The Tchaikovsky competition and several birthdays, 2015
The Tchaikovsky competition and several birthdays, 2015
June 29, 2015.The Tchaikovsky competition and several birthdays.The XV Tchaikovsky competition is in full swing.This year it was split between two cities, Moscow and St.-Petersburg (the pianists and violinists perform in Moscow, the cellists and singers – in St-Pete).Medici.tv does a great job broadcasting live performances; we highly recommend it.For the pianists, this year is probably more challenging than ever: instead of the regular three rounds, the competition consists of five, if you include the preliminary hearings.The second round is split in two: the performance of a large composition plus a piece by a Russian composer, followed by a Mozart concerto accompanied by a chamber orchestra.Asiya Korepanova, who played Rachmaninov’s Piano Sonata no. 1 so well at the Hess memorial concert last year, was not as successful during the first round (nerves, one has to assume) and didn’t make it to the 2nd round.Lucas Debargue, a 24 year-old Frenchman, is the public’s favorite.His 2nd round Gaspard de la Nuit was extremely good.Another Lukas (this one with a “k,” though), with the last name of Geniušas, a Lithuanian born in Moscow who also happens to be the grandson of Vera Gornostayeva, is also playing very well.(Gornostayeva, the famous Russian pianist and pedagogue, died less than half a year ago, on January 19th of this year).A Russian-German Maria Mazo played Hammerklavier in the 2nd round and did a great job of it, but her Mozart concerto (no. 21) was rather subdued.Still, we thought that she deserves to make it into the 3rd round, but the jury thought otherwise.The violinists are also through to the 3rd round.We have recordings of one of them, Clara-Jumi Kang.Like the pianists, the violinists also had to play a Mozart concerto in the second part of the second round.Clara played the concerto no. 5, and wonderfully so.We’ll write some more about the Tchaikovsky competition soon.
Christoph Willibald Gluck, a great German opera composer, was born on July 2nd of 1714 in Erasbach, Bavaria. Last year we celebrated his 300th anniversary and played several arias and overtures from Orfeo ed Euridice and Iphigénie en Aulide. Two more of Gluck’s operas are still very popular: Alceste and Iphigénie en Tauride.Alceste was written in 1776, soon after Orfeo.Calzabigi, the librettist, wrote a preface to Alceste, a manifest of sorts, which Gluck signed.In the preface they spelled out some of the principles that Gluck pushed to make opera more natural: no da capo arias, no virtuoso improvisations, fewer recitatives, flowing melodic lines.You can hear it all in "Divinités du Styx,” an aria from Act 1. Jessye Norman is Alceste, The Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra is conducted by Serge Baudo.
The Czech composer Leoš Janáček was born on July 3rd, 1854 in a small village in Moravia, then part of the Austria-Hungary.As a boy he studied the piano and the organ, but eventually became interested in composing.In 1879 he enrolled in the Leipzig conservatory and later moved to Vienna to study composition there.Like the Hungarian composers Béla Bartók and Zoltan Kodály a generation later, Janáček was interested in folk music and used peasant tunes in his symphonic and piano pieces.His early compositions were mostly for the piano: he started a piano cycle, On an Overgrown Path, in 1901; it became one of his most popular compositions (you can listen to it in the performance by Ieva Jokubaviciute).Eventually, he turned to operas – that’s what he’s most famous for these days.His first one, Jenufa, was written in 1904 and acquired the status of the “Moravian national opera.”Two more operas followed, Katia Kabanova and The Cunning Little Vixen; they rightly are considered among the most interesting operas of the 20th century.Janáček also wrote a number of significant orchestral pieces and chamber music.Here is his Quartet no. 2 subtitled “Intimate Letters,” performed by Pacifica Quartet.
Two things are interesting about Louis-Claude Daquin, a French composer and virtuoso keyboard player, who was born on July 4th of 1694.One is that he was ofJewish descent: there were very few Jewish composers during that time.And he probably would not have become one had his Italian ancestors not converted to Catholicism.The event took place in the city of Aquino, thus the original name, D’Aquino, (which was later frenchified to Daquin).Of his considerable output, one piece is famous, The Cuckoo, from a suite for the harpsichord.Here it is, performed by the wonderful British harpsichordist George Malcolm.
The Tchaikovsky competition and several birthdays, 2015
June 29, 2015. The Tchaikovsky competition and several birthdays. The XV Tchaikovsky competition is in full swing. This year it was split between two cities, Moscow and St.-Petersburg (the pianists and violinists perform in Moscow, the cellists and
singers – in St-Pete). Medici.tv does a great job broadcasting live performances; we highly recommend it. For the pianists, this year is probably more challenging than ever: instead of the regular three rounds, the competition consists of five, if you include the preliminary hearings. The second round is split in two: the performance of a large composition plus a piece by a Russian composer, followed by a Mozart concerto accompanied by a chamber orchestra. Asiya Korepanova, who played Rachmaninov’s Piano Sonata no. 1 so well at the Hess memorial concert last year, was not as successful during the first round (nerves, one has to assume) and didn’t make it to the 2nd round. Lucas Debargue, a 24 year-old Frenchman, is the public’s favorite. His 2nd round Gaspard de la Nuit was extremely good. Another Lukas (this one with a “k,” though), with the last name of Geniušas, a Lithuanian born in Moscow who also happens to be the grandson of Vera Gornostayeva, is also playing very well. (Gornostayeva, the famous Russian pianist and pedagogue, died less than half a year ago, on January 19th of this year). A Russian-German Maria Mazo played Hammerklavier in the 2nd round and did a great job of it, but her Mozart concerto (no. 21) was rather subdued. Still, we thought that she deserves to make it into the 3rd round, but the jury thought otherwise. The violinists are also through to the 3rd round. We have recordings of one of them, Clara-Jumi Kang. Like the pianists, the violinists also had to play a Mozart concerto in the second part of the second round. Clara played the concerto no. 5, and wonderfully so. We’ll write some more about the Tchaikovsky competition soon.
Christoph Willibald Gluck, a great German opera composer, was born on July 2nd of 1714 in Erasbach, Bavaria. Last year we celebrated his 300th anniversary and played several arias and overtures from Orfeo ed Euridice and Iphigénie en Aulide. Two more of Gluck’s operas are still very popular: Alceste and Iphigénie en Tauride.Alceste was written in 1776, soon after Orfeo. Calzabigi, the librettist, wrote a preface to Alceste, a manifest of sorts, which Gluck signed. In the preface they spelled out some of the principles that Gluck pushed to make opera more natural: no da capo arias, no virtuoso improvisations, fewer recitatives, flowing melodic lines. You can hear it all in "Divinités du Styx,” an aria from Act 1. Jessye Norman is Alceste, The Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra is conducted by Serge Baudo.
The Czech composer Leoš Janáček was born on July 3rd, 1854 in a small village in Moravia, then part of the Austria-Hungary. As a boy he studied the piano and the organ, but eventually became interested in composing. In 1879 he enrolled in the Leipzig conservatory and later moved to Vienna to study composition there. Like the Hungarian composers Béla Bartók and Zoltan Kodály a generation later, Janáček was interested in folk music and used peasant tunes in his symphonic and piano pieces. His early compositions were mostly for the piano: he started a piano cycle, On an Overgrown Path, in 1901; it became one of his most popular compositions (you can listen to it in the performance by Ieva Jokubaviciute). Eventually, he turned to operas – that’s what he’s most famous for these days. His first one, Jenufa, was written in 1904 and acquired the status of the “Moravian national opera.” Two more operas followed, Katia Kabanova and The Cunning Little Vixen; they rightly are considered among the most interesting operas of the 20th century. Janáček also wrote a number of significant orchestral pieces and chamber music. Here is his Quartet no. 2 subtitled “Intimate Letters,” performed by Pacifica Quartet.
Two things are interesting about Louis-Claude Daquin, a French composer and virtuoso keyboard player, who was born on July 4th of 1694. One is that he was of Jewish descent: there were very few Jewish composers during that time. And he probably would not have become one had his Italian ancestors not converted to Catholicism. The event took place in the city of Aquino, thus the original name, D’Aquino, (which was later frenchified to Daquin). Of his considerable output, one piece is famous, The Cuckoo, from a suite for the harpsichord. Here it is, performed by the wonderful British harpsichordist George Malcolm.