ELIOT FISK GUITAR | YEHUDA HANANI SONGSfrom BACH WITHOUT to BACHIANAS WORDS

WWW.ALBANYRECORDS.COM TROY1510 ALBANY RECORDS U.S. 915 BROADWAY, ALBANY, NY 12207 TEL: 518.436.8814 FAX: 518.436.0643 ALBANY RECORDS U.K. BOX 137, KENDAL, CUMBRIA LA8 0XD TEL: 01539 824008 © 2014 ALBANY RECORDS MADE IN THE USA DDD WARNING: COPYRIGHT SUBSISTS IN ALL RECORDINGS ISSUED UNDER THIS LABEL. THIS CD IS ABOUT SONG — a cornucopia of exquisite jewels from a multitude of cultures: Spanish, music in those heady early years. Little did I dream that half a lifetime later a series of coincidences Italian, German, Brazilian, Cuban, Jewish, Russian, Romanian-Gypsy, and the American heartland. would bring Yehuda and me together in music and in the brotherly affection reflected in the Like the miniaturized trees of bonsai, it is a universe in a nutshell, reduction to the very essentials. contents of this CD. The cello is a newcomer to the string family. It appeared on the musical scene in the early Over an arc that stretches from Bach-Guonod to Villa-Lobos’s famous Bachianas No. 5 1500’s. The guitar, however, is ancient. It is an incarnation of the kithara, the most popular (originally scored for the unthinkable combination of eight and soprano!) we offer four gems instrument of classical Greece. Apollo played it and passed it on to Orpheus, the patron saint by Cui, Fauré, Lecuona and Monti; Bloch’s moving Prayer, then a set of eight Schubert songs, of all musicians. four of ’s Mountain Songs (originally for flute and guitar), and a two-movement Since this blending of sustained and plucked sounds makes for ideal pairing, it is surprising that Boccherini Sonata. In cheerful defiance of the present ubiquitous tyranny of the one-composer no literature has been composed for it. Hence, all the songs were arranged by us with the sense CD, these selections hark back to an earlier time, when titans like Casals and Segovia, our of adventure and rediscovery that accompanies such work: many Schubert songs were readily respective mentors on cello and guitar, walked the earth and romanticism was king. adaptable, and substituting guitar for keyboard in the Boccherini sonata yielded the extravagantly In the process of creating a repertoire for cello and guitar numerous small changes have and brilliantly improvised continuo by Eliot that would make any harpsichordist green with envy. been made in both parts; in several of the Schubert songs and in the final two Beaser Songs we It is glittering and ornate — a perfect fit for the Rococo interiors of the rooms where it was have transposed into keys more friendly to one or other instrument. Finally, I have freely realized originally performed. Also refreshing and liberating for the cello (and cellist) was the switching of Boccherini’s basso continuo to create a virtuoso guitar part. Yet it is our hope that in the “visions gears into country fiddling in Beaser’sMountain Songs. and revisions” heard here listeners will experience these beautiful works in new and wonderful ways. The entire project was inspired by Eliot’s verve and brio, exuberance and spontaneity (which —Eliot Fisk may 2014 do not make the life of a recording engineer easy) and suffused with deep friendship and shared artistic legacy. Yehuda Hanani’s charismatic playing and profound interpretations bring —Yehuda Hanani may 2014 him acclaim and reengagements across the globe. An extraordinary recitalist, he is equally renowned for performances with orchestras such as the Chicago Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, Baltimore Starting in 1970 and continuing until 1982, I spent part of every summer at the Aspen Music Symphony, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Berlin Radio Orchestra, Festival. The summers at Aspen afforded the chance to hear an astonishing array of musical talent, Israel Philharmonic, BBC Welsh Symphony, Irish National Symphony, and that’s where I first heard Yehuda Hanani. Buenos Aires Philharmonic, Honolulu Symphony, Orquestra Sinfonica del Estado de Mexico, In fact, his rendition of the Fantasiestücke of for cello and piano was one of Belgrade Philharmonic, Jerusalem Symphony, Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra, and Taipei and the most memorable of many great musical experiences I had performing and listening to great Seoul symphonies, among many others. He has been a guest at Aspen, Chautauqua, Marlboro, Yale at Norfolk, Round Top (TX), Blue Hill, Bowdoin, Great Lakes, and Grand Canyon festivals, thematic programming and has directed the innovative series Close Encounters Prades Festival (France), Finland Festival, Leicester (England), Ottawa, Oslo, and Australia With Music, based in the Berkshires, since 1990 in cities across the U.S. and Canada, including Chamber Music festivals, and has collaborated in performances with preeminent fellow musicians, Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, Scottsdale, Kansas City, Omaha, Calgary, and at the Frick Museum in New including Leon Fleisher, Aaron Copland, Christoph Eschenbach, David Robertson, Itzhak York City. He is especially sought after as an interpreter and elucidator of the music of Johann Perlman, Vadim Repin, Dawn Upshaw, Yefim Bronfman, Eliot Fisk, the Tokyo, Vermeer, Muir, Lark, Sebastian Bach, and his best-selling recording of the six suites (Townhall Records), critically hailed Avalon, Colorado, and Manhattan quartets, and Cuarteto Latinoamericano, as well as members for its personal relationship with the score, has become a standard-setter. A three-time recipient of the Cleveland, Juilliard, Borromeo, and Emerson quartets. In New York City, Yehuda Hanani of the Martha Baird Rockefeller grant, Mr. Hanani’s studies were with Leonard Rose at the Juilliard has appeared as soloist at Carnegie Hall, the 92nd Street Y, Alice Tully, and the Metropolitan School and with . Of his recent Naxos CD with the National Symphony of Ireland Museum’s Grace Rainey Rodger Auditorium. Committed to extending the range of the cello Fanfare Magazine wrote: “Renowned cellist Yehuda Hanani, great virtuoso that he is, handles this repertoire, he has premiered live and on CD works of Lukas Foss, Joan Tower, Paul Schoenfield, with astounding aplomb.…It should come as no surprise that he possesses Rose’s tonal amplitude Osvaldo Golijov, Lera Auerbach, Jorge Martin, William Perry, Kenji Bunch, Owen Leech, and and Casals’s intellectual discipline, breathtaking technique and limpid style….Commanding Bernard Rands, among other composers. He was the first cellist in the West to record the sonatas musicianship.” Aimed at outreach for , his weekly program on NPR affiliate station of Nikolai Miaskovsky (Finnadar) and won a Grand Prix du Disque nomination for his pioneering WAMC Northeast Radio, “Classical Music According to Yehuda,” has gained thousands of fans for recording of the monunental Alkan Sonate de concert. He has similarly championed composers the direct broadcast and podcast. A recent addition to his concert activities and educational mission such as Leo Ornstein, Virgil Thomson, and William Schuman with performances and recordings is the founding of the Catskill High Peaks Festival, a teaching and chamber music festival in Hunter of their works and has been credited with helping to rediscover the life and works of Mendelssohn and Tannersville, NY. Soloist, chamber musician, master teacher, essayist, and ambassador for the student Eduard Franck, whose chamber music he has recorded (NAXOS) with violinist Shmuel arts, Yehuda Hanani illuminates and enlightens audiences on the essence of music. Ashkenasi and pianist James Tocco. He has collaborated with performers in many artistic realms, including actors Richard Chamberlain, Jane Alexander, and Sigourney Weaver, and choreographer One of the most exciting musicians before the public today, guitarist David Parsons. Professor of Cello at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Eliot Fisk is famed for his adventurous and virtuosic repertoire. He is Music, he presents master classes internationally at conservatories and for orchestras, including also celebrated for his willingness to take art music into unusual venues the Juilliard School, University of Indiana at Bloomington, McGill University, the Peabody (including schools, senior centers, logging camps and prisons). After Conservatory, Paris Conservatoire, Berlin Hochschule für Music, Royal Academy of Music and forty-five years before the public he remains as his mentor Andres Guildhall School in London, Tokyo National University, the Central Conservatories in Beijing and Segovia once wrote, “At the top line of our artistic world.” Called “the Shanghai, and the New World Symphony in Miami. From 1995-2007 he directed the International devil’s guitarist” by one critic (for his playing of Paganini), he has performed with orchestras such Bach “Annalia” Festival at the University of Cincinnati. He has also been at the forefront of the and the Houston Symphony; the Orchestra of St. Lukes, performing and recording Vivaldi; the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra, premiering a new concerto by Daniel for soprano and guitar. Other recent landmark premieres have included Fisk’s transcription for Bernard Roumain; and the American Composers Orchestra conducted by Dennis Russell Davies, solo guitar of John Corigliano’s Red Violin Caprices and the epic solo suite Ein Kleines Requiem premiering Robert Beaser’s Guitar Concerto at New York City’s Zankel Hall. He also premiered dedicated to him by Austrian composer Kurt Schwertsik. Eliot Fisk was the last direct pupil of ’s Chemin V for guitar and chamber orchestra with the Orchester der Beethovenhalle Andrés Segovia and is the holder of all reproduction rights to Segovia’s music, given to him by conducted by the composer. The Chemin V, like the Sequenza XI for solo guitar on which it is Segovia’s wife, Emilia. He also studied interpretation with the legendary harpsichordist Ralph based, was written for Mr. Fisk. Eliot Fisk has participated in numerous crossover projects with Kirkpatrick at . He is Professor at the Universität Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria, colleagues such as chanteuse Ute Lemper, flamenco great Paco Pena and jazz guitarists Joe Pass where he teaches in five languages, and in Boston at the New England Conservatory. In June 2006, and , as well as ongoing collaborations with classical artists such as clarinetist Richard King Juan Carlos of Spain, awarded him the “Cruz de Isabel la Catolica” for his service to the cause Stoltzman, tenor Nicholas Phan, and cellist Yehuda Hanani. Fisk has performed at venues such as of Spanish music. Mr. Fisk is Founder and Artistic Director of Boston GuitarFest an annual cross- Spivey Hall, Duke Performances, Newman Center for the Performing Arts, Alice Tully Hall, the disciplinary and cross-cultural extravaganza co-sponsored by the New England Conservatory and Metropolitan Museum of Art, the 92nd Street Y in NYC, and the Frick Collection in New York Northeastern University and now in its eighth consecutive year. City; for the Da Camera of Houston, Da Camera of Los Angeles, Orange County Performing Arts Center, and the Segovia Series in Chicago. He returns regularly to important guitar festivals such as those of Cordoba, Spain; Iserlohn, Bad Aibling, and Hersbrueck Germany; and has performed ACKNOWLEDGMENTS at the Shanghai Festival in China along with his wife, virtuoso guitarist Zaira Meneses, and daughter, pianist Raquel Fisk. Eliot Fisk has revolutionized the guitar repertoire with innumerable Recording, editing and mastering engineer: Patrick Keating transcriptions (including works by Bach, Scarlatti, Haydn, Mozart, Paganini, Schubert and Albeniz) Executive producer: Patrick Keating and through pieces dedicated to him by composers as varied as Berio, Leonardo Balada, Robert Recorded in the Guggenheim Pavilion at the Carey Center, Beaser, Nicholas Maw, , Xavier Montsalvatge and Daniel Bernard Roumain. Rensselaerville, NY His numerous recordings, many of which have entered the Billboard charts as best sellers, have introduced much of this repertoire to an international audience and have elicited unqualified praise from musicians, critics and the public at large. Two solo CDs featuring contemporary works written for and transcribed by Eliot Fisk were released to great acclaim in 2010 by Wildner Records. Within a one month period in 2013 Fisk premiered songs for cello, voice and guitar by Robert Beaser; a new arrangement for two guitars and orchestra of ’s Graceful Ghost Rag by Payton McDonald; and Ralf Gawlick’s mammoth tribute to German artist Käthe Kollwitz, Kollwitz Konnex, SONGS WITHOUT WORDS TROY1510

from BACH to BACHIANAS

YEHUDA HANANI , SONGS WITHOUT WORDS YEHUDA HANANI, CELLO | ELIOT FISK, GUITAR

J.S. Bach/Charles Gounod Luigi Boccherini

, GUITAR 1 Ave Maria [5:00] 7 An die Musik [2:31] Sonata in A Major 8 Wohin? [2:20] 19 Adagio [3:55] César Cui 9 Gretchen am Spinnrade [3:45] 20 Allegro [4:50] CELLO 2 Orientale [2;06] 10 Der Lindenbaum [4:50] 11 Das Fischermädchen [1:34] Heitor Villa-Lobos Gabriel Fauré 12 Gute Nacht [4:09] Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5 | ELIOT FISK | ELIOT FISK 3 Sicilienne [4:09] 13 Der Musensohn [1:57] 21 Aria [6:45] 14 Ständchen [4:12] CELLO Ernesto Lecuona Total Time = 78:12 4 Andalucia [4:00] Robert Beaser Mountain Songs , GUITAR Vittorio Monti 15 Barbara Allen [3:30] 5 Czardas [5:35] 16 The House Carpenter [2:12] 17 Fair and Tender Ladies [3:40] Ernest Bloch 18 Cindy [2:49] YEHUDA HANANI , 6 Prayer [4:11]

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TROY1510 ALBANY RECORDS U.S. TROY1510 915 BROADWAY, ALBANY, NY 12207 TEL: 518.436.8814 FAX: 518.436.0643 ALBANY RECORDS U.K. BOX 137, KENDAL, CUMBRIA LA8 0XD TEL: 01539 824008 © 2013 ALBANY RECORDS MADE IN THE USA DDD WARNING: COPYRIGHT SUBSISTS IN ALL RECORDINGS ISSUED UNDER THIS LABEL. SONGS WITHOUT WORDS