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55th Dubrovnik Summer Festival
2004
Croatia
ITAMAR GOLAN
piano
ROMAN SIMOVITZ
violin
Rector's Palace Atrium
16 August
9.30 pm
Franz Schubert:
WANDERER FANTASY for piano in C major, Op. 15, D. 760
Allegro con fuoco ma non troppo-Adagio-Presto-Allegro
Edvard Grieg:
SONATA No. 3 for violin and piano in C minor, Op. 45
Allegro molto ed appassionato
Allegretto espressivo alla Romanza
Allegro animato
***
Sergej Sergejevič Prokofjev: SONATA No. 2 for violin and piano in D major, Op. 94 a
Moderato
Scherzo
Andante
Allegro con brio
Franz Waxman:
CARMEN-FANTASY for violin and piano
Born in Vilnius, Lithuania, Itamar Golan immigrated to Israel as a child, where he studied
piano with Lara Vodovoz and Emmanuel Krasovsky. At the age of 7 he appeared in his first
recital. Having been awarded the American-Israel Foundation Honor Scholarship he studied
the piano in Boston with Leonard Shure, Patricia Zander and, later, chamber music with
Chaim Taub. As chamber musician, Itamar Golan has appeared with Barbara Hendricks,
Maxim Vengerov, Tabea Zimmermann, and Ida Haendel. At present he performs and records
with Shlomo Mintz, Kyung Wha Chung and Julian Rachlin. A member of the famous piano
trio with Julian Rachlin and Orfeo Mandozzi, Itamar Golan frequently participates in
renowned international music festivals, such as Edinburgh, Salzburg, Prague, Chicago,
Besançon, Ludwigsburg, Verbier, Luzern, Tangelwood and elsewhere. He has also appeared
as soloist with the Israel Philharmonic, the Berlin Philharmonic with Zubin Mehta, and
makes recordings for Deutsche Grammophone, Teldec, EMI and Sony Classical. From 1991
to 1994 he lectured at the Manhattan School of Music. Itamar Golan is currently engaged as a
lecturer at the Conservatoire de Paris.
Violinist Roman Simovitz (1981) began to study music at the Solomija Kruseljnicka Music
School for young talents in Ljvov with Yuri Goljda and continued to study at the Vasa Pavić
Art School in Podgorica with his father Igor Simovitz. In 1998 he graduated from the Cetinje
Music Academy and got his M. A. degree from the Novi Sad Art Academy in 2000. That
same year he started his postgraduate studies at the Tchaikovsky State Conservatory in
Moscow (with Marina Jashvili). He regularly attends master courses in Keshet Eilon (Israel),
where he works with the most prestigious violinists and pedagogues such as Shlomo Mintz,
Ida Haendel, Eduard Grač, György Pauk, Petru Munteanu, Itzhak Rashkovsky, Yair Kless
and others. He started to officially appear in concerts at the age of 8 and has performed with
many orchestras including the Ljvov Philharmonic, the Kiev Philharmonic, the Prague
Philharmonic, the Poznan Philharmonic, the Vojvodina Philharmonic, the Ukraine Radio and
Television Symphony Orchestra, the Subotica Symphony Orchestra and the Keshet Eilon
Symphony Orchestra from Israel, as well as with chamber orchestras of the RTCG, Horreum
Margi, Amadeus, Moskovia and the St. George Strings. He appeared at the well-known
concert halls such as the Bolshoi Zal in Moscow, the Mickiewicz Hall in Poznanj, the Grand
Opera House in Tel Aviv, the Rudolfinum in Prague and the Victoria Hall in Geneva. He
worked with prestigious artists including Shlomo Mintz, Itamar Golan, Rohan De Silva,
Eduard Grač, Igor Simovitz, Marina Jashvili, Mladen Jagušt, Ratimir Martinović and others.
He was the winner or laureate of many international competitions such as the Jaroslav
Kocijan Competition in the Czech Republic (1990), the Petar Konjović Competition in
Belgrade (1993 and 1995), the Wieniawski Competition in Poznanj (2001), the Jampoljski
Competition in Russia (2002), the Sion-Valais Competition in Switzerland (2003) and the
Valsesia Musica Competition in Italy (2004). The winner of the Montenegro Ministry of
Culture Award in 1994, the Petar Vukičević Fund Award by the Montenegro Academy of
Science and Art in 1995 and the Plaque of the University of the Montenegro Republic in
1999, he represented Montenegro at the Russian Federation Culture Days in Yalta in 2003.
He was also awarded the scholarship by the Government of the Montenegro Republic.
Presently a lecturer at the Music Academy of the Montenegro Republic University, he is the
initiator and artistic director of the renowned international Rubicon Quartet.
The main prerequisite of the thoroughbred quality of the music of Franz Schubert (1797 1828) is some kind of gradual but persistent acceleration of the music thinking. In the
proces, the general expansion in no way loosens the logic of the form: Schubert’s symphony
or sonata is only a slowed down song. For, even when working extrmenly slowly, when
almost light-heartedly connecting the massive sound blocks with their torn-off echoes, when
exchanging the bright lyrical moods with the gloom of the darker moods,. when making a
rhapsody-like descriptions, when observing music from all sides like some unknown object,
Shubert always buids anew, unflinchingly sure in the stability of his sonorous building.The
result of such kind of work is a brand new music landscape, a peculiar world of sound
metaphores which confuses and amazes us again and again by its mooving simplicity.
Schubert is the creator of a kind of pop music of his time. However, a simple but great depth
of true harmonies, a relentless logic of authentic melodic shifts, a proved monotony of
natural metro-rhythm that in its ostinato persistence always returns to its beginning, because
only there it is closest to the end – all this hides under the surface, under the feigned ease and
playful lightness. A drama peeps under the mask and grimace: such amount of tragic
seriousnes seldom hides in the pop music of any other period. Schubet composed his
Wanderer fantasy in C major, Op. 15, D. 760 in 1822. He dedicated the only huge and selfcontained instrumental piece composed that year to the landowner and rich Maecena E. K.
von Liebenberg, the Hummel's disciple. Since it is not quite certain that his instrumental art
was sufficient for performing such technically requiring piece, Alfred Einstein believes that
Schubert nevertheless dedicated this piece to the great pianist Hummel, to whom he anyway
intended to dedicate his last three sonatas. Schubert connected and condensed the four
movements of the classical sonata (Allegro-Adagio-Scherzo-Finale) into an integral whole
that thematically comes out of the central part of his song Der Wanderer (The Traveller), Op.
4, composed in 1821 after the text by Schmidt von Lübeck from 1816. By this idea,
somewhat inspired by Beethoven’s sonata principle, Schubert created a precious form pattern
that will influence many of his successors, the composers of romantic symphonic songs, but
also modern composers such as Liszt, Skryabin and even Alan berg. With a special care,
Schubert treated the mentioned theme in the form of variations within the second, slow part
of the whole; yet, the quick movements (the first, the third and the fourth) also borrowed
their thematic of the dactylic rhythm from the same source. While the first and the fourth
movement are supported by the even rhythm, the scherzo sharpens that same rhythm into a 3
/ 4 dotted pattern. The introductory movement has a sonata form with a dramatically glowing
development; instead of the reprise a bridging segment appears reminding of a fantasy and
thus splendidly prepares the Adagio. The transparent elegance of the scherzo is closely
connected with the song The Three Girls. The finale is a significant example of Schubert’s
abandoning the Beethoven’s technique, because it begins with a majestically polyphonic
introduction. Yet, after the appearance of all four voices, the composer nervously gives up
the strict style, and, as if he got tired, goes into the realm of a light, noisily virtuous glamour.
According to Knut Franke, it is perhaps only coincidence that Chopin also repeats a similar
procedure in the finale of his famous Piano sonata No. 1 in C minor, Op. 4, because he
suddenly starts to build the music in the same basic rhythm that cannot be enlivened even by
the capricious gestures of the diminished seventh chords.
Like a true romantic, the Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg (1843-1907) was not fond of
thematic development of the motif and changed this classical period feature with another: the
arranging of the mosaic filigree, crocheting of the miniature lace in which the melody,
harmony, rhythm and colour were equally represented. Particularly interesting is Grieg’s
striving to modernize the harmonic structures, release the dissonance, using also the modes
tonality and multi-layered complexes of the quintuplet and sextuplet as well as the play of the
ostinato figures in the bass part. Grieg’s chamber output is quite insignificant when the
quantity is concerned in comparison with the remaining part of his opus: he composed three
sonatas for violin and piano, one for cello and piano and a string quartet. In 1865 he
composed his Sonata for violin and piano No. 1, in F major, which is a part of his so called
Danish composing period. Namely, his niece, whom he later married, was educated in
Denmark. A talented and renowned singer, she introduced Grieg to many celebrities from the
Danish music and literary circuit. Grieg enjoyed his visits to Denmark and very much liked
its people and songs. He was composing his Sonata No. 3 for violin and piano in C minor,
Op. 35 from 1886 to 1887. Although originating from the Norwegian national melos, its
advanced composing technique shows clear traces of the European romantic rapture.
Compared with the Violin Sonata No. 1, it is clearer and more refined, yet the charm and
naive purity of its invaluable predecessor have been lost somewhere. (It is technique-wise
more accessible even to the amateurs and is often performed at private concerts.) The sonata
that is performed tonight is undoubtedly a masterpiece and it is not coincidence that it is
often heard at the world famous concert stages. Already by its first theme the first movement
unquestionably evokes Beethoven pathetic and passionate manner. According to the
question-answer principle the brief and concise motif develops the thematic complex of a
large scope with even 22 bars. The second movement also reminds of Beethoven, this time of
his piano sonata Appassionata, Opus 57. With Grieg, this sample is enveloped in Norwegian
tonal mood. Only after it, follows the true Grieg’s theme, with whose multiple repetitions the
piano (which has by now only self-denyingly accompanied the violin) takes over the more
important role. During the development, the Beethoven’s influence is replaced by the
romantic powerful performance of the piano. The third movement, a distinctive romance,
begins with a piano solo. This melody, however, has no connection with the sentimental
mood of the Slavic romances, because it is astonishingly simple and objective. After
performing the introductory melody, the violin intonates a quick dance of a pregnant rhythm
and in the final section of the movement the slow introduction melody returns. The theme of
the fourth movement is vivid, fierce northern hop-dance in which Grieg, perhaps following
Schubert’s experience, reinforces the entire impression by exposing the theme in the piano
octaves.
The music classic at the end of the century, Russian composer Sergey Sergeyevich
Prokofiev (1891-1953) composed his 138 opuses striving to achieve a continuous
changeability of the music language based on the prefect clarity of melodic contours, lucidity
of form, simplicity of instrumental colorism and antagonistic opposing of tonality and
atonality. Masterful super structuring of Prokofiev's basic thematic never smothers the
filigreed development of his counterpoint ambience. The Composer's harmonic vertical lines
surprise by the ambiguousness of their origin and meaning, and occasional extreme exactness
of the rhythmic flow leads to a real hegemony of the rhythm. An abundance of colours,
intensified by laconism of expression and an inexhaustible emotional potential, offers
unimagined associative possibilities. The grotesque appears as a derivation of meditative
lyrics and is particularly valuable in the master's opus. In his seven symphonies, neither a
marked nor an exclusively symphonic composer, Prokofiev, with more success and gift than
his contemporaries, continued the tradition of the great Russian symphonic composers from
Borodin to Tchaikovsky: In his entirely distinctive understanding of this most developed
music form, Prokofiev brought the reality of his tonality to a fever pitch. Yet, most
significant of all his merits, is his contribution to correct interpretation of the music
phenomenon in his stage music.
In 1943 Prokofiev composed his Sonata for flute and piano and in 1943 published it as
Opus 94 and first performed it in Moscow. The following year however he revised it into
Sonata No. 2 for violin and piano in D major, Op 94 a. It was first performed in Moscow
in 1944 by probably the greatest violinist of the previous century, David Oystrakh. Contrary
to its earlier variant, the piece is basically melodious and cheerful, in the mood similar to
Prokofiev’s Classical Symphony. This similarity particularly refers to the slow third, as well
as to the final and fast fourth movement. The Andante’s profound slow motion and the fast
briskness of the fourth movement are both filled by the Prokofiev’s tersely structured,
enviously balanced and harmonic contents. Yet, the widely invading introductory movement,
as well as the humorously elegant second movement Scherzo (filled with the images of the
phantasmagoric dreams of mysterious shadows and blurred and oddly smiling apparitions
typical of Prokofiev) is of the equal value.
Undoubtedly under the influence of Rossini, Meybeer and Gounod in his early period,
Georges Bizet (1838-1875), a versatile spirit and active watcher of all aspects of social and
artistic life was not happy with the situation in his country. He therefore took interest in
music of other European countries, particularly German, which enabled him to realize the
futility and shallowness of the French theatre of the time before all others. The old-fashioned
circles reciprocated with an avalanche of organized lies and injustice so that his masterpieces
like L’arlésienne and Carmen were widely rejected at the premieres. Yet his Carmen
(premiered on March 3 1875), based on libretto by H. Meilhac and L. Halévy inspired by the
third chapter of the namesake story by Prosper Merimée, is one of the most brilliant products
of the French musical spirit of all times. The original text, picturesquely depicting unusual
personalities in exotic locations, while ‘the fatal passions move the plot towards an evergrowing dissipation of the protagonists’, found a perfect ally in Bizet, the master of
characters, of exciting colours of the orchestra and of a smooth flow of the musical matter.
Carmen was not his first encounter with the Spanish music and there he achieved the
paramount points – literal and invented quotations blend into a uniform mass reinforced with
refined taste, power and the courage of a true composing talent. The first to create a medley
from the most successful motives from Carmen was the great Spanish violin virtuoso Pablo
de Sarasate. In the second half of the last century, very popular was the orchestral version of
the collage created by Russian composer Rodion K. Schedrin. The Carmen-Fantasy was
composed by Franz Waxman (1906-1967), the American composer and conductor of
German and Jewish descend. Disciple of Schönberg and later the famous author of film
music (more than 130 soundtracks, double Oscar-winner for Wilder’s Sunset Boulevard,
1950 and Stevens’ Place Under The Sun, 1951) dedicated his Fantasy to the great American
violin virtuoso Jasha Heifetz. The recording of the Fantasy with Isaac Stern and the RCA
Symphony Orchestra with Donald Boorhes conducting (used in the legendary film
Humoresque) was proclaimed 1947 Record of the Year in the USA.
D. Detoni