Download Program booklet - Dubrovačke ljetne igre

55. dubrovačke ljetne igre
55th Dubrovnik Summer Festival
2004
Hrvatska Croatia
Ponoćna serenada
Midnight Serenade
IDA CAVALIERE PADRO
violina violin
TAMARA JURKIĆ SVIBEN
glasovir piano
Atrij palače Sponza
Sponza Palace Atrium
18. srpnja 18 July
24.00 12.00 midnight
Antonín Dvořák: ČETIRI ROMANTIČNE SKLADBE za violinu i glasovir, op. 75
FOUR ROMANTIC PIECES for violin and piano, Op. 75
Allegro moderato
Larghetto
Allegro maestoso
Allegro appassionato
Leoš Janáček:
U MAGLI za glasovir
IN THE MISTS for piano
Andante
Molto adagio
Andantino
Presto
Giuseppe Tartini:
SONATA za violinu i glasovir u g-molu, op. 1, br. 10,
SONATA for violin and piano in G minor, Op. 1, No. 10,
Didone abbandonata
Andante
Presto non troppo
Allegro commodo
Božidar Kunc:
4. SONATA za glasovir u As-duru, op. 43
SONATA No. 4 for piano in A flat major, Op. 43
Allegretto moderato
Andante sostenuto
Presto
Tommaso Antonio Vitali: CIACCONA za violinu i glasovir
CHACONY for violin and piano
Violinist Ida Cavaliere Padro (1973) was born in Dubrovnik where she completed
her elementary and secondary music education. She began her violin studies at the
Zagreb Academy of Music in 1991, where she graduated from in 1995 under Maja
Dešpalj-Begović. Still a student, she took part in many violin competitions both at
home and abroad and won numerous awards. She attended master courses (chamber
music) with Valter Dešpalj and (violin) Igor Ozim and Ruggiero Ricci, with whom
she continued her studies at the Mozarteum in Salzburg. She extensively performed at
recitals with the piano accompaniment, as member of chamber ensembles and as
soloist with the Dubrovnik Symphony Orchestra and the Sarajevo Philharmonic
Orchestra. In addition to concerts in her homeland, she has performed in Austria,
Holland, Slovenia, Italy, France, Korea, Taiwan, Japan and the Philippines.
Pianist Tamara Jurkić Sviben graduated (1995) from the Zagreb Academy of Music
under Jurica Muraj and attended master courses with M. Voskresensky, L. Naumov,
M. Mercier, M. Saboy and V. Krpan. Since 1992 she has performed in all major cities
in Croatia as well as in Amsterdam, Budapest, Lisbon, Vienna and in India. Pieces by
Croatian composers (B. Kunc, B. Papandopulo, B. Bjelinski, Ž. Hirschler) are
important part of her repertoire. She is actively engaged as pedagogue teaching the
piano at the Zlatko Baloković Music School in Zagreb.
The great Bohemian master of the symphony, restorer of the customary forms,
upholder of the new Berlioz-Liszt type of programme music and follower of the
Wagner’s reform of the music scene, Antonín Dvořák (1841-1904) is not a dramatist
in the Wagnerian sense when his expression is concerned. However, in his lyricaldramatic, never static or sentimental but logical and substantial development of the
music thoughts, everything flows smoothly, naturally and proportionally. As he
himself once wrote, he is “a person that breathes with the melody, simply a
musician”. Dvořák remains like that in apparently insignificant, minor segments of his
amazing opus as well. He composed two Trios for two violins and viola (in C major,
Op. 74 and in B flat major, Op. 75) in Prague (1887), dedicating them to his
neighbour, violin amateur and his teacher, which is evident from the specificly simple
and not too demanding composing manner. Shortly afterwards, however, the master
arranged his second Trio for violin and piano and named it the Romantic Pieces, Op.
75. The Viennese publisher Simrock published it under the same title already that
same year. The original String Trio, Op. 75 a was published only in 1945 in Prague
under the title Bagatelles. The essential music contents remained the same; the first
violin retained the same part from the String Trio, while the piano part derived from
the part of the second violin and viola. The only apparent change occurred in the
Larghetto movement: the damped accompanying chords of the strings are replaced
with the persistent 8th-note moves in the piano. All four movements are composed in
the song form. While technical-virtuoso elements prevail in the Allegro maestoso, the
Dvořák's unlimited melodic-harmonic invention of a mildly Czech national flavour,
set within the intimate chamber music frame, is fully expressed in the remaining three
movements.
One of the contemporary music originators, the Bohemian composer Leoš Janáček
(1854-1928) once mentioned: «Music is not about tones. It is about life, blood and
nature». What he meant by this is that his own (and every genuine) music is about life
in all its forms, rhythms of nature, love and death. He composed a piano cycle in four
movements, In the Mists, his last piano masterpiece, in 1912. The folk elements of his
homeland indeed appear in this piece, yet they are so elaborated that all sentimental
and banal moments are avoided, from the rigid dance quality to the conventional and
infantile singibility. Despite an apparent simplicity, this music often becomes harsh
and pungent, acquiring an upsetting power. The composer's biographer Jaroslav
Vogel, describes the piece as “a long effort and struggle between the resignation and
the newly felt pain, which eventually overcomes”. In spite of his faith in life and
nature, Janáček knows well that the human nature also has its dark side, the one
described in his piece. According to Milan Kundera, we should not be tricked by the
piece title; these are not impressionist mists one should dwell in, they are rather the
mists of destiny one has to face. He believes this not to be a suite, but a handful of
pieces that perfectly fit into the convincing and logical unit.
The second greatest representative of the18th century Italian violin art after Vivaldi,
Giuseppe Tartini (1692-1770) was born in Piran by Italian father and Istrian mother.
He studied the violin and composition at the Franciscan Monastery in Assisi, but was
actually self-taught. He was one of the most prestigious violinists of his time, as well
as composer and music theoretician (author of many valuable writings) in Ancona,
Padua, Prague, Parma and Venice. His magnetic attraction of a player makes him a
true predecessor of Paganini; his brilliant technique was always mixed with the
extraordinary beauty of tone and deeply expressive interpretation both of his own and
the music by other composers. Never encumbering his performance with shallow
ornamentation, he significantly improved violin technique, particularly the
construction and technique of the violin bow. He numbered many celebrated
musicians among his pupils in European context. As composer, Tartini continued the
tradition of Italian instrumental music composers who found inspiration in their
instruments. His creative development can be divided into three periods. At first close
to Corelli when style is concerned, he gradually moved from the baroque pathetic to
the pre-classical, lyrically emotive melodiousness of the carefully elaborated
structure. In his mature works, he deliberately uses old models. He is believed to
have composed about 350 pieces; including symphonies, concertos for violin, cello,
viola da gamba, flute, trio sonatas, violin sonatas and church music. In his violin
sonatas quick movements are enthusiastic and virtuous; the nearness of the classicism
is clearly felt in his melody as well as in the lively, assertive, often contrasted
harmonies, rhythms and moods, His slow movements are characteristic of an
animated singable style. The works of poetry were often the source of his inspiration
and he often used verses as moto of his pieces in order to explicate the contents of his
music. Many of his sonatas indeed have the subtitles of the programme character, the
most popular being the Sonata in G minor, the Devil's Trill, the most pathetic sonata
of the Italian violin music at the time. His early piece, Sonata No. 10 for violin and
basso continuo (piano) in G minor, Op. 1, with the subtitle Didone abbandonata
has three different movements. The main theme of the introductory Andante has a
quiet motion that by subtle witty remarks avoids a clear indication of the dominant;
this idea constantly returns, like in a movement from the classical sonata. The
rhythmics of the movement is cleverly differentiated and the melodics thoughtfully
balanced. The second movement (Presto non troppo) is a study markedly in the nature
of a concert with clearly distributed harmonies. The final movement (Allegro
commodo) is a humorous, not too playful gigue in 12/8 metre. The sonata got its
subtitle after the short fragments preceding each movement from a melodrama of the
same name, the first masterpiece that the Italian poet and playwright Pietro Metastasi
(1698-1782) wrote encouraged by his friend and famous actress Marianne Bulgarelli.
The output of the lyric, excellent improviser, Croatian composer and pianist Božidar
Kunc (1903-1964), with his striving for refined harmonies and rich colourism, was
almost one-of–a-kind in Croatian music between the two world wars. Although he
loved unusual solutions and constant blend in the parameter game, Kunc primarily
valued «lucidity of the architectonics, thematic work, clarity of form and melodic
line». His mature pieces are thus a precious supplement of views and work of the
early impressionists. His later works, however, particularly those composed in
America, include elements of Croatian folk music, so that such a conglomerate often
acquires entirely specific sound; these brilliantly composed pieces have exquisite
melody and harmony in addition to rhythmic diversity and vividness. Kunc composed
his anthological Piano Sonata No. 4 in A flat major, Op. 43 in 1941 and first
performed it under the title Sonatine. This typical Kunc's piece has three
heterogeneous movements lined up according to the moderate-slow-fast principle. A
fragment with, for that time, surprisingly bold harmonic modulations occasionally
stands out of each movement. The logical leading of the parts results in the markedly
developed polytonal units. The tone-colour is neo-impressionist in the Kunc-like
manner, in addition to the neo-expressionist contents. The piano composing manner is
masterful and the thematic always fully expressed, with all sound exuberance of the
texture.
Italian composer and violinist Tommaso Antonio Vitali (1665 - ?) was the son of the
famous musician Giovanni Battista Vitali, who became conductor of the Modena
Duke Chapel in 1674. His son later joined the chapel. The first book of Vitali’s trio
sonatas was published in 1693 in Modena, followed by a new sonata collection for
two violins and basso continuo that same year. The famous Vitali’s Opus 4,
dedicated to the famous patron and lover of the arts at the time Cardinal
Ottoboni, was published in 1701. Vitali was appointed member of the Philharmonic
Academy of Bologna in 1706. Among his students was the celebrated Dall’Abaco.
The Chacony (or chaconne) is a dance form of a moderate tempo, regularly in 3-in-ameasure rhythm, erected on a series of variations on a ground bass. It was widely used
between 1600 and 1800 both in instrumental and vocal music. It most probably
originated in Spain and had lascivious contents at the beginning. Its theme usually has
four characteristic and easy-to-remember tones and it is actually closer to vocal
music. The Venetian operatic school took over its form and its most beautiful example
perhaps is the movement Crucifixus from Bach’s Mass in B minor. It was close to the
20th century music, so that it appeared in its modern form in Webern’s Passacaglia in
D minor, Op. 1 for violin solo. In the last piece on the tonight’s schedule, the fourtone theme first appears in the harpsichord (piano). In the course of the more and
more complex variation interweaving, its harmonic structure appears instead of the
ground bass. The rhythmic samples gradually become more compound, the violin part
acquires a more dense structure and the piece culmination is characteristic of an
utterly complex texture.
D. Detoni