TCHAIKOVSKY Douze morceaux Souvenir de Hapsal Valse-scherzo Nos. 1 and 2 Capriccio Valse-caprice

Mami Shikimori, Piano Pyotr Ilʼyich Tchaikovsky (1840–1893) In the summer of 1867 Tchaikovsky had set out with his Hapsal had been followed in 1868 by his declared interest Piano Music brother Anatoly on a promised holiday in Finland. Shortage in the singer Désirée Artôt, with whom he contemplated of money compelled them to seek the hospitality of marriage, a project that came to nothing when she married Born in Kamsko-Votkinsk in 1840, the second son of a gave rise to contemporary speculation and has provoked Tchaikovskyʼs sister Sashaʼs mother-in-law at Hapsal another soloist in the Italian opera company with which she mining engineer, Pyotr Ilʼyich Tchaikovsky had his early further posthumous rumours. It has been suggested that he (Haapsalu) on the Estonian coast, where Anatolyʼs twin had visited Russia. Possible complications arose when, education, in music as in everything else, at home, under committed suicide as the result of an impending brother Modest, ten years Tchaikovskyʼs junior, was during the course of his relationship with Désirée Artôt, Vera the care of his mother and of a beloved governess. From homosexual scandal. Officially, however, his death was spending the summer. It was here that Tchaikovsky became Davidova visited Moscow. The first Valse-scherzo is a work the age of ten he was a pupil at the School of Jurisprudence attributed to cholera, contracted after drinking undistilled unwillingly involved with Sachaʼs sister-in-law, Vera of some charm, a characteristic salon piece. It is followed in St Petersburg, completing his studies there in 1859, to water. Whether the victim of cholera, of his own careless- Davidova, an entanglement that left Tchaikovsky accusing here by a second Valse-scherzo, a much less substantial take employment in the Ministry of Justice. During these ness or reckless despair or of death deliberately courted, himself of misanthropy, while Vera Davidovaʼs feelings piece, written in 1889, a year that brought successful years he developed his abilities as a musician and it must Tchaikovsky was widely mourned. could only be strenghened by his dedication of three piano conducting engagements abroad. The previous year had have seemed probable that, like his near contemporaries Throughout his life Tchaikovsky wrote music for the pieces to her, Souvenir de Hapsal, Op. 2. The first of these, brought a meeting, after twenty years, with Désirée Artôt, Mussorgsky, Cui, Rimsky-Korsakov and Borodin, he would piano, largely serving an amateur market. His first piano Ruines dʼun château, paints an initially sombre picture of in Berlin, the occasion for the composition of a group of keep music as a secondary occupation, while following his piece, a waltz, was written in 1854, when he was fourteen, the ruined building, marked Adagio misterioso, framing a French songs. official career. and dedicated to Anastasia Petrova, the family governess; livelier Allegro molto ending in a cadenza, before the return The Capriccio in G flat, Op. 8, was published in 1870, a For Tchaikovsky matters turned out differently. The his last piano pieces were composed in the year of his of the solemn E minor opening. The second piece, a work that makes some demands on a performer. It was foundation of the new Conservatory of Music in St death. Scherzo, based on an earlier work, has a contrasting trio dedicated to the German pianist Karl Klindworth, who Petersburg under Anton Rubinstein enabled him to study The Twelve Pieces of moderate difficulty, Op. 40, were section, with the return of the Scherzo leading to a brief, taught at the Moscow Conservatory from 1868 to 1884 and there as a full-time student from 1863. In 1865 he moved to completed in April 1878, during a stay at his married sister halting quasi andante, before the final sprint to the finish. did much to promote Tchaikovskyʼs music abroad. Moscow as a member of the staff of the new Conservatory Sasha Davidovaʼs estate at Kamenka. The preceding year The group ends with the well-known Chant sans paroles. Tchaikovskyʼs Valse-caprice, Op. 4, was written in 1868, established by Anton Rubinsteinʼs brother Nikolay. For over had brought great difficulties. Tchaikovskyʼs marriage in July Tchaikovskyʼs Valse-scherzo, Op. 7, was published early and dedicated to Tchaikovskyʼs Conservatory colleague, the ten years he continued in Moscow, before financial 1877 and his immediate separation from his wife, had led in 1870 and dedicated to his sister Sasha Davidova. The pianist Anton Door, who gave the first performance. assistance from a rich widow, Nadezhda von Meck, enabled him to seek refuge abroad, and now there were divisions in period had brought its own disturbances to Tchaikovskyʼs him to leave the Conservatory and devote himself entirely his own family, with Sasha at first supporting Tchaikovskyʼs life. His perhaps unwitting flirtation with Vera Davidova at Keith Anderson to composition. The same period in his life brought an wife, Antonina Milyukova, before disillusion aligned her with unfortunate marriage to a self-proclaimed admirer of his Tchaikovskyʼs brothers against Antonina. The new piano work, a woman who showed early signs of mental instability pieces were written between 1876 and 1878 and were and could only add further to Tchaikovskyʼs own problems published in January 1879 with a dedication to of character and inclination. His homosexuality was a Tchaikovskyʼs brother, Modest. torment to him, while his morbid sensitivity and diffidence, The first of the twelve pieces, clearly designed, as the coupled with physical revulsion for the woman he had title indicates, for the amateur market, is a rapid G major married, led allegedly to a severe nervous breakdown. Etude. This is followed by a ternary form G minor Chanson Separation from his wife, which was immediate, still left triste and a solemn C minor Funeral March of characteristic practical and personal problems to be solved. Tchaikovskyʼs rhythm, with an A flat major central contrasting section. The relationship with Nadezhda von Meck, however, provided fourth and fifth pieces are Mazurkas, both with contrasting not only the money that at first was necessary for his career, central trio sections. The sixth piece is an A minor Song but also the understanding and support of a woman who, so without Words, with echoes of Mendelssohn, leading to an far from making physical demands of him, never even met A minor piece, given the title Au village, coming to life in its him face to face. This curiously remote liaison and Allegro molto vivace C major second half. The eighth and patronage only came to an end when, in 1890, perhaps ninth pieces are Waltzes, followed by an A minor Danse under financial pressure from her children, she discontinued russe that had found a place in the ballet Swan Lake, and an allowance that was no longer of importance and a a D minor Scherzo The final piece, the A flat major Rêverie correspondence on which he had come to depend. interrompue (Interrupted Dream) introduces a Venetian folk- Tchaikovskyʼs sudden death in St Petersburg in 1893 song, transcribed by Tchaikovsky in 1877. Mami Shikimori Mami Shikimori is a graduate of the Royal College of Music in London, where she received the award for the most outstanding student in her final year, the Diploma Recital award, as well as the Hopkinson Gold Medal and many major prizes for solo piano. Her teachers include Christopher Elton, Bernard Roberts and Jean Anderson. She has won prizes at several international competitions and performed at major venues including Carnegie Hall, Weill Recital Hall in New York, Wigmore Hall, Southbank Centre, St Johnʼs Smith Square, Bridgewater Hall and Tokyoʼs Suntory Hall. She is much in demand as a recitalist, concerto soloist and chamber musician and has collaborated with such artists as the Wihan Quartet, Coull Quartet, Masayuki Kino (Concertmaster, Japan Philharmonic Orchestra), conductors Alexander Walker, Adrian Shepherd, Keith Marshall, John Traill, Yukio Kitahara and Ken-Ichiro Kobayashi. She has broadcast on major Japanese television and radio stations and on KUSC, Americaʼs largest public-radio classical music station. She has made recordings for Claudio Records and NAR. These include piano music of Mozart, Brahms and Ravel, and music for violin and piano by Khachaturian with violinist Masayuki Kino. Her albums have received critical acclaim in Britain, Japan and the United States. www.mamishikimori.com

Photo: Andres Landino Tchaikovsky wrote music for the piano throughout his life, many of these pieces being dedicated to family members or close friends and musical associates. Rich in variety, the Douze morceaux range from playful dances to a substantial Marche funèbre, as well as lyrical jewels such as the Chanson triste and a Danse russe that found its way into the 8.573543 ballet Swan Lake. A background of romantic entanglements permeates the Souvenir de Hapsal which concludes with the well-known Chant sans paroles, while charm and DDD virtuosity reside side-by-side in the Valse-scherzo and Capriccio. Playing Time Pyotr Il’yich 77:26 TCHAIKOVSKY (1840–1893) Douze morceaux de difficulté Souvenir de Hapsal, Op. 2 moyenne, Op. 40 (1878) 44:27 (1867) 11:30 (12 Pieces of moderate difficulty) # No. 1. Ruines d’un château 4:14 1 No. 1. Etude 1:32 $ No. 2. Scherzo 4:04 2 No. 2. Chanson triste 2:53 % No. 3. Chant sans paroles 3:11 3 No. 3. Marche funèbre 8:17 ^ Made inGermany Booklet notesinEnglish Naxos RightsUS,Inc. ൿ Valse-scherzo No. 1 in A, www.naxos.com 4 No. 4. Mazurka in C 3:32 Op. 7 (1870) 4:55 &

5 No. 5. Mazurka in D 3:32 Ꭿ & Valse-scherzo No. 2 in A 6 No. 6. Chant sans paroles 2:15 2017 (1889) 2:01 7 No. 7. Au village 4:02 8 No. 8. Valse in A flat 2:51 * Capriccio in G flat, Op. 8 9 No. 9. Valse in F sharp minor 5:25 (1870) 4:55 0 No. 10. Danse russe 2:22 ( Valse-caprice in D, Op. 4 ! No. 11. Scherzo 3:10 (1868) 9:08 @ No. 12. Rêverie interrompue 3:54 Mami Shikimori, Piano

Recorded at Wyastone Concert Hall, Wyastone Leys, Monmouth, Wales, UK, 29–31 March 2016 Producer & Engineer: Michael Ponder • Editor: Richard Scott Cover image: Bluebells in a Caucasus forest (© Alexander Zharnikov / Dreamstime.com)