Download I Cameristi Italiani - Dubrovačke ljetne igre

54. dubrovačke ljetne igre
54th Dubrovnik Summer Festival
2003
Hrvatska Croatia
I Cameristi Italiani
Solisti Soloists
Vincenzo Bolognese
violina violin
Gianluca Littera
usna harmonika accordion
Atrij Kneževa dvora
Rector's Palace Atrium
27. srpnja 27 July
21.30 9.30 p.m.
Francesco Geminiani:
6. concerto grosso u d-molu, varijacije na Corellijevu
Sonatu La Folìa za gudače
Concerto Grosso No. 6 in D minor, variations on
Corelli's Sonata La Folia for strings
Pablo de Sarasate:
Capriccio Basco, za violinu i gudače, op. 24
Capriccio Basco, for violin and strings, Op. 24
Astor Piazzolla:
Ave Maria, za violinu i gudače
Ave Maria, for violin and strings
Henryk Wieniawski:
Varijacije na vlastitu temu, za violinu i gudače
Variations on a proper theme, for violin and strings
* * * * *
Maurice Ravel
(obr arr. Gianluca Littera):
Pavana za preminulu infantkinju, za usnu harmoniku i
gudače
Pavane pour une infante défunte (pavan for a dead
Infanta), for accordion and strings
James Moody:
Toledo, za usnu harmoniku i gudače
Toledo, for accordion and strings
James Moody:
Bugarsko vjenčanje, za usnu harmoniku i gudače
Bulgarian Wedding, for accordion and strings
Luigi Boccherini:
Simfonija u d-molu, op. 12, br. 4, La casa del diavolo
Symphony in D minor, Op. 12, No. 4, La casa del
diavolo
Andante sostenuto – Allegro assai
Andantino con moto
Andante sostenuto – Allegro con moto
Italian string ensemble I Cameristi Italiani was formed in Rome in 1992 by the
members of the former Cameristi di Santa Cecilia. All members are instrumentalists
in the reputable Orchestra of Santa Cecilia in Rome. Among the utmostly successful
and acclaimed concerts in Italy and abroad, outstand some special events as is the
300th anniversary of Giuseppe Tartini in Piran in 1992 at which Tartini's own Amati
violin was played on after more than two centuries. In 1995 they played at the
occasion of the visit of H.R.H. Prince of Wales to Italy. In 1994 and 1995 they
represented their country at festive concerts honouring Italy’s Republic Day in
Croatia and Slovenia; in April 2000 the ensemble gave a concert in the reopened
Tartini Theatre, followed with a concert at the Grand Hall of the Fryderyk Chopin
Academy in Warsaw. In May 2001 they appeared in Tokyo at the ceremony of
delivery of the Leonardo Award. Their discography is mostly of lesser known or
unpublished works, including original scores of Boccherini's Fandango and Night
Music in the Streets of Madrid, Vivaldi's Concerto in D minor, Il piccolino,
Donoràin's Over There at Kvarner…, Tartini's Concerto for viola and strings and
Saverio Mercadante's Variations for horn and strings. Italian critics evaluated their
CD Rarity with highest marks. Earlier this year its high achievements have been
honoured with the Golden Wheel of the International Rotary Club.
Violinist Vincenco Bolognese (1966) was born in Lecce. He studied with his father
and with Felix Ayo at the Santa Cecilia Conservatory and Academy in Rome. He
attended master courses with Salvatore Accardo, Riccardo Brengola and Pierluigi
Urbini. He received reputable awards at the Curci Competition in Naples (1985 and
1986) and Paganini Competition in Genova (1987). In October 1987 he perform at a
recital in the Tursi Palace on the famous Paganini violin Il Cannone; that same year
he received the Golden Medallion for particularly successful artistic activity. In 1990
he was awarded the Gold medal of the Foyers des Artistes International Association
in Rome. He performed as soloist with famous orchestras from Rome, Florence Turin,
Naples, Siena, Berlin, Hamburg, Frankfurt, Warsaw, Montevideo, etc under the baton
of conductors such as Accardo Ferro, Gelmetti, Henze, Kovačev, Maag, Plasson,
Sinopoli, Stern and Urbini. He regularly records for the radio and TV. He edited
numerous printed scores of Paganini’s works. Particularly interesting in his
discography are the recordings of all Heifetz’s arrangements for violin and piano, the
six Ysaÿ’s solo violin sonatas, as well as the pieces by Tartini, Respighi and Paganini.
He performs on the Mattia Albani violin from the end of the 17th Century.
Accordion player Gianluca Littera graduated in viola from the G.B. Martini
Conservatory in Bologna, whereupon he studied under Dino Asciola in Rome and got
his first post of a professor at the Conservatory of Pesaro. Always interested in the
chromatic accordion, Littera eventually raised to fame of a classical master of the
instrument. His repertoire covers works of Heitor Villa-Lobos, Darius Milhaud,
Gordon Jacob, Ralph Vaugh Williams, William Walton, Luciano Chailly and other
relevant authors. He has appeared in many countries in Europe, South America and
Asia, also at major festivals, and often in collaboration with the Symphony orchestra
of St. Cecilia and I Cameristi Italiani. For Arte Nova B.M.G. he has recorded VillaLobos' Concerto for accordion and orchestra with Spanish O.F.G.C. Orchestra under
Adriano Leaper and Duke Ellington's Night Creature with the Orchestra of St. Cecilia
under M.W. Chung. A composer as well, he completed his Concerto for bandoneon
and orchestra in 1998.
Italian violinist, composer and music theoretician Francesco Geminiani (1678-1762),
the disciple of A. Corelli and A. Scarlatti, worked as concertmaster in Naples and
later become famous violin virtuoso in London. In the middle of the 18th Century he
resided in Netherlands and in Paris and spent the last years of his life in Dublin. In his
orchestral and chamber works he achieved a successful synthesis of the Italian school.
His virtuously developed instrumental complex, based on the Corelli’s inventions,
leads through the Naples school directly into the rococo. He mainly composed sonatas
and concerts, but did not entirely separate these two music forms. He often introduces
rich polyphony into certain movements of his sonatas, yet avoids the dance
movements. Using the same theme, he applies a dynamic interchange of the solo and
tutti in his Concerto Grosso. His first concerts were dedicated to Corelli; however in
1726 and 1727 he published his two arrangements of his teacher’s sonatas for violin
and continuo, Opus 5, in the Concerto Grosso form. The last of them, in D minor, Op.
5, No. 12, known as La Follìa, has a dance theme of the Iberian origin and 23
different variations. In Geminiani’s arrangement, the Corelli’s virtuoso violin part
remains almost unchanged, but with a witty addition of the second violin, so that the
structure of the entire piece rises like an interesting contrast between the solo and the
tutti.
Spanish cello virtuoso (one of the greatest in the 19th century) and composer Pablo de
Sarasate (1844-1908) found his model in the legendary Nicolò Paganini, and had his
last successor in the already mythical Fritz Kreisler. Everything Sarasate composed or
arranged (he was world famous for his Gypsy Songs for violin and piano) belongs to
the supreme violin shows and opportunities (full of the witty technical inventions) for
displaying the performer’s spectacular skill. Yet, this master of the successful saloon
miniatures, the attractive pieces of sparking lightness and glow, was also a perfect and
deeply sensitive musician, the connoisseur of all finesses of the style. Many of his
nowadays still-popular works, including the short piece Capriccio Basco, Op. 24,
reveal the spirit and idiom of dance rhythms and melodies from his native country.
Distinguished Argentinian guitarist and composer Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992) is one
of the initiators of the recent (artistic) modelling of tango, a moderate tempo dance,
the predecessor of which is considered to be habanera del café, the trendy dance from
Cuba (around 1910), but also tango milonga, the folk dance from harbour areas of
Montevideo and Buenos Aires. The combination of these dances called tango
argentino, tango brasileiro or tango criollo came into European ballrooms in the first
half of the 20th century. Tango had by then been considered a lascivious dance, and
later, having become more refined, was gradually accepted and acknowledged. The
Piazzolla’s music, including his famous Ave Maria wins the hearts of the audiences
by an unrepeatable mixture of delirious joy and restrained mourning, the unusual
blend of purity and sensuality. His sounds are composed of an equal portion of light
and darkness, move and (apparent) rest. The great writer Borges says that many have
noticed the erotic but religious nature of Piazzolla’s music. The sentence ”Music is
the will and passion” is famous, and nothing expresses the combination of these two
components better than Piazzolla’s music. Oscar Wilde writes that music reveals the
intimate past we knew nothing of until that moment, and encourages us to mourn the
misfortunes that did not happen and the sins we did not commit. Perhaps the
Piazzolla’s composing goal is reached when he expresses longing for the past,
weeping for what is lost, but also when convincing us that we have always been brave
to bear our own and other peoples downfall and to courageously fulfil our obligation
of love, faith, honour and duty.
Polish violinist and composer Henryk Wieniawski (1835-1880) studied in Lublin
with J. Hornziel and S. Serwaczyński, at the Paris Conservatory with J. L. Massart
and H. Collet. In 1852 he started a career of a virtuoso who, together with his brother
Józef, toured Poland, Russia, Germany, Holland, France, Belgium and England. He
moves to St. Petersburg in 1860 and, persuaded by Nikolai Rubinstein – who
considered him “the undoubtedly greatest violinist of his time” – becomes violin
teacher at the conservatory that Rubinstein founded there in 1862. In 1872 he started a
two years tour in the North America and – partially accompanied by Rubinstein –
gave 215 concerts in the first eight months. From 1875 to 1877 he lectured at the
Bruxelles Conservatory, where one of his students was the later famous violinist and
composer Eugène Ysaÿe. He completed his intensive concert career in 1878, and his
poor health afterwards permitted him to perform only a few more concerts; he died
after one in Moscow in 1880. His interpretations were the synthesis of virtuoso
technique, distinctive temperament an unmistakable feeling for the style nuances; he
was famous for his masterful handling of the bow and his left arm technique. His
legendary vibrato, according to Fritz Kreisler, reached “un unattainable perfection
level.” He composed a series of short, effective pieces both for violin and piano
accompaniment. He also composed a collection of violin etudes Ecole moderne and
solo cadenzas for the violin concertos by G. B. Viotti (17th and 20th) and L. v.
Beethoven. He composed the Variations on a proper theme for his own virtuoso
needs; a well thought and elegant alternation of the lyrical and dramatic is completely
in the service of utterly individual and easily recognizable style.
One of the greatest 20th Century orchestration virtuosos Maurice Ravel (1875-1937)
is a supreme representative of the elegance and brilliance of the French spirit. The two
main features of Ravel’s idiom are: his natural feeling for the sound movement –
which is the reason his scores were often understood in the choreography context –
and a strong affinity for the game of colours, which served as inspiration for
numerous orchestral arrangements of his refined piano pieces. The most popular
among them Pavane pour une infante défunte (Pavan for a dead Infanta), composed
in 1899, was one of the first composing successes of the young Ravel, who, by a twist
of fate or caprice of the jurries, competed four times for the Prix de Rome in vain.
When composing this piece of unusual name, Ravel cleverly used an old dance form
from the 15th Century turning it into a specific rondo of modal harmonies, in which
his obsession with the remote past – later prooved so many times – is reflecting.
Composed for the Princess of Polignac, the piece, already during Ravel's life, turned
into a cult model of a serious-music hit, which has had numerous various
arrangements. The piece ows its constant popularity to the utter simplicity of the
melodic-harmonic structure, the unattainably elegant restraint of the rhythmics and
expression, a particular undefined gentle-melancholic charge radiating from every
measure of this apparently light music, which, like the minimalist projects of the
contemporary sound, could theorethically last forever. The composition radiates
gentle charm of the dead (or maybe asleep?) maiden, who looks as an unreal image of
a chaste heroine from Schuman's Requiem for Mignon. However, Ravel later
confessed the character to be imaginary and that his inspiration was in the first place
the aliteration of the original title which in French sounds: Pavane pour une infante
défunte. The music nevertheless still has a funeral mood. The regular pace of the
mourners seem to repeat the prcisely measured distances between the high vaulted
columns placed on each side of the arcade. The purity and symetry of the sound seem
to invoke the splendour, luxury and grandiose dignity of the other world, the lost royal
environment; perhaps it is only a question of time when this great mental
concentration will give us back the unattainable nobility of the bygone time.
Irish composer, arranger and pianist James Moody (1907-1995), born in Belfast first
become known as a skillful pianist-improvisator, who accompanied the silent movie
projections. In 1938 he become a solo pianist, accompanist and arranger at the BBC in
Belfast. He later leaves for London where he worked as editor on the British radio for
fourty years, particlarly popular for his radio series Accent on Rhythm and As You
Were. As piano accompanist and music editor he met the famous accordion player
Tommy Reilly and dring their long cooperation, thanks to which he himself learned
how to play the accordion, composed or arranged numerous popular pieces including
many compositions for accordion solo, 22 for accordion and piano, 2 for acordion and
strings, 8 for accordion and orchestra and 12 for accordion and other instruments
(harp, string quartet and varios chamber ensembles). In some of his particularly
attractive pieces Moody skillfully uses the folk elements.
Italian composer and cello virtuoso Luigi Boccherini (1743-1805) studied the cello in
Rome, then worked in his native town of Lucca and played in northern Italy, Vienna
and Paris. Between 1769 and 1787 he was engaged as court virtuoso at the Madrid
court and as composer of Infant Luis, whereupon he maintained the same title while
in the service of Prussian king Friedrich Willhelm II (until 1797) upon whose death
Boccherini went back to Spain, living on revision of his own guitar pieces. After a
period spent under tutelage of Lucien Bonaparte, he lived a life of scarcity and died in
utmost poverty. His output consists of some 400 works for instrumental ensembles
that amalgamate baroque and rococo in a masterful way. His melody presents a
careful thread in the famous gallant style, while his rhythm is dispersed and
ornamented with subtle changes. Boccherini merged all the essential features of the
dramatic style with the basic canons of the deeply thought classical expression, giving
an enormous share to the development of playing techniques. By skilfully blending
the homophonic with polyphonic principles, he greatly improved the structure of the
string quartet, and was the first author to write for the then still unknown string
quintet (with another cello in the place of double bass), as he began his performing
career in a two-cello chamber duo).
Written in 1771, Symphony in D minor, Op. 12, No. 4, «Devil's Home», surpasses
by much its predecessors of the sort. Like the symponies from Op. 12, 12 and 35 it is
dedicated to Boccherini's master, Infant Luis. The symphony is a happy combination
of mostly all features of the author: the appealing introduction (Andante sostenuto)
announcing the first and the last movement, first blends into a dynamic Allegro assai
known from his Snata No. 4 for piano and violin, Op. 5 from 1766. Follows a deeply
lived and very personal Andantino con moto besieged by an obstinate staccato. A
feather-light, graceful Allegro con moto concludes the piece. This is one of the rare
Boccherini's symphonies composed in the minor key, untouched by the then
customary Sturm and Drang sound. The piece ows its subtitle to the Gluck's
Chaconne from ballet Don Juan composed in 1761, despicting the hell. Bocherini
copied almost literally Gluck's description of the descention into the underworld.
D. Detoni