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Do you write about classical music? Are you a blogger? Want to team up with Classical Connect? Send us a message, let's talk!
March 14, 2011
Anna Serova. The Russian-Italian violist, Anna Serova is a unique figure on the international scene. She widely performs both as a soloist and a chamber musician. Several works were dedicated to her in recent years by some of the most important contemporary composers, such as the Italian opera composer Azio Corghi's dramatic cantata "Fero Dolore" and the operatic tragedy "Giocasta." In the latter she plays and acts on stage in the role of Destiny.
Anna studied with Vladimir Stopicev at the St. Petersburg Conservatory, with Bruno Giuranna at the Academy of Cremona and with Yuri Bashmet at the Academy of Chigiana in Sienna. Since then she has had a very successful career as a concert musician both in Italy and abroad. Critics note the warm, shining beauty of her sound. She has collaborated with artists like Ivry Gitils, Bruno Giuranna, Salvatore Accardo, Rocco Filippini, Filippo Faes, and Toby Hoffman. As a soloist she has performed with many orchestras, such as Moscow State Symphony, Siberian Symphony, Krasnoyarsk Chamber Orchestra, Orchestra di Padova e del Veneto, Orchestra del Teatro Olimpico, Belgrade Philharmonic, and others. In 2002 she issued a CD of music from the twentieth century repertoire (on it she plays on the famous " Stauffer 1615" viola by Niccolò Amati); in 2004 she also recorded a CD of 18th century music. Her latest CD, "Schumann's Fairy Tales," was awarded 5 stars by the critics of Musica magazine.
Anna Serova is currently a Professor of Viola and Chamber Music at the Biella "L. Perosi" International Academy.
In our playlist, you can hear her play Robert Schumann's Maerchenbilder for viola and piano, and Capriccio in C minor "Hommage à Paganini" for Viola Solo by Henri Vieuxtemps. To listen, click here.
March 7, 2011
Maurice Ravel. One of the greatest composers of the 20th century, Maurice Ravel was born on this day in 1875. He was expelled from the Paris Conservatory not once but twice; fortunately that didn't discourage him (his teacher, Gabriel Fauré, was a very supportive help). He composed for the piano – Gaspard de la nuit, Le Tombeau de Couperin, Miroirs, Ma Mère l'Oye, Pavane pour une infante défunte are among the most popular pieces, and also orchestrated many of them. He wrote two Piano concertos (one of the them, for the left hand, was composed for his friend Paul Wittgenstein, who lost his right hand during the first World War). His chamber music (violin sonatas, the string quartet) is played the world over. He also wrote wonderful songs. And of course, he's famous for being one of the most interesting orchestral composers of that century.
We'll hear three large compositions: the Second suite from the ballet Daphnis and Chloé, performed by the Peabody Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Hajime Teri Murai; the rhapsody Tzigane, played by Andrew Kohji Taylor (Judith Gordon on the piano); and Le Tombeau de Couperin played by the pianist Alon Goldstein. To listen, click here.
Karen Hakobyan is a talented Armenian pianist and composer. He studied with Arkady Aronov at Mannes College of Music, and successfully competed in a number of piano competitions (in 2010 he won the Bronze Medal in the International Piano Competition in Cincinatti). He has played with the Armenian Philharmonic and National Chamber Orchestras, the Salt Lake Symphony, the New American Symphony and the World Festival Orchestra. He also participated in a number of festivals, including the Lille International Piano Festival in France and was featured at the "Keys to the Future" Contemporary Music Concert Series in 2009 and 2010 in New York City. Here is Karen's performance of Rachmaninov's Etude Tableaux Op. 33 No. 5.
Karen is the winner of the 2004 ASCAP Foundation Morton Gould Young Composer Competition. He has composed numerous orchestral works, and also music for chamber groups and solo pieces for violin and piano. His compositions have been performed in Europe and the United States. You can listen to Karen's Symphony No. 2 Op. 6 here. It is performed by the Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra.
On March 1, 2011 an Evening of Music by Karen Hakobyan will take place in Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall where Karen and a group of young musician will perform his music. The performers will include: Karen Hakobyan and Gabriel Escudero, piano; Guillaume Molko, Stani Dimitrova, and Clara Lyon, violin; Christine Carter, clarinet; Emi Ferguson, flute; Kim Mai Nguyen, viola, Amber Docters Van Leeuwen, cello; and Katharine Dain, soprano.
February 28, 2011
Chopin and Vivaldi. March 1st is generally regarded as the birthday of the great Polish composer, although records are not clear and some believe that he was born on February 22, 1810. A son of a poor Frenchman from Lorraine, Chopin himself settled in France in 1831 after learning that the Polish uprising against the Russian empire has been crushed. He lived in France the remaining 18 years of his short life. A professed Polish patriot, he was affected by the music of the country of his birth (he wrote 58 mazurkas and 18 polonaises), but though he traveled all around Europe as a concert pianist, he never set foot in Poland again. The world celebrated Frederic Chopin's 200th anniversary last year, and we joined with an extensive playlist. This year we'll present just four pieces: Ballade no. 1, performed by Gabriele Baldocci, then two etudes no. 11, the first one from opus 10, played by Daniel del Pino, another from opus 25, performed by Irina Klyuev. We'll conclude with the finale of the Cello sonata op. 65. The cellist is Camille Thomas, she's accompanied by Beatrice Berrut. To listen, click here.
Antonio Vivaldi was born on March 4, 1678 in Venice. One of the most important composers in the history of classical music (consider his influence on Johann Sebastian Bach) he's often regarded as the composer of the Four Seasons. In reality, the list of his compositions is enormous. He wrote almost 50 operas and 500 concertos for such instruments as violin, flute, cello, bassoon, oboe, and many others. Here is his Concerto for strings in C Major, RV 114. It's performed by Baroque Band, with David Shrader on the harpsichord.
February 21, 2011
George Frideric Handel. Handel was born on the 23rd of February 1685 in the German city of Halle. As so many musicians of his time who traveled around Europe seeking patrons (just think of all the Italians who came to the courts of France and Austria), he left his country at the age of 21. He moved to Italy, first to Rome then to Florence. He eventually settled in England and lived there for the rest of his life, making occasional trips to the Continent. Handel wrote music for the courts of two kings, George I and George II, became rich and famous, and was buried in Westminster Abbey. Together with Henry Purcell he's considered the greatest English composer of all time. Handel's oratorio Messiah and orchestral suites Water music and Music for the Royal Fireworks never lost their appeal, but his 42 operas were mostly forgotten by the 19th century. Fortunately, they staged a comeback in the second half of the 20th, thanks to a general interest in "historically informed performances" and Baroque operas in particular.
We created a playlist consisting of four works. First, the pianist Margarita Shevchenko performs Chaconne in G Major. Then the soprano Amy Shoremount-Obra sings the aria Tornami a vagheggiar, from the opera Alcina. She's accompanied by Eunjung Lee (Piano). Then we'll hear two very different performance of Concerti Grossi Op. 6: first, Concerto Grosso no. 4 in a minor is performed by Baroque Band, the Chicago-based period instrument orchestra under the direction of Garry Clarke. We conclude with a live historical performance of Concerto Grosso Op.6 no. 10 in d minor made on March 20, 1954: the great German conductor Wilhelm Furtwängler leads the Caracas Symphony Orchestra. This recording was made just eight month before the maestro's death. Even the unfortunate accompaniment of a baby in the last movement (Allegro Moderato) cannot spoil the overall impression. To listen, click here.
February 14, 2011
Quartetto Anthos. The four young Italian musicians who formed Quartetto Anthos – Agnese Tasso, violin, Jessica Orlandi, viola, Silvia Dal Paos, cello, and Francesco Spazian, piano – studied separately at the academies of Bergamo, Parma, Lugano, Salzburg, Pittsburgh and Tel Aviv. They were brought together by their common vision and love of classical Viennese and contemporary repertoire.