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56th Dubrovnik Summer Festival
2005
Croatia
Monika Leskovar
cello
Richard Joo
piano
Rector's Palace Atrium
18 August
9.30 pm
Robert Schumann:
Fantasy Pieces, Op. 73
Delicamente e con espressione
Vivace, leggiero
Veloce e con fuoco
Johannes Brahms: Sonata No. 2 for cello and piano in F major, Op. 99
Allegro vivace
Adagio affettuoso
Allegro passionato
Allegro molto
*****
Manuel de Falla: Canciónes Populares Españolas
El Paño Moruno
Nana
Canción
Polo
Asturiana
Jota
Claude Debussy: Moonlight
Minstrels
Jules Massenet: Meditation from opera Thaïs
Astor Piazolla:
Le Grand Tango
Cellist Monika Leskovar (Kreutztal, 1981), initially a student of the
Elly Bašić Music School in Zagreb (with Dobrila Berković-Magdalenić),
later a pupil of Valter Dešpalj, is presently a post graduate student at
the Hans Eisler Academy in Berlin with the famous cellist David
Geringas. She has attended master courses with M. Rostropovich, B.
Greenhouse, L. Parnas, E. Shoenfeld M. Flaksman, D. Grigorjan, D.
Müller, S. Sondeckiene, J. Chuchro and others. She has won 1st Prize at
the Croatian Young Musicians Competition (1992 and 1994), 1st Prize
at the Alpe-Adria Competition (1993 and 1994), Grand Prix of the
International Competition in Liezen (1994) and the Tchaikovsky
Competition in Sendai (1995), 2nd prize at the 1st Antonio Janigro
International Competition (Zagreb, 1996), 3rd and Special prize at the
6th Mstislav Rostropovich International Competition (Paris, 1977), 2nd
Prize at the Eurovision Young Musicians Competition (Vienna, 1998),
Grand Prix of the Radeberger Förderungspreis, Germany, and 1st and
Special Prize at the 3rd Roberto Caruana International Cello
Competition in Milan. In 2001 she won 2nd Prize assigned by the jury
and a Special Audience Award at the ARD Competition in Munich, and
the Orlando Award at the Dubrovnik Summer Festival. She has
performed extensively (Germany, Austria, Italy, Hungary, France,
Belgium, Slovenia, Spain, Russia, Lithuania, Poland, Israel, Japan, etc.),
and taken part, both as a soloist and with the world-famous orchestras
and conductors such as K. Ōno, V. Sinaisky, A. Buribayev, V. Gergiyev,
M. Turnowsky, J. Wildner, M. Horvat, P. Dešpalj, V. Šutej and M.
Letonja, in the most reputable festivals, including the Eurovision
Festival of European Young Talented Musicians (Budapest, 1993), the
Casals Festival in Tokyo, the Schleswig-Holstein and Rheingau festivals
in Germany and the Dubrovnik Summer Festival. As a chamber
musician she has worked with prestigious artists such as Gidon
Kremer, Jury Bashmet, Julian Rachlin, Itamar Golan, Sofia Gubaidulina,
Nikolai Znaider, Tabea Zimmermann, and Mario Brunello. Her
discography includes 3 CD releases of the 19th and 20th century music,
and her artistic achievements have inspired the film directors
Majerović, Berković and Krelja to make documentaries on her life and
work. She is playing on a Vincenze Postiglione cello from 1884, a
lifetime loan of the City of Zagreb and the Zagreb Philharmonic.
English pianist and composer of South Korean origin Richard Joo
began to study music at the Menuhin Academy with Peter Norris and
Setea Tanyel, and later graduated and got his master’s degree from the
Manhattan School of Music in New York under Nina Svyetlanova. He
also studied in Vienna with Richard Goode, Ferenc Rados and Oleg
Maisenberg. Belonging to the group of artists who search for new ways
in interpreting classical music (as are Leonard Bernstein, Glenn Gould,
Nigel Kennedy and Yo-Yo Ma), he tries to transform the performing
practice of piano recitals and chamber concerts (he is the founder of
the Dimension Trio with Rafael Payne and Thomas Carroll),
transferring them from the 19th to 21st century. Recognisable for his
unique sense of humour, irresistible charisma and brilliant piano skill,
he gives the serious concerts performances a flavour of wonder and
imagination. Often employing multi media, Joo thrilled the audiences
in major music centres of Europe, USA and Asia. The winner of the
Stravinsky International Piano Competition and protégée of Lord
Yehudi Menuhin, he has performed at concert halls such as Carnegie
Hall, Musikverein, and Barbican Hall, and triumphed at the concert on
the occasion of the 150th anniversary of Chopin's death at the Alice
Tully hall, and at the Gala Piano Grand at the Smithson Institute on
the occasion of the 300th anniversary of the piano, where he joined
forces with Dave Brubeck, Diana Krall, Billy Joel, Katia and Marielle
Labecque, Robert Levine and Jerry Lee Lewis. Outstanding in the
previous season were his performances with the Royal and the London
Philharmonic. Richard Joo has an extensive discography, the part of
which is recorded at the Mozart Hall of the Konzerthaus in Vienna. His
recent engagements include work with Billy Joel, with whom he
records for Sony Classical/Columbia. Their TV show His Own Words
was nominated for Emmy Award. Together with Stevie Wonder, Tony
Bennett and Natalie Cole, he appeared at the ceremony declaring him
Musician of the Year. An ardent chamber musician, in addition to
concerts with his Dimension Trio (with whom he will perform
Beethoven’s Triple Concerto with the London Philharmonic the next
season), and in a duo with pianist Michaela Ursuleasa, Richard Joe
frequently woks with musicians such as Lidia Baich, Thomas Carroll,
Thomas Christian, Michael Collins, Alex da Costa, Radovan Vlatković,
Gervaise de Peyer, Rafael Payne, Julian Rachlin, Fuminori Shinozaki,
and members of the quartets Alban Berg, Artis, Belcea and Hugo Wolf.
Joo's Duel Show, combining music, mime and comedy, has been very
popular at the theatres in Paris, and festivals in Edinburgh and
Avignon. His most recent show A Little Nightmare Music was
performed at Musikverein in Vienna, and his new piece at Wigmore
Hall in London. A passionate pedagogue, Joo made a series of
educative music programmes and has held numerous master courses
in London, Madrid and Seoul. He extensively collaborates with actor
Gabriel Byrne, presently working on their new project combining
poetry, prose and classical music.
Robert Schumann (1810 - 1856) composed a capital piano piece
Fantasiestücke (Fantasy Pieces), Op. 12, in 1837, at the time he was in
love with and got married to Clara Wieck. Inspiration for this piece
also came from the fantastic characters in the tales of E. T. A.
Hoffmann. Twelve years later Schumann composed another shorter
cycle of Fantasy Pieces, Op. 73, this time for clarinet and piano. This
was a time of financial troubles for Schumann, who had several
children to feed and a new baby on the way. It is thus not difficult to
recognize Schumann’s daydreaming of happiness and financial
security as another source of inspiration for this piece. In order to
enable him to offer it to a wider market, Schumann arranged the piece
for the violin, or the cello with the piano accompaniment, and it has
since remained in the viola recital programmes all over the world. The
strategy proved to be successful for several reasons: in spite of short
duration of the three connected movements, the Fantasiestücke are
among Schumann’s most performed pieces. All the movements are
composed according to the traditional song principle A-B-A-coda. The
lyrical first movement is opened by a meditative and wave-like melody
dressed in romantic harmonies, which cannot hide for long their
energy and inclination to expand. The movement begins in A minor
and ends in A major, which is also the key in which the remaining two
movements are composed. The second movement slightly resembles
the scherzo; although it will become more alive than the preceding one
during its development, its coda will bring it to a quiet and peaceful
end. The third movement is often played as an encore in clarinet
recitals, because it demonstrates, in an attractive way, musical and
technical abilities both of the soloist and accompanist. It presents a
true and expected end to the cycle; here Schumann more actively and
dynamically appeals to the themes of the first two movements, which
once again shows the precious motif unity typical of his entire opus.
There is a 22-year span between Sonata No. 1 and Sonata for cello and
piano No. 2 in F major, Op. 99 of Johannes Brahms (1833 - 1897). Its
life force, energy and resoluteness later appear seldom in Brahms’
mature works. Almost eruptive aspiration for outbursts of tonal
explosions is characteristic of the first movement (Allegro vivace). The
passionate and extensive main theme of the cello is reminiscent of
Brahms’ adolescent works. The two instruments create a condensed
block of almost orchestral instrumentation, which is apparent
particularly in the restless and dramatic development. The second
movement initially announces a special sound situation, being
composed in F sharp major, the furthest possible point from the basic
tonality. The piano, treated almost as a solo instrument, accentuates
the movement’s intimate lyrical atmosphere, and we seem to listen to
a special Schumann’s song, in which the exceptionally demanding
piano accompaniment completely encircled the impressionable cello
tune. The third movement (Allegro passionato) collapses no les than
ten fifths down, from the dazzling F sharp major to the nervous whirl
of F minor. The exciting themes of this demonic scherzo are shaken,
elevated and thrown back by the audacious rhythmic frisking.
Reminiscent of Brahms’ adolescent pieces, the fourth, final movement
(Allegro molto) is a dynamic echo of previous events, whose contents
and colour are determined by the descending main theme performed
by the cello. The dance character of the finale, typical of Brahms, is
accentuated and extended by intimately conceptualised lyrical
interludes.
Comparing the output and significance of the founder of the modern
Spanish music Philipe Pedrell and his pupil, the famous and popular
composer Manuel de Falla (1876-1946), Gilbert Chase claims: “Pedrell
used to be the word, and de Falla the deed”. De Falla based his first
creative period, as well as the essence of his music theatre, on the
cante hondo principle, a specific blend of Arabic and Old Spanish folk
elements. His arrival to Paris signified his breaking up with the
provincialism and introducing the refined, impressionist sonorous
elements into a bit crude national expression. In the series of his stage
works – particularly in opera La Vida Breve (Short Life), ballets El Amor
Brujo (Love, the Magician) and El Sombrero de Tres Picos (The ThreeCornered Hat), as well as in the marionette play El Retablo de Maese
Pedro (Master Peter’s Puppet Show) being considerately different from
the national style of Zarzuela – de Falla prepared and enabled a real
renaissance of recent Spanish music.
Manuel de Falla composed one of his most popular works for voice
and piano Canciónes Populares Españolas (Spanish Popular Songs),
in Paris in 1914, which is performed tonight arranged for cello and
piano. The piece reveals Spanish folk spirit with its unbridled rhythms,
joyful or sad melodies, and passionate or restrained harmonies.
Among the well-known songs in the middle of the piece (originally at
its end), particularly prominent is Polo, Andalusian dance in the
moderate 3/8 measure, with characteristic employment of
syncopation. Spanish gypsies dance it to the accompaniment of
castanets, singing cheerful and funny songs with repetitions of the
same clusters, among which is the well-known ole. The dance steps
and figures reveal a strong oriental influence. Another popular song is
Jota whose melody is sung to the accompaniment of guitar and
cracking of fingers, or performed by drum or flute, i.e. bagpipe and,
recently, guitar. The dance couples face each other raising their arms,
and changing positions during the dance. The dance is typically slow,
but also quick in certain regions. The rhythmic formulas are varied all
the time, and the harmonic functions are more prominent than in
other Spanish dances. Jota is often sung to the accompaniment of an
instrument; it consists of two parts: copla and estribilla, wherein four
or five verses of copla are divided into seven musical phrases.
The peculiar and ambiguous title that Claude Debussy (1862 - 1918)
gave to his piano Suite bergamasque caused a lot of
misunderstanding among music analysts. Georgii, for instance,
misunderstood it completely, connecting it with the years Debussy
spent in Italy and Bergamo. Others used to connect the piece with the
bergamasca dance probably originating in the Bergamo surrounding
area. However, the Suite title most likely refers to the fact that
Debussy successfully set to music several poems from Verlaine’s
collection Fêtes galantes (Galant Festivities), including Masques et
bergamasques. Debussy composed his Suite in 1890, and revised it in
1905, singling out and separately publishing two movements: the
Masques and L'Isle joyeuse (The Isle of Joy). The introductory Prelude
and two dance movements (Menuet and Passepied) are full of
humorously archaic details, particularly in baroque reminiscences. The
third movement of the Suite is the anthological Clair de lune
(Moonlight), often performed independently. It is reminiscent of
Debussy’s beginnings, when he was inspired by the unmatched
Chopin-like lyrical-sentimental mood delicately imbued with the most
delicate tonal substance. Debussy composed Book I of his (twelve)
Preludes, which became an absolute turning point in the history of
listening and playing the piano, in 1910, and Durand published it in
Paris that same year. The composer himself first performed most of
them on 25th May 1910 and 29th March 1911 in Paris, while the
brilliant pianist Ricardo Viñes was in charge for first performance of
the remaining Preludes. (Book II, also consisting of 12 Preludes, was
composed from 1910 – 1913.) The last prelude from Book I, the
Minstrels, is a humorously ironic reminiscence of the music of
medieval performers and adventurers, alluding to their appearances,
in the streets of Paris both in the past and nowadays. This might also
be a musical caricature, and hidden political allusion to some public
figures of his time.
In 1890 French writer Anatole France (1844 - 1924) published a novel
from the Alexandrian times about a stunningly beautiful actresscourtesan Thaïs, who from her polytheist religion converted to
Christianity; the story was counterpointed by the author's ironical but
masterful description of a monk and his belated dedication to love.
The appearance of the novel, the characteristic oriental theme product
in the time when Pierre Louys wrote his famous Aphrodite, coincided
with the current polemics among French musicians on the subject
whether an operatic libretto should be in verse or in prose. The
initiator of the dispute Louis Gallet preferred prose. When Jules
Massenet (1842 – 1912) suggested him to write a libretto after
France's text, Gallet chose a compromise, providing a text in free verse
without rhyme, offering a better cooperation of music and language.
The three-act opera was completed early in 1894, when, upon Charles
Gounod's death, Massenet became the most popular French operatic
composer, and when Manon was on its way to reach a record of more
than two thousand performances at the Opéra Comique in Paris. First
performed on 16th March 1894 in Paris, Thaïs was given a standing
ovation. The American singer with a meteorically ascending career and
a phenomenal pitch range, Sybil Sanderson sang the title role. In 1889
Massenet composed for her his Esclarmonde, which the Californian
operatic star performed more than a hundred times. Another brilliant
interpreter of Thaïs early in the 20th century was the famous
American singer, Mary Garden, who had her sensational debut singing
the same role at the Manhattan Opera House in New York. The story
takes place in the Hellenised Egypt, in the vicinity of Thebes and
Alexandria. The Meditation on faith and love (as the sole way of
reaching immortality) from the second act is the most popular and
most often performed fragment from the opera; its effective theme
repeats like an obsession during the entire opera.
Having studied with Albert Ginastera, Nadia Boulanger and Hermann
Scherchenn, brilliant Argentinian composer, conductor and
instrumentalist Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992) dedicated most of his
professional activity to artistic modelling of tango, a moderate tempo
dance from 1882, Buenos Aires, the predecessor of which is
considered to be habanera del café, the trendy dance from Cuba
(around 1910), but also tango milonga, a folk dance from harbour
areas of Montevideo and Buenos Aires. The combination of the dances
called tango argentino, tango brasileiro or tango criollo came to
European ballrooms around 1910, becoming extremely popular around
1920. Piazzolla himself composed about three hundred tangos by
1960. He founded various groups, wrote original music and
arrangements, and composed a huge number of stage, orchestral, and
chamber pieces, the majority of which were based on the tango dance
movement. While other composers usually begin from the contents
and additionally give it form, Piazzolla chose a different approach: he
began with the music form, gradually supplying it with the music
contents. A constant collision of two major things thus occurs,
increasing the tension and liveliness of the piece. A good illustration
of this is Piazzolla’s piece at the end of tonight’s programme. Le
Grand Tango, a great 1982 hit, was originally composed for cello and
piano, and dedicated to Mstislav Rostropovich, who first performed it
in 1990, in New Orleans. One of the finest examples of Piazzolla’s
permanent tonal obsession, it is filled with constant ascends and falls,
accentuations and silence, yet Piazzolla’s feeling of the proportion
does not forget to place the expressional climax precisely in the place
of the golden cut.
D. Detoni