Alexandra Kagan
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Monday, May 1, 2017 • 7:00 p.m Alexandra Kagan Junior Recital DePaul Recital Hall 804 West Belden Avenue • Chicago Monday, May 1, 2017 • 7:00 p.m. DePaul Recital Hall Alexandra Kagan, violin Junior Recital Lyudmila Lakisova, piano PROGRAM Giuseppe Tartini (1692-1770) Sonata in G minor, Op. 1 No. 10 “Didone Abbandonata” (1731) I. Andante con moto II. Presto non troppo III. Largo IV. Allegro comodo Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) Violin Concerto No. 3 In G major, K. 216 (1775) I. Allegro II. Adagio III. Rondo (Allegro) Samuel Gardner (1891-1984) From the Canebreak, Op. 5 No. 1 ( 1918) Lyudmila Lakisova, piano Alexandra Kagan is from the studio of Olga Kaler. This recital is presented in partial fulfillment of the degree Bachelor of Music. As a courtesy to those around you, please silence all cell phones and other electronic devices. Flash photography is not permitted. Thank you. Alexandra Kagan • May 1, 2017 PROGRAM NOTES Giuseppe Tartini (1692-1770) Violin Sonata in G Minor, B. g10 “Didone Abbandonata” Duration: 15 minutes The title “Didone Abbandonata”, or “Abandoned Dido” for Tartini’s Sonata No 10 only became popular in the nineteenth century and is certainly appropriate for the pathetic and rather nostalgic mood of the work. Such moods suggest the story of Dido and Aeneas based on the fourth book of Virgil's Aeneid. Dido, Queen of Carthage, had been promised in marriage to King Iarbas, but fell in love with the warrior Aeneas, who had been shipwrecked on the shores of her city. Dido refused to marry Iarbas. Although Aeneas is now in love with Dido, he asks her sister Selene to tell her of his plans to leave Carthage for Italy. War then breaks out between Aeneas and Iarbas in which the Trojan is triumphant. After his victory, Dido convinces Aeneas to remain in Carthage and become her husband. But when the ghost of Aeneas' father reminds him of his duty to his people, Aeneas realises that he must abandon Dido. Heartbroken, she commits suicide as Aeneas and his men set sail for Italy. The Sonata presents a rather unique representation of Dido’s pain and suffering as it evokes tears, anger, passion, and the pain of the lost love. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) Violin Concerto No. 3 in G Major, K. 216 Duration: 27 minutes Mozart was only 19 years old and a Konzertmeister at the Salzburg court when he wrote the concerto for his fellow violinist, Gaetano Brunetti. This rather intimate work is arguably his most popular violin concerto. The concerto opens with a theme that Mozart had used in the aria ‘Aer tranquillo’ from his serenata, Il rè pastore, a year earlier. The melodic content, therefore, has both a sweetness and simplicity of melody that is hardly surpassed by anything the composer ever wrote. Mozart most likely wished Alexandra Kagan • May 1, 2017 Program Notes to explore the possibilities of a melodic phrase in its violinistic idiom. Furthermore, the composer is completely successful in his effort to fill the outlines of the three-movement Classical chamber concerto with the kind of clever, colorful, and continually changing dramatic course. Samuel Gardner (1891-1984) From the Canebreak, op. 5 no. 1 Duration: 2 minutes Samuel Gardner was an American composer and violinist. He won a Pulitzer prize with his string quartet and was a student of Franz Kneisel and Percy Goetschius. Gardner began his career as a concert violinist. He wrote a violin concerto, a number of chamber works. Among his most famous compositions is Broadway, which was performed by the Boston Symphony in the 1929-30 season. From the Canebreak is a rather short virtuosic piece. It is meant to sound easy and delightful while making it an enjoyable experience for the violinist as well. The melodic content is playful and colourful in the beginning, switching to a slightly more dramatic character in the middle section. One of the most famous recordings of the piece was made by Jascha Heifetz, which, of course, presents a flawless performance of both its technical and emotional aspects. Notes by Alexandra Kagan. .