September 6, 2010

The great Czech composer Antonín Dvořák was born on September 8, 1841 near Prague in what was then the Austrian Empire. A musical nationalist, Dvořák broadly used Czech folk idioms in his compositions (while in the United States, he also actively promoted Native American and African American music). Dvořák wrote nine symphonies (New World Symphony being the most popular), operas, and chamber music. He also wrote three concertos; the Cello Concerto is his masterpiece.

We’ll hear Humoresque, performed by Brett Deubner (Viola); Slavonic Dance in A-Flat Major, played by the piano duo Joseph Tong and Waka Hasegawa; and String Quintet Op. 97, performed by Pacifica Quartet and Michael Tree (Viola). To listen, click here.

A note: a very mediocre composer, whose renown owes more to chance and the genius of other than any accomplishments of his own, was also born this week. Anton Diabelli was trying to promote his publishing business when he submitted a little waltz to several well-known composers to be used as a theme for variations. He expected them to write just one, which is exactly what Schubert, Czerny, Hummel, and Moscheles, among others, did. Beethoven, on the other hand, created 33, and the set became know as the Diabelli Variations. They are now considered one of his greatest piano compositions. You can hear them in Beth Levin’s interpretation here.

August 30, 2010

Richard Strauss’s Violin Sonata. Richard Strauss was 23 years old when he wrote this sonata. This was his third (he had already composed a piano sonata and one for the cello) and last one: even though he composed for another 60 years, he would never return to this genre again. The Violin sonata is a romantic piece very much in the tradition of Schumann and Mendelssohn. While not considered a masterpiece, this composition is graceful, balanced, and full of wonderful melodic lines and youthful energy.

We have three performances of this sonata. The most recent one is by the violinist Korbinian Altenberger (he’s accompanied by Jiayi Shi). Mr. Altenberger was born in Munich, Germany, studied at the Musikhochschule Köln and then at the New England Conservatory as a student of Donald Weilerstein. Later he studied with Midori at the University of Southern California. Mr. Altenberger received first prize at the Jacob Stainer Violin Competition in 2005, and second prize at the prestigious Montreal International Musical Competition in 2010. You can listen to his performance here.

The second performance is by the young American violinist Tessa Lark. Ms. Lark also studied at the New England Conservatory (with Miriam Fried). She has won several competitions: first place at the Johansen International Strings Competition in Washington, D.C., in 2006, and another first place at the Irving Klein International String Competition in San Francisco in 2008. You can listen to her performance of the sonata here. Ms. Lark is accompanied by Ron Regev.

Finally, we have two masters who need no introduction: Ilya Kaler and Eteri Andjaparidze. You can enjoy their interpretation here.

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