber musician, he regularly collaborates with his wife, pianist Lucille Chung, superstar violinist Joshua Bell, Berlin Philharmonic principals Daishin Kashimoto and Emmanuel Pahud, and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, where he is an alum of The Bowers Program. Last season brought the release of Italian Inspirations, his 11th recording for Signum Classics, whose program was also the vehicle for his solo recital debut at New York’s 92nd Street Y. Last season, he undertook Beethoven’s complete works for cello and piano at CMS and on a forthcoming Signum Classics release with Paul Watkins of the Emerson String Quartet. At age 14, Mr. Bax graduated with top honors from the conservatory of Bari, his hometown in Italy, and after further studies in Europe, he moved to the US in 1994. Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Carter Brey was appointed principal cellist of the New York Philharmonic in 1996, and made his subscription debut as soloist with the orchestra the following year in Tchaikovsky's Rococo Variations led by then-Music Director Kurt Masur. He has performed with the philharmonic under Music Director Alan Gilbert in the Barber, Dvořák, Elgar, and Schumann cello concertos; in Richard Strauss's Don Quixote with former New York Philharmonic music directors Lorin Maazel and Zubin Mehta; and in the Brahms Double Concerto with then-Concertmaster Glenn Dicterow and conductor Christoph Eschenbach. He is cellist of the New York Philharmonic String Quartet, which has performed in Europe, South Korea, and throughout the United States since its debut in 2017. As a chamber musician he has collaborated with the Harlem Quartet and appeared regularly with the Tokyo and Emerson string quartets, Spoleto Festival in the US and Italy, and the Santa Fe and La Jolla chamber music festivals.