DOCSLIB.ORG

Cello Octet Resounds at the Hagia Eirene

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Cello Octet Resounds at the Hagia Eirene Cello Octet resounds at the Hagia Eirene ***** By Gavin Dixon, 12 June 2017 The Istanbul Music Festival is an international event, but it also showcases Turkish talents along with its visiting performers. This concert did exactly that, presenting a quartet of cellists from the Berlin Philharmonic, Cello4Berlin, alongside four cellists from Turkey, the ensemble Çelistanbul, plus guest soloist Dorukhan Doruk. The programme, mainly of popular classics arranged for cellos, proved ideal, as did the various groupings of players from the two ensembles, to provide an entertaining and satisfying varied programme. Cello4Berlin and Çellistanbul © Ersin Durmus Identifying musical differences between the two ensembles proved difficult. Standards were uniformly high, but the Berlin players seemed to have a little more edge and focus to their tone. The warm acoustic of the Hagia Eirene brought an ethereal glow to the combined cello sound, blurring some of the detail in the instruments’ lower registers, but allowing melodies on the upper strings to sing out gracefully. The concert began with an eight­cello arrangement of Bach’s Jesu meine Freude, the Berlin cellists to the left, the Turkish players to the right. In a show of progressive unity, this arrangement was adapted throughout the evening, and by the end the octet was seated in alternating positions. Much of the music on the programme had been arranged by David Riniker, one of the Berlin players, for cello quartet, and so the eight­player group often doubled parts, but, again, never to the detriment of the ensemble or balance. Clearly, all of these players have much orchestral experience, and the discipline they brought to this extended chamber ensemble proved invaluable. For much of the programme, the group was reduced, either to the one quartet or the other, or a varied combination of the two. The plaintive melody of Fauré’s Pavane sounded particularly elegant in these surroundings. Following with Fauré’s Sicilienne did the composer few favours, emphasising as it did the similarities between his two most famous melodies. All beautifully performed though, and in arrangements that made full use of elegant pizzicato techniques in the discreetly harmonised accompaniments. The Carmen Fantasy arranged by Werner Thomas­Mifune simply segues together the main melodies of the opera, but all sound convincing when performed by cello ensemble. The repeated notes of the Habanera at the opening reverberated around the church, while the melodies that followed all benefited from graceful ornamentation. Burcu Hanci, Cello4Berlin and Çellistanbul © Ersin Durmus Çelistanbul opened the second half with Uzun Ince Bir Yoldayim, a folk­inspired melody by Âşık Veysel. This was the only Turkish work on the programme, sadly, but offered welcome local colour. The highlight of the second half was Bruch’s Kol Nidrei, the soloist Knut Weber accompanied by the Turkish ensemble. Weber gave a committed performance – expressive, plaintive, and beautifully graded in dynamic and tone. The Berlin players filled out the second half with a series of Lieder arrangements, presumably their stock in trade, but all convincing and never sounding routine. Dvořák’s Lasst mich allein earned its place though its famous quotation in his Cello Concerto, but this more direct rendering was equally effective, two cellos performing the melody in close harmony, the other two accompanying. Delibes’ Flower Duet from Lakmé was impressive too, the lightness of the harmonies never compromised by the arrangement to lower instruments. Each half ended with a Bachianas Brasileiras from Villa­Lobos, the first half with no. 1, the second with no. 5. The sheer variety of textures that Villa­Lobos draws for the large cello ensemble is astonishing, and was well represented here. The unison bottom Cs at the end of no. 1 had a particularly weighty resonance in this acoustic. For no. 5, the cellists were joined by young Turkish soprano Barcu Hanci. Her tone is light, but with plenty of character, and she blended well with the cellos beneath, the balance ideal, even in the bocca chiusa coda. She also joined the cellists for an elegant arrangement of Handel’s Lascia chi’o pianga as an encore, before the players rounded the evening off with Stefan Wirth's Tango­Fugue on a Theme by Astor Piazzolla. A rousing end to spectacular evening. 0 COMMENTS To add a comment, please Login or register Reviewed at Hagia Eirene Museum, Istanbul on 11 June 2017 z SEE FULL LISTING PROGRAMME Bach, Jesu, meine Freude ­ chorale setting, BWV1105 Fauré, Pavane in F sharp minor, Op.50 Fauré, Sicilienne, for cello and piano, Op.78 Villa­Lobos, Bachianas Brasileiras: no. 1 for 8 cellos Bruch, Kol Nidrei: Adagio on Hebrew Melodies, Op.47 Dvořák, Lasst Mich Allein, Op.82 no.1 Tchaikovsky, Souvenir d'un lieu cher: Mélodie in E flat major for violin and orchestra, Op.42 no.3 Schubert (the Younger), The Bee, Op.13 no.9 Delibes, Lakmé: "Flower duet" Viens, Mallika les lianes en fleurs Glazunov, Melodie for Cello and Piano, Op.20 no.1 Villa­Lobos, Bachianas Brasileiras: no. 5 for voice and 8 cellos Handel, Rinaldo, HWV 7: Lascia ch'io pianga Wirth, Tango­Fugue on a Theme by Astor Piazzolla PERFORMERS Cello4Berlin, Cello Çellistanbul, Cello Dorukhan Doruk, Cello Burcu Hanci, Soprano WHAT'S ON? FIND CONCERTS NOW JUNE 2017 Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun 29 30 31 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Rncm Chamber Music Festival Songs Without Words Rncm Chamber Music Festival Songs Without Words
    Friday 04 – Sunday 06 March 2016 RNCM CHAMBER MUSIC FESTIVAL SONGS WITHOUT WORDS RNCM CHAMBER MUSIC FESTIVAL SONGS WITHOUT WORDS WELCOME The RNCM Chamber Music Festival plays an enormous role in the story of the College and is a major event in our calendar. Chamber music is at the core at what we do - the RNCM has a proud tradition of chamber ensemble training and our alumni appear with high profile ensembles such as the Elias, Heath and Navarra String Quartets plus the Gould Piano Trio to name but a few. Every year, the Chamber Music Festival goes from strength to strength, presenting the opportunity to see our wonderful students, internationally renowned staff and special guests perform beautiful music across a jam-packed weekend. This year is no exception, as we explore German Romanticism in Songs Without Words. We focus particularly on the music of Mendelssohn and Schumann and our students will be involved in a major composition project, as they are asked to create responses to Mendelssohn’s Songs Without Words. So the Festival will include works from across the 19th century but will also dip into the 20th century with composers such as Richard Strauss. This year’s line-up features some of the finest musicians performing today including the Talich Quartet, Elias Quartet, Michelangelo Quartet, plus RNCM Junior Fellows the Solem Quartet and our International Artist chamber ensemble the Diverso String Quartet. We also welcome chamber groups from Chetham’s, St Mary’s, Junior RNCM, the Royal Irish Academy of Music and Sheffield Music Academy. So please join us and immerse yourself in this weekend of lush musical landscapes.
    [Show full text]
  • The Authenticity of Genius Transcript
    The Authenticity of Genius Transcript Date: Tuesday, 15 February 2011 - 1:00PM Location: Museum of London Gresham Lecture, 15 February 2011 The Authenticity of Genius Professor Christopher Hogwood You see that I have arrived with eight accomplices today, all named on the programme sheet. I shall just tell you how we arrived at this and the purpose. As you know, the overriding theme of these six lectures, this year has been the theme of authenticity. We have done various aspects such as whether the piece in question is what it says on the tin and that sort of thing. Last time, there were many fakes. The next lecture was going to be taking the story of music, as it were, from the manuscript, or from the library stage, into the sort of thing you can pick off the shelf and buy – i.e. the work of the musicologist, the librarian and the historian. The final lecture will carry that story on - dealing with the business of picking the printed volume off the shelf and deciding to include it in a recital, in a concert, in a recording, and for that, I will be joined by Dame Emma Kirby. We will talk about what goes on in a performer’s life and in a performer’s mind when faced with a new piece of repertoire and how you bring it to life respectably from the silent piece of music that you took from the library or bought off the shelf. That does seem to leave one stage missing - the stage before the thing hits the paper, which is what goes on to create this music, and that is why we have “Authenticity of Genius” today.
    [Show full text]
  • Felix Mendelssohn's Career As a Composer
    10-27 Sat Mat.qxp_Layout 1 10/18/18 2:07 PM Page 29 Notes on the Program By James M. Keller, Program Annotator, The Leni and Peter May Chair String Quintet in B-flat major, Op. 87 Felix Mendelssohn elix Mendelssohn’s career as a composer was not strictly that of the mainstream. As a Fand conductor was flourishing in 1845. result, certain of his works — such as the first He was considering competing job offers and last movements of this quintet — can from two crowned heads (the Kings of Prus - sometimes sound less like classic chamber sia and of Saxony), he was deriving satisfac - music than like little string symphonies, re - tion from his pet project of elevating the flecting a hierarchy in which the first violin Leipzig Conservatory into a world-class in - spends more time in the spotlight than the stitution, and he enjoyed great happiness on lower-lying “accompanying” instruments. In the home front, the more so when he and his fact, his interest in those first and last move - wife greeted the arrival of their fifth child, ments seems fixed less on the themes them - Lili. There is no way that the composer, who selves than on the harmonic and structural was only 36 years old, could have known processes used in developing them. Wilhelm when he wrote the B-flat-major Quintet that Altman, writing in the classic Cobbett’s Cyclo - it would be among his last works. He died two pedic Survey of Chamber Music , perspica - years later after a series of strokes.
    [Show full text]
  • The Seventh Season Being Mendelssohn CHAMBER MUSIC FESTIVAL and INSTITUTE July 17–August 8, 2009 David Finckel and Wu Han, Artistic Directors
    The Seventh Season Being Mendelssohn CHAMBER MUSIC FESTIVAL AND INSTITUTE July 17–August 8, 2009 David Finckel and Wu Han, Artistic Directors Music@Menlo Being Mendelssohn the seventh season july 17–august 8, 2009 david finckel and wu han, artistic directors Contents 3 A Message from the Artistic Directors 5 Welcome from the Executive Director 7 Being Mendelssohn: Program Information 8 Essay: “Mendelssohn and Us” by R. Larry Todd 10 Encounters I–IV 12 Concert Programs I–V 29 Mendelssohn String Quartet Cycle I–III 35 Carte Blanche Concerts I–III 46 Chamber Music Institute 48 Prelude Performances 54 Koret Young Performers Concerts 57 Open House 58 Café Conversations 59 Master Classes 60 Visual Arts and the Festival 61 Artist and Faculty Biographies 74 Glossary 76 Join Music@Menlo 80 Acknowledgments 81 Ticket and Performance Information 83 Music@Menlo LIVE 84 Festival Calendar Cover artwork: untitled, 2009, oil on card stock, 40 x 40 cm by Theo Noll. Inside (p. 60): paintings by Theo Noll. Images on pp. 1, 7, 9 (Mendelssohn portrait), 10 (Mendelssohn portrait), 12, 16, 19, 23, and 26 courtesy of Bildarchiv Preussischer Kulturbesitz/Art Resource, NY. Images on pp. 10–11 (landscape) courtesy of Lebrecht Music and Arts; (insects, Mendelssohn on deathbed) courtesy of the Bridgeman Art Library. Photographs on pp. 30–31, Pacifica Quartet, courtesy of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. Theo Noll (p. 60): Simone Geissler. Bruce Adolphe (p. 61), Orli Shaham (p. 66), Da-Hong Seetoo (p. 83): Christian Steiner. William Bennett (p. 62): Ralph Granich. Hasse Borup (p. 62): Mary Noble Ours.
    [Show full text]
  • Mendelssohn's Elijah
    Boston University College of Fine Arts School of Music presents Boston University Symphony Orchestra and Symphonic Chorus Mendelssohn’s Elijah Ann Howard Jones conductor Monday, April 11 Symphony Hall Founded in 1872, the School of Music combines the intimacy and intensity of conservatory training with a broadly based, traditional liberal arts education at the undergraduate level and intense coursework at the graduate level. The school offers degrees in performance, composition and theory, musicology, music education, collaborative piano, historical performance, as well as a certificate program in its Opera Institute, and artist and performance diplomas. Founded in 1839, Boston University is an internationally recognized private research university with more than 32,000 students participating in undergraduate, graduate, and professional programs. BU consists of 17 colleges and schools along with a number of multidisciplinary centers and institutes which are central to the school’s research and teaching mission. The Boston University College of Fine Arts was created in 1954 to bring together the School of Music, the School of Theatre, and the School of Visual Arts. The University’s vision was to create a community of artists in a conservatory-style school offering professional training in the arts to both undergraduate and graduate students, complemented by a liberal arts curriculum for undergraduate students. Since those early days, education at the College of Fine Arts has begun on the BU campus and extended into the city of Boston, a rich center of cultural, artistic and intellectual activity. Boston University College of Fine Arts School of Music Boston University Symphonic Chorus April 11, 2011 Boston University Symphony Orchestra Symphony Hall Ann Howard Jones, conductor The 229th concert in the 2010–11 season Elijah, op.
    [Show full text]
  • ELIJAH, Op. 70 (1846) Libretto: Julius Schubring English Translation
    ELIJAH, Op. 70 (1846) Libretto: Julius Schubring Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy (1809-1847) English Translation: William Bartholomew PART ONE The Biblical tale of Elijah dates from c. 800 BCE. "In fact I imagined Elijah as a real prophet The core narrative is found in the Book of Kings through and through, of the kind we could (I and II), with minor references elsewhere in really do with today: Strong, zealous and, yes, the Hebrew Bible. The Haggadah supplements even bad-tempered, angry and brooding — in the scriptural account with a number of colorful contrast to the riff-raff, whether of the court or legends about the prophet’s life and works. the people, and indeed in contrast to almost the After Moses, Abraham and David, Elijah is the whole world — and yet borne aloft as if on Old Testament character mentioned most in the angels' wings." – Felix Mendelssohn, 1838 (letter New Testament. The Qu’uran also numbers to Julius Schubring, Elijah’s librettist) Elijah (Ilyas) among the major prophets of Islam. Elijah’s name is commonly translated to mean “Yahweh is my God.” PROLOGUE: Elijah’s Curse Introduction: Recitative — Elijah Elijah materializes before Ahab, king of the Four dark-hued chords spring out of nowhere, As God the Lord of Israel liveth, before Israelites, to deliver a bitter curse: Three years of grippingly setting the stage for confrontation.1 whom I stand: There shall not be dew drought as punishment for the apostasy of Ahab With the opening sentence, Mendelssohn nor rain these years, but according to and his court. The prophet’s appearance is a introduces two major musical motives that will my word.
    [Show full text]
  • Program Notes Dramatic Vs Theological
    6 program notes Felix mendelssohn-Bartholdy elijah, opus 70 Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn was born in Hamburg on February 3, 1809, and died in Leipzig on November 4, 1847. Urged by his maternal uncle, Jakob, the family converted to Lutheranism, baptized the children and appended their name with “Bartholdy” to distinguish the Protestant Mendelssohns from the Jewish ones. “Elijah” is a two-hour, 11-minute oratorio scored for soprano, alto, tenor, and bass soloists, solo octet, mixed chorus, and an orchestra consisting of flutes, oboes, clarinets, and bassoons in pairs, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, tuba (replacing the obsolute ophicleide called for by Mendelssohn), timpani, organ, and strings. Dramatic vs Theological (Epic) As early as August 1836, Mendelssohn asked his lifelong friend Karl Klingemann about writing a libretto for an oratorio based on Elijah, St. Peter, or even Og of Bashan to “stir me up to fresh activity…” Elijah and St. Peter both remained possible subjects for some time. Og of Bashan (one of the pagan kings conquered by the Hebrew armies under Moses (see Deuteronomy 3:1-11) was no more than a bit of Mendelssohian whimsy, however. Og was principally famous for having an enormous bed, nine cubits long and four wide—scarcely enough substance to build an oratorio on. By approaching Klingemann (who had written the libretto for his one-act operetta Die Heimkehr aus der Fremde, known in English as Son and Stranger) rather than the pastor Julius Schubring, who had assembled the text for St. Paul, it is clear that Mendelssohn was in search of a conception more dramatic than theological.
    [Show full text]
  • Guide to Repertoire
    Guide to Repertoire The chamber music repertoire is both wonderful and almost endless. Some have better grips on it than others, but all who are responsible for what the public hears need to know the landscape of the art form in an overall way, with at least a basic awareness of its details. At the end of the day, it is the music itself that is the substance of the work of both the performer and presenter. Knowing the basics of the repertoire will empower anyone who presents concerts. Here is a run-down of the meat-and-potatoes of the chamber literature, organized by instrumentation, with some historical context. Chamber music ensembles can be most simple divided into five groups: those with piano, those with strings, wind ensembles, mixed ensembles (winds plus strings and sometimes piano), and piano ensembles. Note: The listings below barely scratch the surface of repertoire available for all types of ensembles. The Major Ensembles with Piano The Duo Sonata (piano with one violin, viola, cello or wind instrument) Duo repertoire is generally categorized as either a true duo sonata (solo instrument and piano are equal partners) or as a soloist and accompanist ensemble. For our purposes here we are only discussing the former. Duo sonatas have existed since the Baroque era, and Johann Sebastian Bach has many examples, all with “continuo” accompaniment that comprises full partnership. His violin sonatas, especially, are treasures, and can be performed equally effectively with harpsichord, fortepiano or modern piano. Haydn continued to develop the genre; Mozart wrote an enormous number of violin sonatas (mostly for himself to play as he was a professional-level violinist as well).
    [Show full text]
  • PROGRAM NOTES Mendelssohn the Prodigy April 28 – May 1, 2019
    PROGRAM NOTES Mendelssohn the Prodigy April 28 – May 1, 2019 St. Luke’s Chamber Ensemble At A Glance “As far as mere technical execution goes, musical prodigies are probably not so rare any more, but what this young fellow can improvise and play at sight borders on the miraculous,” wrote Johann Wolfgang von Goethe about Felix Mendelssohn in November 1821, after hearing Mendelssohn perform his Piano Quartet in D Minor. Mendelssohn was three months shy of his thirteenth birthday, but he was already being proclaimed Mozart’s successor for his prodigious talents as a violinist, pianist, and composer. “Prodigy” often connotes a sense of phenomenon, as if the early blossoming of talent is predestined by divine decree or mere chance. Mendelssohn displayed his unusual musical gifts early, but they were expertly cultivated by his parents. By the time he was a pre-teen, Mendelssohn had been studying piano, violin, and composition for several years, had studied the music of J.S. Bach extensively, and was devoted to the works of Ovid, Cicero, and Shakespeare. If Mendelssohn was indeed born with an innate musicality, it was the fortunate circumstances of his birth (right time, right place, right parents) that catapulted him into the exclusive circle of child prodigies. Mendelssohn’s earliest compositions date from 1819, when he was ten years old. Within four years, he would compose four Singspiels, twelve string symphonies, piano trios and quartets, a violin sonata, and various chamber and vocal works. Many of these pieces were first performed in the Mendelssohn home, or in private residences in Berlin.
    [Show full text]
  • Formal Procedures in Three Works for String Chamber Ensemble
    FORMAL PROCEDURES IN THREE WORKS FOR STRING CHAMBER ENSEMBLE BY FELIX MENDELSSOHN-BARTHOLDY by GEORGE CLIFFORD EVERARD AUSTIN B.Mus., The University of British Columbia, 1977 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF MUSIC' in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES (Department of Music) We accept this thesis as conforming to the required standard THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA May 1982 c) George Clifford Everard Austin, 1982 In presenting this thesis in partial fulfilment of the requirements for an advanced degree at the University of British Columbia, I agree that the Library shall make it freely available for reference and study. I further agree that permission for extensive copying of this thesis for scholarly purposes may be granted by the head of my department or by his or her representatives. It is understood that copying or publication of this thesis for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. Department of The University of British Columbia 1956 Main Mall Vancouver, Canada V6T 1Y3 Date DE-6 (3/81) ii ABSTRACT The works of Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy (1809-47) are problematic in that it is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to categorise them as being "Classic" or "Romantic", or to divide them into "style periods" which present clear indications of progression from one to the other. The architec• tural parameters of the works selected for this analysis are determined by the classical Sonata Form which was undergoing a degree of neglect during Mendelssohn's lifetime as a result of the work of both the preceeding generation of composers and of his comtemporaries.
    [Show full text]
  • Mendelssohn: Symphony No 2 'Lobgesang'
    London Symphony Orchestra LSO Live Mendelssohn Symphony No 2 ‘Lobgesang’ Sir John Eliot Gardiner Lucy Crowe Jurgita Adamonytė Michael Spyres Monteverdi Choir London Symphony Orchestra Felix Mendelssohn (1809–1847) Page Index Symphony No 2 in B-flat major, ‘Lobgesang’ (Hymn of Praise), Op 52 (1840) 3 Programme notes Sir John Eliot Gardiner 4 Notes de programme London Symphony Orchestra 6 Einführungstexte Lucy Crowe soprano Jurgita Adamonytė mezzo-soprano Michael Spyres tenor 8 Spoken & sung texts 11 Conductor biography Monteverdi Choir 12 Soloist biographies 15 Choir biography & personnel list Symphony No 2, ‘Lobgesang’ (Hymn of Praise) 16 Orchestra personnel list 1 – Maestoso con moto 11’47’’ No 1 Sinfonia 17 LSO biography 2 No 1 Sinfonia – Allegretto un poco agitato 6’06’’ 3 No 1 Sinfonia – Adagio religioso 6’25’’ 4 No 2 Allegro moderato maestoso “Alles, was Odem hat, lobe den Herrn” 4’09’’ 5 No 2 Molto più moderato ma con fuoco “Lobe den Herrn, meine Seele” 2’44’’ 6 No 3 Recitativo – “Saget es, die ihr erlöst seid durch den Herrn” 0’52’’ 7 No 3 Allegro moderato “Er zählet unsre Tränen” 2’17’’ 8 No 4 Chor – A tempo moderato “Sagt es, die ihr erlöset seid” 1’47’’ 9 No 5 Andante “Ich harrete des Herrn” 5’28’’ 10 No 6 Allegro un poco agitato “Stricke des Todes hatten uns umfangen” 4’04’’ 11 No 7 Allegro maestoso e molto vivace “Die Nacht ist vergangen” 4’17’’ 12 No 8 Choral – Andante con moto “Nun danket alle Gott” 1’33’’ 13 No 8 Un poco più animato “Lob, Ehr und Preis sei Gott” 2’56’’ 14 No 9 Andante sostenuto assai “Drum sing’ ich mit
    [Show full text]
  • A Catalogue of Twentieth-Century Cello Ensemble Music Ivan M
    Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Doctoral Dissertations Graduate School 2005 A catalogue of twentieth-century cello ensemble music Ivan M. Antonov Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations Part of the Music Commons Recommended Citation Antonov, Ivan M., "A catalogue of twentieth-century cello ensemble music" (2005). LSU Doctoral Dissertations. 1369. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations/1369 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized graduate school editor of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please [email protected]. A CATALOGUE OF TWENTIETH-CENTURY CELLO ENSEMBLE MUSIC A Monograph Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Musical Arts in The School of Music by Ivan Milkov Antonov B.M., State Academy of Music, Sofia (Bulgaria), 1994 M.M., University of Central Arkansas, 1996 December 2005 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank the members of my committee for their time and guidance on this project and especially my teacher Dennis Parker. I would like to thank Kevork Mardirossian for his support. I would like to thank my dear friends Bo and Aaron for their tremendous help in so many ways. I couldn’t have done it without you! Special thanks to all the individual composers and music resource centers for their quick response and valuable information.
    [Show full text]