Double Review: Johann Sebastian Bach – Goldberg Variations – Alexandra Papastefanou, Hannes Minnaar

By Tal Agam

The Classic Review – September 28, 2021

Those who liked Alexandra Papastefanou's recent Bach recordings – the French Suites and two books of the Well-Tempered Clavier – will immediately recognize that this new recording of the Goldberg Variations comes from the same artist; Semi-improvisational style, expressive phrasing, and unashamed usage of the sustaining pedal, especially on the slower variations.

This is not a "clinical" Bach, nor is it philosophical or cold-hearted. There is a sense of spontaneity throughout, not coming out of recklessness, but out of intimate familiarity with the music. At times, though, Papastefanou can be very deliberate when trying to incorporate declamatory style, such as in the "Fughetta" of variation No.10 or the "alle breve" of variation No.22.

The ornamentations on repeats are very interesting, yet they sometimes get in the way of the melody, as in the fast variation No.5. The addition of bass notes to the final bars of the Aria da capo, reminiscent of score manipulations done by Wanda Landowska, is lost on me. And although the entire performance is flowing naturally, the transition from the "black pearl" variation to variation No.26 is rough, as if edited in. The recording quality is decent but not great – compared to Papastefanou's previous Bach recordings, the piano sound lost its edge, and in the fast variations sounds a bit muffled. An enjoyable Goldberg Variations nonetheless.

Hannes Minnaar showed impressive advocacy for romantic piano transcriptions to Bach, in his "Bach Inspirations" album of 2013, so in this case he is "back to basics" if you will, playing the original score along with a contemporary piece, Daan Manneke's "Gedanken zu Bach". There's a quiet sense of occasion in Minnaar's opening aria and following variations. His ornamentations are more subtle on repeats and although he plays some of the variations faster than Papastefanou, they never sound capricious. At 9'12" the "black pearl" variation is on the slow side but is impressively cohesive, certainly not as dragged as in Lang Lang's recent rendition.

I particularly liked Minnaar's way of differentiating between styles of variations – Variations 17 and 18 sound remarkably different yet related, as they should – and the care with which he treats each short and long notes. The recording in this case is excellent, highlighting every articulation and dynamic change. I haven't decided if the occasional emphasis on the left hand is attributed to the pianism, recording, or the instrument – a Chris Maene straight strung piano.

Out of these two Goldbergs, Minnaar better holds this masterpiece together as a complete whole, and will reveal itself more on repeated listening. Papastefanou does offer an emotional intensity that may appeal to many, if they are willing to compromise on less than ideal recorded sound.

Source: theclassicreview.com

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Violinist Igor Oistrakh has died

 

Son of the renowned musician David Oistrakh, the violinist and educator lived to the age of 90

The Strad — September 1, 2021

Violinist Igor Oistrakh has died at the age of 90. He was born in 1931 in Odessa, Ukraine, the son of Tamara Rotareva and acclaimed violinist David Oistrakh.

After initial musical studies with his father, Oistrakh studied at the Central Music School in Moscow, followed by tuition at the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory. He won the Budapest International Violin Competition in 1949, as well as the Henryk Wieniawski Violin Competition in Poland in 1952.

As well as an international solo career, Oistrakh was a dedicated teacher, joining the faculty of the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory in 1958. Since 1996, he was a violin professor at the Royal Conservatory in Brussels. He retained a wealth of awards and appointments throughout his career, including Fellow of the Royal College of Music, London, Presidency of the Russian section of the European String Teachers Association, honorary member of the Beethoven Society in Bonn and the Jascha Heifetz Society, as well as having the unique honour of having an asteroid named after him and his father – the 42516 Oistrach.

With his pianist wife Natalia Zertsalova, he recorded many staples of violin repertoire, including the complete Mozart and Beethoven violin sonatas, as well as works by Bach, Paganini and Prokofiev. Their son Valery continues the family line of violin playing and is also a violin professor at the Royal Conservatory in Brussels.

Source: thestrad.com

Watch Igor and David Oistrakh perform Bach Concerto for Two Violins in D minor.

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

♪ Concerto for Two Violins in D minor, BWV 1043 (1730)

i. Vivace [00:00]*

ii. Largo ma non tanto [04:11]

iii. Allegro [11:30]

David Oistrakh & Igor Oistrakh, violins

Moscow Chamber Orchestra

Moscow, 1974

* Start time of each movement

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Renowned composer Mikis Theodorakis dies

Kathimerini — September 2, 2021

Greek veteran composer and political activist Mikis Theodorakis, who was instrumental in raising global awareness of Greece's plight during the 1967-1974 military dictatorship, has died at the age of 96.

Born on the island of Chios, on 29 July 1925, he studied music in Athens and later Paris.

His work ranges from rousing songs based on major Greek poetic works, many of which remain left-wing anthems for decades, to symphonies and film scores.

He composed perhaps the most recognizable Greek music internationally, the syrtaki from the film "Zorba the Greek" (1964), while his songs were performed by famous artists, such as The Beatles, Shirley Bassey and Edith Piaf. He composed the scores in films such as "Z" (1969), which won the BAFTA Prize for original music, "Phaedra" (1962), which included songs with lyrics by Nikos Gatsos, and "Serpiko" (1973), for which he was nominated for a Grammy in 1975 (he claimed the same award for his music "Zorba the Greek" in 1966).

Theodorakis also composed the "Mauthausen Trilogy" – also known as "The Ballad of Mauthausen", and the "Mauthausen Cantata" – a cycle of four arias with lyrics based on poems written by Greek poet Iakovos Kambanellis, a Mauthausen concentration camp survivor.

A very outspoken political activist, he joined a reserve unit of ELAS, the military arm of the left-wing National Liberation Front (EAM) during the period of the Greek resistance against the Nazi occupation, and led a troop in the fight against the British and the Greek right in the "Dekemvriana". During the Greek Civil War he was arrested, sent into exile on the island of Icaria and then deported to the island of Makronisos, where he was tortured.

Theodorakis had long-standing ties to the Communist Party of Greece of which he was an MP from 1981 to 1990. However, in 1989 he ran as an independent candidate with the right-wing New Democracy and became a minister in 1990 under Constantine Mitsotakis (father of the current Greek prime minister), only to resign in March 1992.

In later years, he was repeatedly hospitalized due to health problems and in 2019 underwent heart surgery to place a pacemaker.

Source: ekathimerini.com

Theme from "Zorba The Greek" (1964)

Music by Mikis Theodorakis

Directed by Michael Cacoyannis

Theme from "Les amants de Teruel" (1962)

Interpreted by Edith Piaf

Music by Mikis Theodorakis

Directed by Jacques Plante 

"The Honeymoon Song"

Interpreted by Beatles

Music by Mikis Theodorakis

Live at the BBC for "Pop Go The Beatles", August 6, 1963

"The Train Leaves At Eight" (1971)

Interpreted by The Walkabouts (2000)

Music by Mikis Theodorakis

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See also

Mikis Theodorakis: The Ballad of Mauthausen & Farantouri's Cycle – Maria Farantouri, Mikis Theodorakis (Audio video)

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Jan Lisiecki releases new album of Frédéric Chopin's Complete Nocturnes

When you begin playing an instrument, there is music that draws you in and propels you – those works you aspire to one day, maybe, hopefully play. Many of these will be challenging, technically demanding pieces, to which your early abilities will be no match. But Chopin's Nocturnes can provide an early introduction to the kaleidoscope of his inventive and enthralling music. It is thus that I was introduced

to Chopin at a young age, with his first Nocturne (Op.9/1), spending many hours searching for the secrets hidden within. I was enamoured, and through the years of becoming better acquainted with my instrument – a process that continues to this day – Chopin's Nocturnes have kept me company.

They embody what I cherish most in his music: the yearning, captivating melody, the framework he provides for flexibility, the endless fresh ideas. Chopin was a master of the piano, using its full range of tonal possibilities while spinning long, melodic, cantabile phrases over a rich harmonization.

The Nocturnes hail from the night – a magical time of endless possibilities – and present a personal story from the interpreter to the listener. They are a canvas, a sphere to dive deep into one's own emotions and thoughts.

Yet, most importantly, they remain elegant and simple. After all, as Chopin himself said: "Simplicity is the final achievement. After one has played a vast quantity of notes and more notes, it is simplicity that emerges as the crowning reward of art".

Jan Lisiecki

Source: CD Booklet

Jan Lisiecki releases new album of Chopin's Complete Nocturnes

By Ellie Palmer

Pianist Magazine — August 16, 2021

This is the pianist's eighth release on the Deutsche Grammophon label.

Recorded in October 2020 at Berlin's historic Meistersaal – Chopin: Complete Nocturnes not only captures the spirit of Chopin's pianism, but also represents the time and circumstances in which it was made, as Lisiecki himself explains: "I'm the first to question why we should record something that has been recorded many times before. But music only lives through performance and is different every time we hear it, even when it's a recording. I think there was something for me to say with this album. It reflects on the last year and my thoughts on that as well as on the escape and understanding that music gives us".

It was through the Nocturnes that the Canadian first discovered Chopin – he recalls falling in love with Op.9 No.1 as a child and being enchanted by its yearning melody. The piece, the first of 21 nocturnes the composer wrote between the late 1820s and 1847, offered a glimpse of a vast universe of emotions, expressions, musical gestures and tonal colours. It also prepared the way for the brilliant student to explore the piano's lyrical side.

It was one thing for the young Jan to play the notes of the simpler Nocturnes, quite another for him to understand their ethos. A turning point came when his teacher asked him to name the three elements of music. Melody and harmony instantly sprang to mind. But the third eluded him. "I thought about it and eventually said ‘line’", remembers Lisiecki. "Rhythm had completely escaped me! It was the least important thing for me when I was 11 or 12. Since then, of course, I've come to appreciate just how vital it is: rhythm serves the melodic line."

Chopin, he adds, far exceeded the boundaries of what his contemporaries considered possible on the piano, especially in terms of the singing line. Unlike the human voice, the piano can play the longest melody without the need to take a breath; like a singer, the pianist has to shape phrases and give emotional light to melodies. "Chopin's music flows by itself in a sense, but you need to feel instinctively where things are placed", he says. "It's about striking the balance between allowing the music to flow naturally and knowing subconsciously where it should go."

At 26 years old, the pianist can already count some of the world's best orchestras among his list of collaborations. He's worked with the likes of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, Filarmonica della Scala, Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, and Orpheus Chamber Orchestra for performances at Carnegie Hall and Elbphilharmonie Hamburg. Lisiecki has appeared with the New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, Staatskapelle Dresden, Orchestre de Paris, Bavarian Radio Symphony and London Symphony Orchestra.

Source: pianistmagazine.com

Chopin's Complete Nocturnes by Jan Lisiecki – Review

By Azusa Ueno

The Classic Review — August 27, 2021

In Jan Lisiecki's own forward to his release of the Chopin Nocturnes, he includes a quotation from the composer: "Simplicity is the final achievement". While these works collectively embrace many different personas, what Chopin may have been pointing to was the simple beauty that lies at the heart of each. And indeed, he communicates this to us – wistfully and sometimes passionately – but always directly.

The Op.15 Nocturnes are among the composer's earliest; however, they already show his proclivity for creating multidimensionality despite the straightforward relationships between textures and lines. The No.1 in F major (track 4), for instance, is not musically complicated per se, and the performer adds to this simplicity a peaceful and innocent charm. The opening has us almost convinced that it's an extended, soothing lullaby. An unexpected surprise awaits, however, in the form of a brief but tempestuous middle section. The pianist's juxtaposition of these characters is stark and effective, and they appear to embody two different sides of the night.

Lisiecki's performance of the No.2 in F sharp major (track 5) has a delightfully improvisatory feel to it, and not just through the melody's fluid embellishments. The work as a whole flows naturally, embracing the piece's coy personality as well as its bit of drama. Despite the clear compositional divide between sections, we're never made to feel that they really exist: each moment plays its role in building a larger story.

The well-loved Op.27 No.2 (track 8) is, in some ways, hard to pull off well despite its friendly and inviting nature. Play it too quickly, and it sounds brusque; too slowly, and it drags into oblivion. This interpretation gets the balance just right: while it's on the slower side, it is not at all analytical or pedantic. The contemplation in Lisiecki's delivery lets us experience what is comforting and reassuring. There are some interesting comparisons to be made here, including Maurizio Pollini's equally solid 2005 DG recording. Not only is Pollini's version considerably faster, but it's also more extroverted with some "snap" and flair in the dotted rhythms of the minor-key moments.

Op.48 shows a pianist who has explored the possibilities that each work in the set has to offer. In the No.1 C minor (track 13), for example, Lisiecki displays an impressive sensitivity (though deft changes in tone quality) to the composer's equally stunning use of harmonic color. There are some nice bends and twists in the rubato, but he is mindful to keep it from sounding maudlin or contrived. Here, too, the element of simplicity comes through perfectly by way of his evocative cantabile melody. The recapitulation does take the agitato to a greater level than I would have necessarily preferred, but the result is still convincing. We now hear the same opening melody in a much more turbulent light – one that speaks powerfully to the finale's sweeping passion.

Though the following F sharp minor (track 14) may be less dramatic, the performer approaches it with equal attention to detail. The opening section is steeped in plaintiveness, but the interpretation also draws out an inquisitiveness: Lisiecki's melodies seem to be in thoughtful search of something. At the same time, however, he retains the communicative character of the lines. The accompaniment is a gentle but supportive whisper against the upper voice, which shines through beautifully.

The sound engineering helps bring out the minute shades and nuances of both pianist and piano. The fact that the album was recorded in a studio as opposed to a larger concert hall also gives the impression of an instrument up-close, which is quite appropriate for the intimate nature of this genre. The liner notes are the only thing I found a bit disappointing, as they fall somewhat short in breadth. Certain nocturnes are discussed in some detail but others are more or less passed over with general commentary that needs more insight. This aside, the album spotlights Lisiecki's insightful artistry and the rapport and affinity he has for the music. An album to savor.

Source: theclassicreview.com

Photos by Stefano Galuzzi

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The great German mezzo-soprano Christa Ludwig has died

Christa Ludwig, whose remarkable 48-year career spanned opera and lieder, has died at the age of 93.

By Angus McPherson

Limelight Magazine — April 26, 2021

The great German mezzo-soprano Christa Ludwig has died at her home in Klosterneuburg, Austria, at the age of 93. Ludwig's remarkable 48-year career spanned mezzo roles such as Dorabella in Mozart's Così fan Tutte, Cherubino in Le Nozze di Figaro, Octavian in Strauss' Der Rosenkavalier, to soprano roles such as the Marschallin in Der Rosenkavalier, the Dyer's Wife in Strauss' Die Frau one Schatten and Leonore in Beethoven's Fidelio, as well as Wagner roles including Ortrud, Kundry and Brangäne. She worked with many of the 20th century's major conductors including Karl Böhm, Leonard Bernstein and Herbert von Karajan – "my three great conductors", as she put it in a Limelight interview with Clive Paget for her 90th birthday in 2018 – as well as the likes of Otto Klemperer, Claudio Abbado, Seiji Ozawa and Riccardo Muti.

She was also a master of lieder, particularly Schubert – she regularly performed Winterreise – Brahms, Wolff and Mahler. She told a Swiss publication in 2017 that her choice of funeral music was Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen from Mahler's Rückert Lieder, sung by herself, "but I do not know yet which recording".

Ludwig was born in Berlin on March 16, 1928, growing up in Aachen with her father, a tenor, director and opera administrator, and her mezzo mother – who became her first teacher – singing at the Aachen Opera under Karajan.

Ludwig's career kicked off after the Second World War, the mezzo making her debut as Orlovsky in Strauss' Die Fledermaus for Frankfurt Opera in 1946, where she sang for a number of years before working with Staatstheater Darmstadt, Staatsoper Hannover and the Vienna Staatsoper – making her debut as Cherubino in 1955 and creating the role of Miranda in the world premiere of Frank Martin's Der Sturm that same year – where she would be named Kammersängerin in 1962. She made her Salzburg Festival debut as Cherubino under Böhm in 1954, singing at the festival for decades to come.

She made her La Scala debut as as Waltraute in Wagner's Die Walküre in 1958 under Karajan, and her Metropolitan Opera debut as Cherubino in 1959, singing Octavian in Strauss' Der Rosenkavalier, Brangäne in Wagner's Tristan und Isolde, and Amneris in Verdi's Aida that same season. She made her Bayreuth debut as Brangäne in 1966.

Ludwig became an incredibly prolific recording artist in the "golden age" of LPs, recording several complete Ring cycles, and working with the likes of Maria Callas, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Birgit Nilsson and Walter Berry, who would become her first husband.

"We are very sad to hear the news of the passing of the great German mezzo-soprano at the age of 93", said record label Deutsche Grammophon in a statement. "She enjoyed a hugely successful career in the second half of the last century and collaborated with Deutsche Grammophon from 1960 onwards. Her recordings for us included operas, oratorios and Lied where she partnered with conductors such as Herbert von Karajan, Karl Böhm and Leonard Bernstein to name a few."

Ludwig retired from the stage in 1994 but continued to give masterclasses and candid, "birthday" interviews.

Ludwig as Fricka in Wagner's "Die Walküre"
for the Metropolitan Opera. Photo © Metropolitan Opera

Tributes have been pouring in for the legendary singer, who was renowned also for her acting.

"We remember mezzo-soprano Christa Ludwig, who made her Carnegie Hall debut in 1965 and returned both in recital and with numerous orchestras", said Carnegie Hall in a statement. "She performed her farewell recital in 1993 and led master classes for young vocalists as recently as 2014."

The Lyric Opera of Chicago, where Ludwig performed in eight productions between 1959 and 1973, said: "The German mezzo-soprano Christa Ludwig (1928-2021) triumphed at Lyric in roles for which she gained international renown (Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro, Dorabella in Così fan tutte, the Marschallin in Der Rosenkavalier), but also in two operas she sang very rarely, if at all, in other houses: Mefistofele (as Elena) and La forza del destino (as Preziosilla). A fixture for decades at the Vienna State Opera, she brought her lustrous, wide-ranging voice and exceptional acting talent to the Met and the Salzburg Festival, while also forging a spectacularly successful concert and recital career".

Asked what she learned across her almost five decades on stage: "I learned tolerance, I knew that the voice has an end, and I kept my feet on the ground", she told Clive Paget in 2018. "I did everything my talent allowed me and I think it was good. I couldn't have done more than that".

Source: limelightmagazine.com

Christa Ludwig in "Cosí Fan Tutte"

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London Symphony Orchestra appoints Sir Antonio Pappano as Chief Conductor

Antonio Pappano (Photo by Sim Canetty-Clarke)

 

The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) announced today the appointment of Sir Antonio Pappano as its Chief Conductor from September 2024, becoming Chief Conductor Designate in September 2023. He steps down from his post as Music Director of the Royal Opera House at the end of July 2024.

March 30, 2021

Sir Antonio will conduct the Orchestra in its annual London Barbican Season, where it is Resident Orchestra, and on national and international tours.

Kathryn McDowell, Managing Director of the LSO said:

"I am delighted to welcome Sir Antonio Pappano as Chief Conductor of the LSO. We are deepening our association with him at a crucial time of rebuilding and refocussing following the challenges of the pandemic. With Tony, every concert performance is a memorable and special event. He is the dynamic life force that the LSO welcomes in the leading conductor role and I look forward to planning imaginative programmes with him for the LSO's season in the Barbican and beyond. With his considerable gifts as communicator off the podium, on film and audio broadcast, we will be developing new digital and broadcast projects tapping into his well-established credentials in this sphere. These will extend to young people through the LSO's renowned LSO Discovery learning and community programme."

Sir Antonio Pappano said:

"Since I first collaborated with the LSO in 1996 I have time and again been overwhelmed by the team spirit inherent in this fabulously talented group of musicians. The combination of a unique energy, flair and virtuosity has always set this orchestra apart. That I have been chosen as Chief Conductor is a dream come true and a most wonderful gift. I am humbled and excited to receive this honour and trust. I am committed to keeping London as my musical home and look forward to this most important journey that awaits me, full not only of discovery but also of continued exploration of technological and broadcast opportunities to convey the message of music to an ever greater audience."

David Alberman, Chair of the LSO, added:

"On behalf of the whole Orchestra I am delighted to welcome our new Chief Conductor Designate. We have enjoyed great music making with Tony over the years, most recently the unforgettable performances of Vaughan Williams' Symphonies Nos. 4 and 6 last season, the latter on the eve of the first lockdown – the heightened atmosphere in the hall between audience, conductor and musicians was palpable. With the memory of this still fresh in my mind I look forward with tremendous anticipation to what the future holds for our audiences and ourselves."

Sir Antonio Pappano has been Music Director of the Royal Opera House since 2002, the longest serving Music Director in its history, and Music Director of the Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome since 2005. He has developed a very special relationship with the LSO since he first conducted the Orchestra in a recording of Tosca in 1996, with his first LSO concert at the Barbican in January 1997. Over the last two decades, he has conducted over 70 LSO concerts and made three recordings on the LSO Live label, and a further six recordings on other labels. He has been a jury member for the Donatella Flick LSO Conducting Competition on several occasions, and is a great champion of the competition, and mentor to past winners.

Source: lso.co.uk

London Symphony Orchestra & Antonio Pappano

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See also

Robert Schumann: Piano Concerto in A minor – Jan Lisiecki, Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Antonio Pappano

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Johann Sebastian Bach: Partita No.2 in D minor for Solo Violin, BWV 1004 – Isabelle Faust (HD 1080p)

On Palm Sunday, April 5, 2020, the exceptional violinist plays Johann Sebastian Bach's Partita No.2 in D minor, BWV 1004, in the empty St Thomas Church in Leipzig. In these unusual and challenging times, her Bach interpretation exudes calm and confidence.

"In her concentration, the violinist acts like a medium through which this unique music reaches us today", says the NZZ about Isabelle Faust's interpretation of the Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin by Johann Sebastian Bach. "What Faust is searching for on the inside is [...] a truthfulness that results not only from the study of passed down conceptions of aesthetics, but also from today's attitude towards life. Such a positioning between the fronts makes Faust's violin playing as interesting as it is unique." 

Source: accentus.com

✻

Bach had an easy solution for the problem of combining the violin with the keyboard: he simply dispensed with the keyboard and wrote six sonatas and partitas (three of each) for violin alone. He did the same for the cello with six suites for that instrument without accompaniment.

All 12 works were composed during the time he was conductor of the court orchestra at Anhalt-Cöthen, where his patron, young Prince Leopold, was a skilled musician. Bach himself was a violinist of no small attainment, yet it seems likely that the solo cello and violin pieces were written, around 1720, for Leopold – high tribute indeed to the Prince for his musical taste and, if he could negotiate the demonic pieces, for his performing ability. For these bold works are difficult in ways that most other virtuosic string pieces are not: they demand not only unfaltering facility in matters of digital and rhythmic dexterity and preciseness of pitch, particularly in the multiple stoppings, but also the keenest musical insights and inner-ear sensitivity to implied polyphonic and harmonic textures. In short, they strip a performer naked, as it were, forcing the executant to recreate incredibly diverse Bachian worlds with only a wooden box, four lengths of string, and a bow.

Of the six violin works, the present one stands alone on a lofty summit, and this by virtue of the towering Chaconne that is its final movement. Preceding this finale are four dance movements that comprise the traditional Baroque suite: allemande, courante, sarabande, and gigue. Although they are splendid examples of their genre, they end by being an introduction to the monumental Chaconne, which is a set of more than 60 variations on a simple bass theme.

In a lengthy description of the Chaconne, the great Bach scholar Philipp Spitta ends with these memorable words, "This Chaconne is a triumph of spirit over matter such as even Bach never repeated in a more brilliant manner". Enough said.

Source: Orrin Howard (laphil.com)

 

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

♪ Partita No.2 in D minor for Solo Violin, BWV 1004 (1717-1720)

i. Allemanda [00:00]*

ii. Corrente [05:32​]

iii. Sarabanda [08:10​]

iv. Giga [13:09]

v. Ciaccona [17:04]

Isabelle Faust, violin

St Thomas Church Leipzig, April 5, 2020

(HD 1080p)

* Start time of each movement

Isabelle Faust, a true musician

A Conversation With Our Artist in Residence

Interview by Luc Vermeulen — October 2020

Isabelle Faust is a true musician. The eminent German violinist, approaches a piece of music by delving into the aesthetic and the writings of its composer, so she can hear its beating heart. The records released by this outstanding soloist and chamber musician, who is as much at home with Bach or Beethoven as she is with Kurtág, have been consistently hailed by the public and the press. We met her on 14 December 2019, when she gave a concert at BOZAR, accompanied by Ivan Fischer, Tabea Zimmermann and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. Speaking flawless French, tinged with a delightful accent, Isabelle Faust spoke to us about the programme of her residency here this season.

What a pleasure to hear you perform in the Henry Le Bœuf Hall! How do you feel there?

I really enjoy playing in this venue. The acoustics are generous, but not overly so: it's ideal for playing with an orchestra. I was afraid the acoustics would be too dry for solo playing, but the truth is, it works well. I also like the hall's particular aesthetic; its ovoid shape is very harmonious.

We will see you perform there three times during the 2020-2021 season. What surprises do you have in store for us?

I don't think I've ever played a solo with gut strings [i.e. on a period instrument] in this hall. I'll probably have a go at it with Bach's Sonatas and Partitas.

What's the difference between playing on a period instrument and on a modern violin?

It's all about timbre, resonance and articulation. On an antique violin you can create a dry or transparent sound, according to the desired texture. But unlike the piano, where the ancient and the modern versions are fundamentally different, the difference in the violin lies in the strings, which are made of gut for early music, or metal for music from the Romantic period to the present day.

You switch effortlessly from ancient to modern, both in terms of the instrument and the repertoire. How do you manage to be so free and yet be consistent?

It's a good question... some repertoires, like that of Mozart, are easier to play on period instruments. I rarely perform this repertoire on a modern instrument. With Mozart, I find that the rhetoric that drives the music is easier to express with an orchestra performing on period instruments. Il Giardino Armonico is an excellent example: this ensemble thinks in a line from Baroque towards Mozart and not from Romanticism back to Classicism. For me, I think this way of embracing Mozart's music in the "right" historical direction is fundamental.

Beethoven's piano trios are a perfect opportunity for you to reunite with your friends, the cellist Jean-Guihen Queyras and the pianist Alexander Melnikov...

That's true. We recorded an album of Beethoven's trios in 2014. Then, we were invited to perform the complete piano trios during the Beethoven year. It was an opportunity to learn and to record them. The Archduke Trio was already on our record, but the other piece programmed at BOZAR, the Kakadu Variations, Op.121a, is new to us.

The harmony of your trio is world renowned. What's your secret?

We have a common approach to music. The three of us share the same artistic idea.

Which is?

Jean-Guihen and I have very similar ways of producing sound. Imagine two string players performing together. If one creates more vibrato than the other, they have a problem: they will never be able to create a pure chord. In order for two musicians to be "in tune", their respective playing must blend well from the very start, without a need for discussion. When we approach a new work, our ways of establishing a mood sometimes differ. But we all adapt to one another; we understand each other very quickly.

And what about playing with Alexander Melnikov?

As Sacha [Alexander] is a pianist, the question of vibrato does not arise. It's more a question of rhetoric. We are attentive to the dramatic sense, to the tempo, to the accent... We examined all these aspects at the beginning of our collaboration. And that goes back 20 years! In the meantime, we have evolved together. We encourage one another, nurturing each other’s curiosity – especially about historically informed performances. We have embarked on the same path for so long that there are many aspects that we no longer have to reflect on, they simply come about. But we don't always see eye to eye. That would be boring!

The human dimension seems to be central to your understanding of music. Would you say that, for you, music is above all a question of sharing?

Rarely does music reach its full potential when the performer approaches it alone. Take Bach's Sonatas and Partitas: although these are pieces for solo violin, the instrumentalist is in constant dialogue with him or herself. The music is polyphonic. There are always several voices speaking; there are questions, answers... Other works are more of a monologue. Paganini's concertos, for instance, are impressive in their virtuosity. But that’s not my cup of tea: there's less to discover! The concertos of Mozart or Beethoven are quite unfathomable...

You will approach Brahms in nonet with a confidential group of musicians. Can you tell us more about this ensemble?

The group is magnificent! It wasn’t easy at the start, because it included musician friends, but also musicians I had never met before. In chamber music, I always tend to want to work with musicians I know to make sure the project is a success. This time, I took a risk by forming a mixed group. I have to say, the result is very convincing! I highly recommend it! [Laughter] I'm happy that this group exists. It's no small task to create an ensemble of more than five musicians to play chamber music. The programme of Brahms' Serenade is quite new. We played it in 2018-2019. Playing it at BOZAR will make everyone happy!

Source: bozar.be/en/magazine

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See also

Robert Schumann: Piano Quartet in E flat major, & Piano Quintet in E flat major | Johann Sebastian Bach: Five Fugues from Das Wohltemperierte Klavier, Vol. 2, arrangement for string quartet by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – Isabelle Faust, Anne-Katharina Schreiber, Antoine Tamestit, Jean-Guihen Queyra, Alexander Melnikov (HD 1080p)

Johann Sebastian Bach: Sonata No.3 in C major for Solo Violin, BWV 1005 – Isabelle Faust (HD 1080p)

Johann Sebastian Bach: Partitas for Solo Violin – Gidon Kremer (HD 1080p)

Johann Sebastian Bach: Easter Oratorio, BWV 249 – Hannah Morrison, Meg Bragle, Nicholas Mulroy, Peter Harvey, Monteverdi Choir, English Baroque Soloists, John Eliot Gardiner (HD 1080p)

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Award-winning pianist Yekwon Sunwoo shares his “Mozart soul” through new album

Though more often associated with the names of Romantic composers – Chopin, Schumann and Schubert, for example – pianist Yekwon Sunwoo hopes to share the Mozart side of himself through a new album.

By Im Eun-byel

The Korea Herald — November 24, 2020

Concert pianist Yekwon Sunwoo, 31, who rose to global stardom three years ago winning the gold medal at the 15th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, has released his first studio album under the Decca label. The 19-track album was recorded this summer in Neumarkt, Germany.

Simply titled "Mozart", the album consists of piano Sonatas Nos. 8 and 10, Adagio for Glass Harmonica in C major, K.356/617a, Fantasia in C minor, K.475 and D minor, K.397 and Rondo in A minor, K.511, all composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791).

"I know that I haven't mentioned Mozart often in my interviews or at official events", Sunwoo said at a press event Tuesday in southern Seoul. "Mozart is a composer whom I have always loved. It is true I had not thought of him for recordings. But these days, I feel closer to him."

"Mozart piano sonatas have aria-like aspects. Though a pianist, I tried to imagine opera singers and stage directing, imitating the sounds of a string instrument", the Berlin-based artist said, further mentioning that his favorite Mozart opera is "Don Giovanni".

The album consists of two CDs. Sunwoo explained one may be more appropriate for daytime and the other for nighttime listening. The album comes with a score copy of Rondo in A minor, K.511, with handwritten notes by Sunwoo.

"I thought about how I could make the listeners more comfortable while listening to the album. Classical music artists are often not so skilled with words", he said. "I also hope that younger musicians can learn from the notes, seeing how I interpret the scores."

After the recording, Sunwoo took a break from the piano for more than a month – for nearly the first time in his life.

"Things were and still are very uncertain. (The Covid-19 pandemic) is new to everyone. I was depressed... and I tried to stay away (from the piano)", he recounted.

"Then, I started to practice again and realized that I was happy to listen to the sound of the piano. It is a blessing that I can practice the piano and I felt alive. Of course, things are still difficult but I realized why I am living the life of a performer", the pianist said.

Celebrating the release of the first studio album, Sunwoo will go on a nationwide tour from December 30 to January 29, performing in seven cities, including Gwangju, Busan and Daegu. The Seoul engagement of the tour will take place on January 26 at Lotte Concert Hall in southeastern Seoul.

Source: koreaherald.com

See also

Yekwon Sunwoo plays Franz Schubert (Piano Sonata in C minor) & Maurice Ravel (La Valse) – Fifteenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, Quarterfinal Round Recital (HD 1080p)

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Legendary composer Frédéric Chopin wrote a “flood” of homoerotic love letters that were “deliberately erased from history”

Portrait of Frederic Chopin by Zelazowa Wola, 1849

Gay love letters written by Polish composer Frédéric Chopin were deliberately mistranslated by historians to conceal his sexuality, a music journalist has claimed.

By Lily Wakefield

PinkNews — November 28, 2020

According to The Guardian, Swiss music journalist Moritz Weber had been researching letters written by Chopin during lockdown earlier this year when he discovered a "flood of declarations of love aimed at men".

His findings were explored in the two-hour radio show Chopin's Men, aired on the arts channel of Swiss broadcaster SRF, and Weber insisted that some of the composer's writing must have been intentionally mistranslated.

In one letter, Chopin said that rumours about his love affairs were a "cloak for hidden feelings", and his writing also hints at an interest in "cottaging", or looking for sex in public toilets.

In one letter to a male school friend, he wrote: "You don't like being kissed. Please allow me to do so today. You have to pay for the dirty dream I had about you last night".

There are 22 letters on record from Chopin to the same friend, Tytus Woyciechowski, and he often began them with "my dearest life", and signed off: "Give me a kiss, dearest lover".

But the English-Canadian biographer Alan Walker insisted in his 2018 book Fryderyk Chopin: A Life and Times that the homoerotic love letters penned by Chopin were the result of "psychological confusion", and added that Woyciechowski was a "bosom friend".

Chopin gay love letter was edited to suggest it was about a woman.

In an 1829 letter to Woyciechowski, Chopin wrote: "My ideal, whom I faithfully serve, [...] about whom I dream".

However a translation of the letters published by the Fryderyk Chopin Institute in Warsaw, Poland, described his "ideal" as a woman, despite the original letter using the masculine version of the Polish noun.

A spokesperson from the institute spoke on the radio show, and admitted that there was no actual proof that Chopin had had relationships with women, only rumours and accounts from family members.

The translator of the 1829 letter told The Guardian: "He was a romantic who definitely didn't discriminate between men and women in his expressions of ‘love’. But to say that there is some sort of conspiracy behind ‘missing’ letters in the various critical editions is absurd. The institute is indeed a politically conservative organisation, but I didn't find any bowdlerisation in the Polish edition, nor any ‘correction’ of my notes to passages where Chopin's sexuality was concerned".

Whether or not the editing of Chopin's love life was intentional, Weber said he hopes that shining a light on his sexuality will help people better understand his music.

In a letter Woyciechowski, Chopin wrote: "I confide in the piano the things that I sometimes want to say to you".

Weber added: "The fact that Chopin had to hide part of his identity for a long time, as he himself writes in his letters, would have left a mark on his personality and his art. Music allowed him to express himself fully, because piano music has the advantage of not containing any words".

Source: pinknews.co.uk

Chopin's hand and deathmask, Hunterian museum, Scotland

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Russian cellist Alexander Buzlov dies aged 37

The Russian international solo cellist Alexander Buzlov died suddenly yesterday of a stroke

The Strad — November 9, 2020

Born in Moscow in 1983, Bouzlov completed his studies at the Moscow Conservatoire in 2006, receiving instruction at masterclasses from cellists including Mstislav Rostropovich, Daniil Shafran, Natalia Shakhovskaya, Boris Talalay, Eberhard Finke and Bernard Greenhouse.

He won prizes at the Young Concert Artist competitions in Leipzig (2000) and New York (2001) and the New Names All-Russian Open Competition (Moscow, 2000). In 2005 he took 2nd prize at the ARD International Cello Competition in Munich (Germany, 2005), the XIII International Tchaikovsky Competition (2007), and the LXIII International Cello Competition in Geneva (2008), and in 2010 he was awarded Grand Prix and Audience prize at the Emanuel Feuermann Cello Competition in Berlin.

He made his debut at Carnegie Hall in 2005, and since then, worked with conductors including Valery Gergiev, Yuri Bashmet,Vladimir Fedoseyev, Karel Maria Chichon, Paavo Järvi, Yakov Kreizberg, Stanislav Kochanovsky, Thomas Sanderling, Leonard Slatkin, Vladimir Spivakov, Yuri Temirkanov, Christoph Poppen.

Tributes have been pouring in from colleagues around the world. The violinist Julian Rachlin writes: "My dearest Sasha, one of the greatest cellists to ever live, and a most kind and loving soul to match. We had so many plans that we were looking forward to... and the realization that we will never make music together again hurts too much to face. I love you and will be forever grateful to have known you. Until we meet again".

Denis Matsuev writes: "He was a great artist and romantic. The kindest person. With a unique smile. With a stunning sense of humor. You could talk to him on any subject, he was very erudite, read a lot of philosophy books, could support a conversation on any subject. An extraordinary personality. I write ‘been’ and still don't understand how it's possible. Can't say anything else. Absolute emptiness".

He is survived by his wife, the Brussels-based violinist Alissa Margulis, whom he married in 2017, and by their three-year-old daughter, Amalia.

Source: thestrad.com

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