The Violin Sonatas

EDVARD GRIEG THE VIOLIN SONATAS

DE 3523 HAIK KAZAZYAN, violin PHILIPP KOPACHEVSKY, piano 1 ORIGINAL DELOS DE 3523 EDVARD GRIEG ◆ THE VIOLIN SONATAS DIGITAL

Total Playing Time: 68:25 Total HAIK KAZAZYAN, violin HAIK KAZAZYAN,

PHILIPP KOPACHEVSKY, piano PHILIPP KOPACHEVSKY, VIOLIN SONATA NO. 1 IN F MAJOR NO. SONATA VIOLIN VIOLIN SONATA NO. 3 IN C MINOR NO. VIOLIN SONATA VIOLIN SONATA NO. 2 IN G MAJOR 2 IN G NO. VIOLIN SONATA THE VIOLIN SONATAS VIOLIN THE

EDVARD GRIEG EDVARD

Lento doloroso: Allegro vivace ♦ Allegretto tranquillo ♦ Allegro animato animato tranquillo ♦ Allegro Allegretto ♦ vivace Allegro doloroso: Lento

Allegro con brio: Andante ♦ Allegretto quasi andantino ♦ Allegro molto vivace vivace molto ♦ Allegro quasi andantino ♦ Allegretto Andante con brio: Allegro

Allegro molto ed appassionato ♦ Allegretto espressivo alla Romanza ♦ Allegro animato ♦ Allegro alla Romanza espressivo ♦ Allegretto appassionato ed molto Allegro

ORIGINAL DIGITAL

DELOS DE 3523 EDVARD GRIEG ◆ THE VIOLIN SONATAS EDVARD GRIEG THE VIOLIN SONATAS

Violin Sonata No. 1 in F Major, Op. 8 (23:35) 1. Allegro con brio: Andante (9:26) 2. Allegretto quasi andantino (5:05) 3. Allegro molto vivace (9:04)

Violin Sonata No. 2 in G Major, Op. 13 (21:08) 4. Lento doloroso: Allegro vivace (8:56) 5. Allegretto tranquillo (6:46) 6. Allegro animato (5:25)

Violin Sonata No. 3 in C Minor, Op. 45 (23:40) 7. Allegro molto ed appassionato (9:10) 8. Allegretto espressivo alla Romanza (6:41) 9. Allegro animato (7:49)

Total Playing Time: 68:25

HAIK KAZAZYAN, violin PHILIPP KOPACHEVSKY, piano

2 ention the name Edvard Grieg nationalistic ingredients that would color to many classical music fans, his later compositions more strongly. Still, Mand they’ll probably tell you how attentive listeners may detect echoes of much they enjoy his Peer Gynt Suite or his traditional Norwegian music in the outer ubiquitous Piano Concerto in A Minor. Al- movements, often from the occasional though they aren’t nearly as well-known, modal flavors of the melodies as well as Grieg’s three sonatas for violin and piano their characteristically sudden major-mi- have made their way into the chamber nor shifts. repertoire – especially the magnificent third sonata. All three violin sonatas not The first movement’s cunning (and- ar only have great appeal as works of genius dent) interplay of three contrasting but also help reveal Grieg’s evolution as a themes often displays lyrical qualities. The composer. only overt folk element is found in the trio section of the sonata’s central move- The youthful Violin Sonata No. 1 in F ment, where one hears simulations of the Major, Op. 8 – written in 1865, when Grieg unique droning sounds of the hardanger was only twenty-two – offers abundant fiddle (Norway’s best-known folk instru- charm, compositional sophistication, and ment) as well as the rhythmic patterns exceptional freshness. Though his fellow of Norway’s traditional “springar” dance Norwegian composer Gerhard Schjelderup form. The finale is an exhilarating tumble described it as “The work of a youth who of glittering melodies, again built upon has known only the sunny side of life,” the three varied themes. piece contains many instances of stark contrast between brightly optimistic sections It’s interesting to note that Grieg’s first at- and darker, more turbulent ones. tempt at a violin sonata is what brought him to the attention of Europe’s venerable One might describe Grieg’s first sonata Romantic-era icon Franz Liszt. After read- as a budding genius’s quest in search of ing through the sonata’s score in 1868, his true voice. At the time, Grieg was not Liszt penned a letter to the young Nor- yet able to reconcile traditional classical wegian, praising his compositional facility formulas (like the sonata form) with ei- and describing the work as “… vigorous, ther his profuse lyrical outpourings or the reflective, inventive, and full of excellent

3 material.” Liszt ended his note with an in- It’s indeed this characteristic of the piece vitation to visit him in Weimar, in the hope that proved Grieg’s new-found ability to that they could get to know each other – effectively marry folk elements and classi- which they soon did. cal form. Like his contemporary, the great Czech nationalist composer Antonin The Violin Sonata No. 2 in G Major, Dvořák, Grieg only rarely quoted actual Op. 13 followed the first by just two years, folk material, instead favoring ingenious in 1867 – a month after Grieg had mar- simulations of it. ried his beloved cousin, the singer Nina Hagerup. While he wrote that it had been The first movement stands as convincing composed in “the euphoria of my hon- evidence of Grieg’s mastery of more ex- eymoon,” the piece – written in just three tended musical forms. It begins with an weeks – often projects the characteristical- achingly sad and poignant Lento doloro- ly pensive and coolly melancholic – even so lament, eventually relieved by a much tragic – nature of the Scandinavian musical more upbeat section that – like the first idiom. sonata’s middle movement – evokes the traditional rhythms of the springar dance Those characteristics are a by-product of and the droning sounds of the hardanger the second sonata’s far greater depen- fiddle. But from there on, the mood shifts dence upon Norwegian folk elements. In- back and forth between the poignant lyr- spired in part by the eminent Norwegian icism of the opening and the more urgent violinist Ole Bull, Grieg had resolved to passages of soaring rhapsodic motifs, lend his music a more nationalistic qual- leading into a magnificent coda. ity by infusing it with his homeland’s more traditional idioms. The Danish composer The piano leads off the second move- Niels Gade (also one of Grieg’s teachers) ment, setting its pensively reflective even criticized the work as being “too mood. But the theme soon grows in pow- Norwegian” in nature – to which the in- er and intensity, interspersed with variants creasingly confident young master testily of the minor-hued melancholic opening responded that his next sonata would be theme. A contrasting middle section shifts “even more Norwegian.” into the major mode, bringing an air of calm and quiet contentment before giv-

4 ing way to fresh elaborations of the open- as one of the supreme works within the ing theme. genre’s mainstream repertoire.

The dancing final movement emerges as The essential character of this work is per- a cleverly built sonata-form rondo, again haps best summarized by an inscription introducing a traditional droning effect in (not necessarily the composer’s) found on the exposition as it builds into a waltzlike in- the original manuscript: “Bold and exu- terlude. The meltingly lovely major-mode berant, the way I like it.” Sonata No. 3 is central section comes almost as a surprise also a work with a more somber and mys- before morphing into minor-key fluctua- terious tone than that of the sunnier and tions. The bold and brashly virtuosic coda more folk-influenced sonatas one and brings the work to a resounding close. two. Grieg himself described the piece as one that reaches beyond the nationalism Twenty years passed before Grieg com- of many of his earlier works to a “wider posed his finalViolin Sonata No. 3 in C horizon.” Minor, Op. 45 in 1887. It took him much longer to complete: several months, as The opening Allegro molto ed appassion- compared with just a few weeks apiece for ato is a bracing blend of four primary his two previous efforts. While it was his themes that share the same triadic foun- favorite of the three sonatas, he regarded dation, lending the movement an almost them all as being among his finest works. subliminal feeling of musical unity. To- And the third sonata turned out to be the gether, these themes create a relentless, last chamber piece he wrote. sometimes dizzying onslaught of passion- ate melodic material that keeps listeners Grieg – who first won critical and public on the edge of their seats – leading into acclaim as a concert pianist – regularly an ingenious coda that at first seems to toured Europe performing recital pro- champion lyricism before shifting to a grams consisting of his own music, usual- dark and dissonant ending. ly piano pieces, songs (often sung by his wife), and one of the violin sonatas – of Contrast soon comes with the radiant which No. 3 eventually earned the sta- melody that begins the mostly lightheart- tus among violinists (and chamber buffs) ed and laid-back second movement, Al-

5 legretto expressivo. The middle section Violinist Haik Kazazyan has performed – despite its minor-inflected harmonic as a soloist with many European and Rus- kinship with the movement’s opening sian orchestras, including the Orchestra section – makes for a restlessly reflective of Marinsky Theater, the Scottish Royal interlude before the prevailing luminous National Orchestra, Orchestre National mood is restored. de France, Russian National Orchestra, Moscow Philharmonic and Moscow Sym- Grieg was never one to remain entirely phony Orchestras, Prague Philharmonic faithful to the strictures of the classic so- Orchestra, Dublin National Orchestra, nata form, and – in the Allegro animato Kaunas City Symphony Orchestra, Poznan finale – he again bent its rules to suit his Philharmonic Orchestra, Katowice Radio purposes: in this case, dispensing with the Symphony Orchestra, Munich Chamber prescribed development section. After a Orchestra and Moscow Chamber Orches- restless introduction, the movement be- tra. gins in earnest with an emphatic march leading into a sometimes rhythmically dis- Kazazyan has worked with conductors jointed stretch of urgent back-and-forth Valery Gergiev, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Te- dialogue between violin and piano. An odor Currentzis, Andrew Litton, Alexander expansive sense of melodic longing then Liebreich, Alexander Lazarev, Constantine follows before returning to the opening Orbelian, Jonathan Darlington, Ricardo march. In the recklessly speedy and virtu- Averbach, Alan Buribayev, Jac van Steen, osic coda, the march theme evolves into David Brophy, Pavel Kogan, and Alexan- a triumphant paean as it surges to a fe- der Polianichko. As a chamber musician, verish finish. he has collaborated with many prominent musicians of his generation, including pi- – Lindsay Koob anists Freddy Kempf, Eliso Virsaladze, Alex Kobrin, Ekaterina Mechetina, and Rem Urasin; violinists Pavel Vernikov, Gordan Nikolitch, and Boris Brovtsyn; and cel- lists Natalia Gutman, Alexander Bouzlov, Sergey Antonov, and Boris Andrianov.

6 7 Kazazyan’s career has taken him to great Chilingirian (chamber music) at the Royal concert halls around the world, including College of Music in London. In addition, the Stern Auditorium of Carnegie Hall in Kazazyan has played in master classes New York; the Great, Small, and Rach- for Shlomo Mintz, Ida Haendel, Pamela maninov Halls of the Moscow Conserva- Frank, and others. tory; Tchaikovsky Hall in Moscow; Victoria Hall in Geneva; Wigmore Hall in London; Kazazyan is a laureate of several inter- Usher Hall in Edinburgh; and the Roy- national competitions, including the XII al Concert Hall in Glasgow. His concerts International Wieniawski Competition have been broadcast on television and (Third Prize and Special Prize for best radio programs in Russia and Europe, in- performance of a Wieniawski polonaise), cluding the BBC Radio (London), the Kul- the XII International Tchaikovsky Com- tura television channel in Russia, Brusselles petition (Fourth Prize and three Special TV, Polskie Radio, and Mezzo. In addition, Prizes), the 2007 ISANGYUN Competition Kazazyan has performed at a number of in South Korea (First Prize and Special festivals: the Verbier Festival (Switzerland), Prize for best interpretation of Isang Yun’s Festival International de Musique Sion Va- piece), and, most recently, the 2011 Enes- lais (Switzerland), Arts Square Festival (St. cu International Competition (First Prize). Petersburg), Moscow-Kremlin and Prima- Between the years 1993 and 2000, Kaza- vera Classica (Moscow), and the Tongyeo- zyan won awards at numerous competi- ng International Music Festival (South Ko- tions in Russia and Europe, including the rea), among others. Grand Prix at the Amadeus-95, Second Prize at the Yampolsky Competition, and Haik Kazazyan began his violin studies at the Grand Prix in the New Names Com- the Sayat-Nova Music School in Yerevan petition (Russia). with Levon Zoryan. He continued his ed- ucation at the Gnessin Music School and In 2010, Kazazyan released his album the Moscow Conservatory in the class Opera Fantasies on the Delos label. Since of Eduard Grach, also studying chamber 2002, he has been a soloist of the Mos- music with Alexander Bonduriansky. From cow Philharmonic Society. Haik Kazazyan 2006 to 2008, Kazazyan was a student is currently a member of the faculty at the of Itzhak Rashkovsky (violin) and Levon Moscow Conservatory.

8 Pianist Philipp Kopachevsky, a solo- Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra, the ist of the Moscow State Academic Phil- Russian National Orchestra, the Nation- harmonic and a prizewinner at several al Philharmonic Orchestra of Russia, the international competitions, had already Moscow State Academic Symphony Or- won great audience acclaim by the age chestra, the Novaya Rossiya State Sym- of twenty-three. He regularly appears in phony Orchestra, the Yevgeny Svetlanov recital in Great Britain, Germany, the Unit- State Symphony Orchestra of Russia, and ed States, the Netherlands, France, Ita- the Academic Symphony Orchestra of the ly, Greece, Poland, and Spain as well as St. Petersburg Philharmonic. throughout Russia. Kopachevsky has won particular popularity in Japan, where he He has also collaborated with such illustri- recorded a disc of piano music by Chopin ous conductors as Mstislav Rostropovich, for NHK TV. Vladimir Spivakov, Mikhail Pletnev, Yevg- eny Kolobov, Yuri Simonov, Alexander Philipp Kopachevsky was born in Moscow Dmitriev, Andrew Gourlay, William Noll, in 1990. He graduated from the Central Bjarte Engeset, Charles Olivieri-Munroe, School of Music of the Moscow State Yevgeny Bushkov, Maxim Vengerov, Paul Tchaikovsky Conservatory and is currently Watkins, Jan Latham-Koenig, Dorian Wil- a student at the Moscow Conservatory son, and Dmitry Liss, among others. (class of Professor Sergei Dorensky). He has been a prizewinner at eight presti- In addition, Kopachevsky has appeared at gious international competitions, among numerous international festivals, includ- them the Tenth International Franz ing the Andrei Sakharov Festival, the Vera Schubert Piano Competition (Germany). Lotar-Shevchenko Memorial competition, the Steinway Festival, the Miami Piano Kopachevsky has performed with many Festival, the Arts Naples World Festival, great orchestras in Russia and abroad, the Colmar International Festival, the Ms- among them the English Chamber Or- tislav Rostropovich Memorial Festival, the chestra, the Academic Symphony Or- Baltic Seasons Festival, Vladimir Spivakov chestra of the Moscow Philharmonic, Invites, Stars on Baikal, Crescendo, and the Symphony Orchestra of the Kolobov Denis Matsuev Invites. Novaya Opera Theatre in Moscow, the

9 In 2008, he performed for the world pre- he has been involved in the Moscow State miere of choreographer Benjamin Mil- Academic Philharmonic’s project Stars of lepied’s ballet Without at the Mariinsky the 21st Century. Theatre in St. Petersburg. More recently,

10 Recorded in December 2014 at Mosfilm Studio, Moscow Producer: Gennady Papin Engineer: Gennady Papin Editing/mastering: Elena Sych Kazazyan photo: Ira Weinrauch Kopachevsky photo: Evgeny Evtyukhov Booklet editors: Lindsay Koob, Anne Maley Art design and layout: Lonnie Kunkel Violin: Stradivarius “Ex-Wieniawski,” 1723 Piano: Steinway Cover photo: A Norwegian fjord near Bergen, Grieg's native city Also Available

Opera-Fantasies Rimsky-Korsakov • Bizet • Mozart Gounod • Rossini • Gershwin Haik Kazazayan, violin Andrey Shibko, piano DE 3384

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