Download +54 - Dubrovačke ljetne igre

54. dubrovačke ljetne igre
54th Dubrovnik Summer Festival
2003
Hrvatska Croatia
VIKTOR TRETJAKOV
violina violin
MARIJA TRETJAKOVA
glasovir piano
Atrij Kneževa dvora
Rector's Palace Atrium
30. srpnja 30 July
21.30 9.30 p.m.
Ludwig van Beethoven: 1. sonata za violinu i glasovir u D-duru, op. 12, br. 1
Sonata No. 1 for violin and piano in D major, Op.12, No. 1
Allegro con brio
Tema con variazioni (Andante con moto)
Rondo (Allegro)
Edvard Grieg:
3. sonata za violinu i glasovir u c-molu, op. 45
Sonata No. 3 for violin and piano in C minor, Op. 45
Allegro molto ed appassionato
Allegretto espressivo alla Romanza – Allegro molto
Allegro animato
*****
Antonín Dvořák:
Četiri romantične skladbe, op. 75
Four romantic pieces, Op. 75
Allegro modrato
Allegro maestoso
Allegro appassionato
Larghetto
Ernest Chausson:
Poema u Es-duru, op. 25
Poème in E flat major, Op. 25
Camille Saint-Saëns: Introdukcija i Rondo capriccioso
Introduction and Rondo capriccioso
One of the best Russian violinists nowadays Viktor Tretyakov (1946) was born in
the Siberian Krasnojarsk. He already showed an exceptional musical talent at an early
age. He first attended the Irkutsk Music School in order to start to study at the Central
Music School of the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow at the age of eight under
respectable pedagogue Jury Jankeljevitch. In 1996 he attracted the attention of the
international public winning the 3rd International Tchaikovsky Competition in
Moscow, only six months after he triumphed at the Russian Federal Competition in
Moscow. Two years later he had his debut with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.
The world fame and popularity followed his tours in Scandinavia, Poland, Holland,
Italy, Portugal, Spain, Austria, Germany, Romania, France, Belgium, Monaco, the
USA, Canada and Latin America. He performed both as soloist (becoming famous for
his recital at the Carnegie Hall in New York) and with the renowned orchestras from
Berlin, Vienna, Paris, London, Rome, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Chicago, Pittsburgh,
Detroit, Atlanta, Toronto and Tokyo under the baton of Jean Martinon, Eugène
Ormándy, Lovro von Matačić, Eugen Jochum, Josef Krips, Lorin Maazel, James
Levine, Zubin Mehta, Stanislaw Skrowaczewski, André Previn, Kiril Kondrashin and
others. Exceptionally successful was his transcontinental tour with the St. Petersburg
Philharmonic Orchestra. Tretyakov is particularly fond of Russian composers and his
huge repertoire spans the works from baroque to contemporary music. He also works
with chamber orchestras and the artists such as (were) Svjatoslav Richter, Mstislav
Rostropovich, Natalia Gutman, Yuri Bashmet and Oleg Kagan. The leader of the
Moscow State Chamber Orchestra since 1983, Tretyakov was the permanent guest
conductor of the Munich Chamber Orchestra from 1991to1994. He has the title of the
«National Artist of the USSR». In his huge discography particularly noted are the
recordings of the Violin Concerto both by Tchaikovsky and Brahms (for Olympia and
Pioneer) as well as his recent recording of the concert with Yuri Bashmet and Neeme
Järvi (for BMG). A pedagogue as well, he is a full time professor at the Colon Music
College since 1996.
Russian pianist Maria Tretyakova, born in the family of Viktor Tretyakov, started to
study music at the age of five at the special Gnesin Music School with the renowned
pedagogue, the holder of the title of «Merits for Culture», Valentina Aristova. Since
2002 she started to study at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow with Lev
Naumov and later at the International Piano Academy in Imola with Boris
Petruschansky. She started to perform as soloist at an early age and was nine years old
when she had her debut with an orchestra. In 1994 she won the First Prize at the
International Children's Music Competition in Poland and holds a scholarship award
for the period from 1994 to 2001 of the International Charity Programme called The
New Names. She performed at many concerts in Russia, France, Great Britain,
Poland, Italy Czech Republic, Malaysia, South Chorea and Japan. Since 2000 she has
been soloist of the Moscow Philharmonic Society. In 2001 she won the Second and
the Special Prize at the International Piano Competition in Rome.
Sonatas for violin and piano occupy a prominent place in the chamber output of
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827). The pieces were composed either for a famous
virtuoso or at a commission by some prominent personality. They defined the bravura
of the solo score and a general appeal of the cluster. By construction, the sonatas
come close to the double-concerto, lacking orchestral accompaniment. Yet, all the 10
sonatas impose high demands upon both performers. The premieres never happened
in an intimacy of a private home, but under the light of the concert stage; therefore
they had to demonstrate not only the quality of the players but also the inventiveness
and richness of the composer’s spirit.
Beethoven wrote three of his duo-sonatas most probably in 1797 or 1798 and
dedicated them to Antonio Salieri, the Italian composer living in Vienna and severe
opponent to Mozart, also Beethoven’s teacher in vocal composing in Italian at the turn
of the two centuries. The main theme of the First Sonata in D major, Opus 12, No.
1 consists of a tonic analysis of the elementary power creating a mobile pattern
completed with a large legato scale. The thematic matter of the exposition is
concealed in the theme introduced by the violin, all subordinate thoughts being only
fruits of a figural play. The piano presents a soft theme in A major key of the slow
movement, its four variations proving the composer’s inventiveness in rhythm and
technique. The hunting theme with a tempestuous end of the final rondo (in 6/8 metre)
reminds of the effective last bars of Mozart’s piano concertos.
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. The
essence of Grieg’s musical will is hidden in his piano pieces; in addition to his
valuable collection of 66 miniatures, Lyric Pieces, composed within the period of 35
years of the prolific work, his only Piano Concerto in A minor, op 16, composed in
1868, brought him the greatest popularity.
Grieg was composing his Sonata No. 3 for violin and piano in C minor, Op. 35
within the period 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 in F major, 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 by accident that it is often heard 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 great Czech composer of symphony music, reformer of the standard forms,
pursuer of the new Berlioz-Liszt programme music, and follower of Wagner’s
reformation of the music scene Antonín Dvořák (1841-1904) is, according to his
expression, not a dramatist in the Wagnerian sense. Yet, in his lyric-dramatic, never
static or sentimental but logical and substantial development of the themes everything
flows clearly, naturally and proportionally. In his own words, he is «a person who
breathes the melody, nothing but a musician». This is evident even in many
apparently unimportant segments of his astonishing opus. In 1887, he composed two
Trios for two violins and viola (in C major, OP. 74 and in B flat major, Op. 75)
dedicating them to his neighbour, violin amateur and his teacher, which is also
testified by a particular simplicity of the structure. Soon after that he arranged the
second Trio for violin and piano, calling it the Romantic pieces, Op. 75. The
publisher from Berlin, Simrock published it already that same year under the same
title. The original String Trio, Op. 75 a was published only in 1945 in Prague under
the title Bagatelle. The essential musical contents remained the same: the violin
preserved the same part from the String Trio, and the piano part came out of the
second violin and the viola part. The only visible change happened in the fourth
movement: muted accompanying chords of the string accompaniment are replaced by
the persistent eighth moves in the piano. All four movements are composed in the
song form. While in the second movement the technical-virtuoso effects gain
supremacy, Dvořák's inexhaustible melodic-harmonic invention of gently-Czech folk
flavour embedded into the intimate frame of chamber music becomes fully apparent
in the remaining three movements.
French composer Ernest Chausson (1855-1899) was admitted to Paris Conservatory
at the age of 25, yet as a student of Jules Massenet and César Franck he very soon
developed into a master of Franckian over-ripe melodic-harmonic world and a
particularly skilful master of orchestration. He was contemporary of Saint-Saëns,
whose life lasted two times longer (Chausson died in a bizarre fatal cycling accident
on his own estate in the country.). Chausson's output includes almost all music forms.
While his musical drama «Le Roi Arthus» is under strong influence of Wagner, he
found his true field of composing in the concert forms, chamber music and in solo
songs, in which he is a predecessor of the founder of the new French version of that
form, Gabriel Fauré.
Poème for violin and orchestra in E flat major, Opus 25 was composed between
April and August 1985, inspired by the natural beauty of Italy which he admired on
his travel. Several weeks before his public orchestral firs performance – which took
place in December 1896 at the concert of the Nancy Conservatory Orchestra – the
piece (in its version for violin and piano) had his first private performance (in October
that same year) in Barcelona, at a house party of the composer's painter friend. The
publisher Breitkopf and Härtel refused to print the piece, finding it «too modern».
Hearing about that, the famous pianist and composer Isac Albéniz paid both the
publishing and the composer's fee of 300 marks to the same publisher; Chausson
never found our about that generous – today, unthinkable – gesture of the great
composer. Not quite well received at its first performance (one of the bed-tempered
music critic called it «one of the most boring samples of the stewed meet school»), the
piece later become an integral, popular part of the standard violin repertoire of all
major virtuosos, confirming the famous Debussy's evaluation: «Its formal freedom
never opposes the harmony of proportion. Nothing excites us more than the end of the
Poème, in which, rejecting every description, every anecdote, the emotion triumphs».
The romantic-melancholy piece is composed in a free form; the slow orchestral
introduction prepares its main part regarding the motif and harmony. In the main part
the soloist first brings the theme that is later taken over by the orchestra, followed by
the cadenza. Out of the cadenza surfaces the decisive section, which, in the manner of
the fantasy, introduces and develops several subordinated themes and motifs. With the
return of the first theme appears a varied reprise of the preceding contents, encircled
by a uniquely beautiful coda.
«Actually, I love neither Bach, nor Beethoven, nor Wagner, but the art itself. I am an
eclectic.» says the French composer Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921). And indeed
that contemporary of Chopin and Berlioz, as well as Stravinsky and Schönberg did
not belong to any composing style. His output is a real catalogue of all then existing
music forms, and his aesthetic credo is a sum of the thousand years old European
creative endeavours. The Introduction and Rondo capriccioso for violin and
orchestra, Opus 28 was composed in 1870. Like the ten years older Concerto for
violin and orchestra, Saint-Saëns dedicated it to the famous Spanish virtuoso Pablo de
Sarasate. (Worth mentioning is that the first official piano arrangement of the piece
was made by later famous Georges Bizet. A slightly threatening A minor Introduction
apparently hesitating, yet efficiently, announces the glittering C major Rondo; the
violin asserts itself in a Mozart’s manner, but everything seems more dense, sweet
and elegant. In addition to all customary, markedly virtuoso elements, a special spirit
radiates from the piece (perhaps the Sarasate’s personal style) attainable only to the
chosen ones. A prima donna-capriciousness of the Saint-Saëns’ violin with all its
stumbling and raises reveals a special affinity for lyrical inconsistencies so often met
in the Italian coloratura arias.
D. Detoni