June 18, 2012.  Igor Stravinsky.  We didn’t have time to talk about Stravinsky last week, but he’s too big a presence in classical music to leave him out completely, so we’ll do it this week instead.  Stravinsky was born on June 17, 1882 in Oranienbaum, as small town just outside of Saint Petersburg, famous for one the imperial palaces located there.  In the past, we’ve written about Stravinsky quite a bit, both about his peregrinations and the radical changes in his compositional style.  There’s no doubt that Stravinsky was a musical giant.  His compositions, from the early “Russian” ballets The Firebird and The Rite of Spring, to neoclassical composition, such as ballets Pulcinella and Apollon musagète, two symphonies, in C and in Three Movements, and the opera The Rake's Progress, to the latest forays in serialism – practically his complete oeuvre belongs in the pantheon of  classical music of the 20^th century.  But what we thought we’d mention this time, especially in juxtaposition to Richard Strauss, whom we wrote about last week, is the very trite but still somehow surprising fact that geniuses are not always necessarily good.  And we don’t mean being “good” in everyday life, although Stravinsky was, apparently, even though entertaining, a rather unpleasant person to be around.  We mean their beliefs and political views.  It’s well known that Stravinsky was anti-Semitic.  That’s not very surprising, considering his aristocratic background and the fact that the Russian aristocracy during the last years of the monarchy was to a large degree anti-Semitic, with wonderful exceptions, of course, such as the Nabokov family.  What comes as a shock is Stravinsky’s infatuation with Mussolini.  In an interview he gave to the music critic of Rome’s La Tribuna in 1930 he said: “I don't believe that anyone venerates Mussolini more than I… I have an overpowering urge to render homage to your Duce. He is the savior of Italy and – let us hope – Europe.”  He also wrote to a German publisher in 1933, “I am surprised to have received no proposals from Germany for next season, since my negative attitude toward communism and Judaism – not to put it in stronger terms – is a matter of common knowledge.”  It’s quite ironic that Nazi cultural censors declared Stravinsky a “Jewish modernist” and banned his work from Germany.

We probably could go on, but our site is about music, not politics.  Here is a wonderful piano arrangement by Guido Agosti of an excerpt from the Firebird Suite.  It’s performed by the pianist Daniil Trifonov.

June 11, 2012.  A bountiful week.  Richard Strauss, Edvard Grieg, Charles Gounod, and Igor Stravinsky were all born this week.  Richard Strauss was born on June 11, 1864.  He clearly deserves our full attention, but this week, so full packed with birthdays, we’d like to make just two comments. One is on his place in the musical Pantheon of the late 19^th – early 20^th century.  Strauss said, with amazing self-deprecation, "I may not be a first-rate composer, but I am a first-class second-rate composer."  We’d like to disagree.  The place of the composer is judged by his best output, not some abstract “average” weighted down by weaker pieces (think of the number of mediocre music written, for example, by Tchaikovsky).  Strauss’ tone poems, such as Also sprach Zarathustra, Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks, An Alpine Symphony are all first-rate.  As are his operas, Der Rosenkavalier, Ariadne auf Naxos, Salome, and other.  And so is his Violin sonata, op. 18 (you can listen to it here, performed by Ilya Kaler, violin, and Eteri Andjaparidze, piano.  He also wrote wonderful songs (here is Cäcilie, Op. 27, No. 2, sung by the soprano Janai Brugger-Orman, with Renate Rohlfing on the piano).  He clearly was a great composer.  And the other comment is to Strauss’ decency.  Totally apolitical, he maintained relations with Jewish writers and artists when it was already considered inopportune in Nazi Germany.  Here’s a great quote from his letter to the writer Stefan Zweig: “Do you believe I am ever, in any of my actions, guided by the thought that I am 'German'? Do you suppose Mozart was consciously 'Aryan' when he composed? I recognize only two types of people: those who have talent and those who have none.”

If we ever had some doubts about the accepted "rankings" of great composers, Edvard Grieg’s position would’ve been the one to question.  But the overwhelming popularity of his Piano Concerto and incidental music to Peer Gynt clearly outweigh any snobbish pretenses.  He also deserves additional points for being the only national composer in the modern history of Norway!  But before our listeners start sending us indignant messages, here is In the Hall of the Mountain King, from the Peer Gynt suite, played by  McKeever Piano Duo.  And here is Grieg’s wonderful Violin Sonata, op. 45.  It’s performed by Gregory Maytan, violin and Nicole Lee, piano.  And why are we writing about Grieg?  He was born this week, on June 15, 1843 in the city of Bergen in what was then the Union of Sweden and Norway.  The Union was dissolved in 1905, two years before Grieg’s death, so there are no questions about Grieg’s nationality!

Just one song from Charles Gounod, the oldest in this group: he was born on June 17, 1818.  The young mezzo-soprano Rebecca Henry sings Que fais-tu, blanche tourterelle?, Tom Jaber is on the piano (here).  We’ll write about Igor Stravinksy (June 17, 1882 – April 6, 1971), who clearly was one of the greatest composers of the 20^th century (but probably not as nice a person as Richard Strauss) some other time.

June 4, 2012.  Beatrice Berrut.  One of the first pieces that Ms. Berrut uploaded to Classical Connect was Schumann’s Piano Sonata no. 1.  Schumann was just 23 when he composed what he called Grosse Sonate ("Grand Sonata").  Schumann had at the time already written a number of great pieces, from Papillons to Toccata in C Major to Carnaval, but clearly he still wanted to write a serious, classical piece (perhaps to impress his bride, the young virtuoso Clara Wieck).  Beatrice was the same age of 23 when she recorded the sonata in 2009.  What impresses the listener in this recording is the depth, the seriousness of it, something you may not expect from a young performer.  This is the hallmark of Ms. Berrut’s art.  Whether she plays her beloved Schumann (she recorded all three piano sonatas for Centaur Records), Chopin, Brahms, or Scriabin, she digs deep into the music to uncover the essence and bring it to the listener.  The great violinist Gidon Kremer recognized this quality when he described Beatrice as “a wonderfully talented and musical pianist, with impressive seriousness, commitment and sensitivity.”

Beatrice was born in the Swiss canton of Valais, and started the piano rather late, at the age of 9, first in Lausanne with Pierre Goy (paino) and Pierre Amoyal (chamber music), and then at the Neuhaus Foundation in Zurich under renowned pianist Esther Yellin, a pupil of Henrich Neuhaus.  She then graduated from the Hanns Eisler Hochschule für Musik in Berlin, where she studied with Galina Iwanzowa.  She receives  regular guidance from Menahem Pressler and John O’Conor.  Beatrice says that she’s also influenced by her work with pianists Brigitte Engerer and Leon Fleisher.

The winner of the Société des Arts Competition in Geneva, she was the Swiss laureate at the Eurovision Contest for young classical musicians, and represented Switzerland at the European Contest in Berlin.  She also won the Bach special award at Wiesbaden International Piano Competition.  Since the release of her debut CD in 2003 featuring works by Beethoven, Schumann, and Liszt, Beatrice has been in demand as a soloist both in recitals and with numerous orchestras, such as the Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana, Kammerphilharmonie Berlin, Menuhin Chamber Orchestra.  She also appears regularly on Swiss, German, US, and Canadian radio and television.

A keen chamber musician, Beatrice was invited  in 2005 by Gidon Kremer to play several concerts at his festival in Basel, and in 2007 and 2008 by Shlomo Mintz to his festival in Sion as well as \duo recitals in Argentina in September 2011. In August 2011, she performed Schumann’s Quintet with Itzhak Perlman at the Hamptons, NY.

On Wednesday, June 6 Beatrice will perform at the Dame Myre Hess concert in Chicago.  On the program are two Bach chorales in Busoni’s transcription, Chaconne in d minor, and Liszt’s Après une Lecture de Dante.  If you cannot make it to the concert, you can listen to Après une Lecture here.

May 28, 2012.  Isaac Albéniz.  When Isaac Albéniz was born on May 29, 1860, Spanish classical music was in a long decline.  Spain was the country where music flourished during the Renaissance and Baroque periods.  In the early 16^th century Spanish composers were in the forefront of the polyphonic development.  Local musicians traveled to Burgundy, France and the Flemish cities, studied and made music with the best of them; many of the best composers went to the courts of Spanish kings.  The music of Cristóbal de Morales (1500 – 1553) was known in many European countries.  Tomás Luis de Victoria (1548 –1611) is considered one of the greatest composers of the late Renaissance, on par with Giovanni da Palestrina and Orlando di Lasso.  During the Baroque period, music continued to thrive.  Gaspar Sanz (1640 – 1710) was one of the most important composers for the guitar.  Domenico Scarlatti spent a large part of his productive life in Spain.  Padre Antonio Soler (1729 –1783) followed in his steps; Soler’s keyboard sonatas are part of the regular piano repertory and are played often.  Luigi Boccherini, like Scarlatti, was born in Italy but spent most of his life in Madrid.  By the 1800s, however, classical music waned, as did much of the Spanish culture in general.  Albéniz was the oldest of the first group of talented composer (together with Enrique Granados, Manuel de Falla and Joaquín Turina) to revive Spanish music in the late 19^th century and bring it into the 20^th.

We’ll hear three piano pieces by Albéniz.  First, Jorge Federico Osorio plays Granada, from Suite Española no. 1 (here).  Then the young American pianist Pia Bose performs El Albaicín, from one of the most important Albéniz’s compositions, the suite Iberia (El Albaicín comes from Book III), here.  And finally (here), the Russian-American pianist Dmitry Paperno plays Cordoba, Op. 232, No. 4.  Here’s what Paperno writes about Cordoba: "The slow introduction to this beautiful piece describes the stillness of a Spanish night. One moment in particular strikes me because it comes extremely close to the sound of Russian Orthodox choir music. This is apparently coincidental, although there are definitely some links between Spanish and Russian music (starting with two Spanish Overtures by Glinka). The faster part of Cordoba is like a melancholic serenade accompanied by guitar. Its victorious major key culmination is interrupted at its peak. The piece never gets all that fast, however, because Spanish music always contains a feeling of dignity and melancholy."  We’ll use this quote to segue into yet another anniversary, that of the above-mentioned Mikhail Glinka.  Glinka, who was born on June 1, 1804, was, like Albéniz, a pioneer: there was practically no original classical music before his time.  Here is Glinka’s piano piece, The Lark, it is performed by the American pianist Tanya Gabrielian.

May 21, 2012.  Richard Wagner was born on May 22, 1813 in the Brühl, a street in the Jewish quarter of the city of Leipzig – an ironic twist of fate, considering Wagner’s eventual anti-Semitism.  Richard’s father died six months after his birth. The following year, his mother married the playwright Ludwig Geyer and the family moved to Dresden.  In 1821 his step-father died and Richard was sent off to the Kreuz Grammar School in Dresden. At the age of thirteen Richard decided to become a playwright and produced a tragedy, Leubald. Determine to set it to music, Richard persuaded his mother to allow him to receive proper musical instruction. Moving back to Leipzig with his family in 1827, Wagner took his first formal lesson in harmony. There he was introduced to the symphonies of Beethoven, who became a huge influence. In 1831, he entered the University of Leipzig and began composition lessons with the cantor of the St. Thomas Church.  He composed a Symphony in C major, his only one and written very much under Beethoven’s influence; the symphony later received performances in both Prague and Leipzig.  At the age of 20, Wagner completed his first opera, Die Feen (“The Faires”); it was never staged during his lifetime. He married his first wife, Christine Wilhelmine “Minna” Planer, on November 24, 1836. A year later Wagner and Minna moved to Riga, then a part the Russian Empire, as the music director of a local opera. However, within two years the couple had incurred so much debt that they were forced to flee from their creditors. Their escape led them first to London and soon after to Paris. It was the stormy passage by sea to London that led to Wagner’s inspiration for his opera, The Flying Dutchman.  During his four years in Paris (1839-42), Wagner produced Rienzi, his first successful opera, and The Flying Dutchman.

Returning to Dresden in 1842, Wagner was able, through the support of Giacomo Meyerbeer, a noted German Jewish composer, to secure a performance of Rienzi by the Dresden Court Theatre. Further productions included The Flying Dutchman and Tannhäuser.  However, his return to Dresden was brief. Wagner became increasingly involved with a socialistic movement that sought to unify Germany and the adoption of a new constitution. When discontent finally reached the breaking point in 1849, the uprising was quickly put down by an alliance of Saxon and Prussian troops. Wagner was forced to flee Dresden for fear of being arrested.  The following twelve years were spent in exile in Zurich, Switzerland. During this time he composed Lohengrin and was able to convince his friend, Franz Liszt, to stage the opera in Weimar in August 1850. It was also during this time, that Wagner laid the groundwork for his colossal opera cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen. 

We’ll have many occasions to talk about Wagner’s mature period, but today we’d like to note the passing of one of the greatest singers of the 20^th century, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, who died on May 18 at the age of 86.  Here’s Firscher-Dieskau in an aria from Tannhäuser with the Orchestra of Staatsoper Berlin under the direction of Franz Konwitschny (courtesy of Youtube).  This recording was made in the early 1960s. What an incredible voice!

May 14, 2012.  Double bass.  Usually we don’t think of the double bass as a solo instrument.  Surely it provides an indispensable aural foundation to any classical symphony; Johannes Brahms, Gustav Mahler, and Richard Strauss used the instrument extensively in their compositions, but as a solo?  It seems one would have to go back all the way to Giovanni Bottesini, the “Paganini of the double bass,” to hear music written for the bass as a solo instrument.   But don’t tell that to the people of the Bradetich Foundation.  The Foundation, established by the distinguished bassist and teacher Jeff Bradetich, was created  “with the sole purpose of advancing the performing, teaching and knowledge of the double bass,” as they put it on their web site.  The Foundation also runs an International double bass competition, and this, inaugural year, the winner was Artem Chirkov.  Listen to his virtuoso interpretation of Astor Piazzola’s Contrabajeando (here) and you’ll agree that the Bradetich Foundation has a point!

Artem Chirkov is the principal double bassist of the St. Petersburg Philharmonic orchestra, the youngest in orchestra’s 130-year-old history.  Artem began studying cello at the Special Music School of the St. Petersburg Conservatory and at the age of 16, switched to the double bass and continued at the St. Petersburg Conservatory with professors Alexander Shilo and Riza Gimaletdinov.  After graduating from the Conservatory, he went on to study at the Hochschule fur Music und Theater in Munich with Professor Klaus Trumpf.  In addition to winning the Bradetich Competition, Artem is also the First prize winner at the International competition Virtuosi 2000 in St. Petersburg; the Johann Matthias Sperger International Double Bass competition in Michaelstein, Germany; and International Double Bass competition in Brno, the Czech Republic.  He also received the 2nd prize in the International Double Bass competition of the International Society of Bass (Virginia/USA).

Atrem holds Principal Bass positions in numerous ensembles, including the St. Petersburg Camerata under conductor Saulus Sondeckis.  He gave numerous master classes: at the Mannes School in New York, at the USC-Los Angeles and Institute of Music San Diego, at the universities of Tokyo and Taipei, and many conservatories in Russia.  He performed solo at Pablo Casals festivals in Prades (France) and San Juan, Puerto-Rico, with St. Petersburg Camerata; International Double Bass week Zmok Wojnowice in Poland; with Yehudi Menuhin Society in Munich; at Oleg Kagan Music Festival in Kreuth; the Coburg Music Festival (Germany), Music Festival in Viana do Castelo, Portugal, among other.

We’ll hear several pieces performed by Artem and his wife, the pianist Mavzhida Gimaletdinova.  Here is Chant du ménestrel, Op. 71 by Glazunov.  The famous Vocalise by Rachmaninov is here.  And here is a solo piece by the Czech composer and double bass virtuoso Miloslav Gadjos, Invocation (2002).  You can listen to other performance by Artem Chirkov in our library.