Małgorzata Wasiucionek / Sylwia Michalik ENESCU / PROKOFIEV / SZYMANOWSKI

 

ENESCU / PROKOFIEV / SZYMANOWSKI

 

Daniel Ciobanu DANIEL CIOBANU

DANIEL CIOBANU

 

Maia Cabeza FOLK ROOTS

FOLK ROOTS

Anna Fedorova / Dana Zemtsov SILHOUETTES

SILHOUETTES

Amatis Trio ENESCU - RAVEL - BRITTEN

                                                        ENESCU - RAVEL - BRITTEN

Diana Tishchenko / Zoltán Fejérvári STRANGERS IN PARadISe

This enticing album of sonatas by Ravel, Enescu, Ysaÿe and Prokofiev emerged from violinist Diana Tishchenko’s victory at the 2018 Long-Thibaud-Crespin Competition in Paris. Born in Ukraine, and trained in Kiev and Berlin, she has been noted by The Strad for her " power to mesmerize the audience with her large gesture and strong personality”. Her musical partnership with the Hungarian pianist Zoltán Fejérvári is extraordinarily close and potent. In the words of the French online journal Toute la musique, they are “not two interpreters playing together, but a true musical entity, an artistic fusion … They played as if each note were being created in real time … deploying an infinitely large palette of colours and nuance – the possibilities were inexhaustible.”

Angèle Dubeau / La Pietà OVATION

“Music must not be the prerogative of the elite ; it belongs to everyone.” These words by Telemann have been my motto for a very long time. I like to think that music should be shared with as many people as possible, and it was in this spirit that I developed the concert program “One Last Time”, performed 33 times in Canada in the fall of 2017 and then on tour in Latin America in the winter of 2018. This album, recorded live at Quebec City’s Palais Montcalm in November 2017, features some of the most striking works that La Pietà has performed during its 21 years of existence. All of the selected works represent important moments I have experienced with my ensemble…

… when I first founded the orchestra, made up entirely of women, inspired by the young girls at the Ospedale de la Pietà, the Venice orphanage where music reigned supreme under the directorship of its famous maestro di coro Antonio Vivaldi…

… or playing George Enescu’s Romanian Rhapsody N^o 1, a work burgeoning with passion that reminds me of my studies in Bucharest, where I discovered how to make my violin sing, dance, cry, and speak.

… or more recently, a dozen years ago, when I created a series of musical portraits of contemporary composers whose signature styles engaged me so powerfully – artists such as Ludovico Einaudi, Philip Glass, and Max Richter, whose works on this album are now part of the modern music canon.

… or all the occasions when it has been my great privilege to share the stage with exceptional musicians and premiere new works. My precious partnerships with masters such as Canadian composer Srul Irving Glick and Japanese pianist and composer Joe Hisaishi – giants who have coloured my musical world – also appear on this album.

Music has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. I have expressed myself through music, I have travelled through music, and it sustains me to this day.

I gave my first concert at the age of five, and 51 years later, I would like to say “thank you,” because after all these years, what fills me with joy is knowing that my music is there with you, both in your everyday life and in the special moments.

Thank you for all of these experiences. Enjoy! (Angèle Dubeau)

Rosanne Philippens INSIGHT

Thinking up new programmes is something I usually do on my own at my desk. But for this solo album I wanted to take up a new challenge to create a programme with my audience. I had the feeling that this would provide me with new insight. With just my violin as travelling companion, I set off through Europe for a series of solo recitals with a collection of pieces to try out. After each concert I asked the audience for feedback: how had they experienced the programme? The atmosphere, the sequence of the pieces and the length. Instead of treating my audience as passive listeners, I invited them to discuss these matters and feel involved.

On my way to the next recital I thought about the reactions. Slowly but surely the programme began to form a logical entity. This is what INSIGHT is all about. The liner notes tell more about the process of making a programme, and the actual music is the final result. What is in store for you? Not the average classical programme. Don’t be surprised if a Baroque piece dating from 1676 is split into two or if the Sarabande by the twentieth-century composer Enescu is embraced by dances by Bach. Be open to new insights and enjoy! (Rosanne Philippens)

Angèle Dubeau / La Pietà OVATION

Recorded live in concert, this album features works by Ludovico Einaudi, Max Richter, Philip Glass, Ennio Morricone, George Enescu, Joe Hisaichi, Camille Saint-Saens and Srul Irving Glick. Angèle Dubeau writes of this release: “’Music must not be the prerogative of the elite, it belongs to everyone.’ These words by Telemann have been my motto for a very long time. I like to think that music should be shared with as many people as possible, and it was in this spirit that I developed the concert program “One Last Time”, performed 33 times in Canada in the fall of 2017 and then on tour in Latin America in the winter of 2018. This album, recorded live at Quebec City’s Palais Montcalm in November 2017, features some of the most striking works that La Pietà has performed during its 21 years of existence. I gave my first concert at the age of five, and 51 years later, I would like to say “thank you,” because after all these years, what fills me with joy is knowing that my music is there with you, both in your everyday life and in the special moments. Thank you for all of these experiences. Enjoy!”

Philippe Graffin / Claire Désert IN THE SHADE OF FORESTS

The haunting cover image of a gypsy child peering from the back of a rickety horse-drawn cart is significant. The stated theme, ‘in the shade of the forests’, doesn’t only symbolise nature, gypsies and various ethnic strains of folk music but the notion of ferrying those influences from one land to another. Ravel and Debussy, for example, were swept off their feet by hearing Hungarian fiddle music.

In the case of George Enescu, the inborn folk seed sprouted virtually from day one: his Impressions d’enfance, written on the eve of the Second World War, explore the twin themes of nature and gypsy music as recalled from early childhood. I loved this recording by Philippe Graffin and Claire Désert, less because of any well meant attempt to approximate a ‘gypsy’ style than the intimacy of the playing. Take the garden stream in the third movement or the caged bird in the fourth, so subtly evoked, like a distant memory shared.

The combination of Graffin’s confidential tone and Désert’s attentive ear makes for what is surely the benchmark recording of Ravel’s early ‘posthumous’ Sonata, music discovered only 30 or so years ago and probably written during the composer’s student years. Although composed before the turn of the last century, unmistakable harmonic hints at Gershwin’s style crop up here and there – paradoxical given Ravel’s later admiration for the king of Tin Pan Alley.

This recording of Ravel’s Tzigane is interesting on two counts: first, Graffin’s unhurried approach ensures that every note is audible; and second, Désert plays the same exotic instrument that was used for the premiere of the version with ‘luthéal’ back in 1924. Here we’re talking a half-size Pleyel as opposed to a full-size grand, the approximate effect a cross between a cimbalom and a fortepiano, with numerous gradations of tone-colouring between. As to Debussy, Graffin and Désert make gentle play with the late Violin Sonata and lavish affection on the transcriptions. The most interesting is Graffin’s re-adaptation of an early, impish Nocturne and Scherzo originally intended for the violin but which hasn’t survived in that form. ‘Minstrels’ is presented in Debussy’s own cheeky arrangement, ‘Il pleure dans mon coeur’, ‘La fille aux cheveux de lin’ and Beau soir in wonderfully supple transcriptions by Debussy’s violinist friend Arthur Hartmann.

A beautiful disc, this, its message one of gentle longing and nostalgia, though the playing is anything but sentimental. Graffin’s annotations are a mine of valuable information, though you’ll need a magnifying glass to read them. (Rob Cowan / Gramophone)

Matilda Lloyd / John Reid DIRECT MESSAGE

Matilda Lloyd is a fast rising star of the trumpet world, having won the BBC Young Musician of the year Brass Final as well as the Eric Aubier International Trumpet Competition, and having made an impressive solo debut at the BBC Proms. Matilda’s debut album reflects her desire to broaden the trumpet repertoire, with no fewer than three works recorded for the first time, by composers Giles Swayne, Deborah Pritchard and Alex Woolf. Also included on the recording are forgotten works of the 20th and 21st centuries by Jacques Castérède and Raymond Gallois Montbrun alongside staples of the trumpet repertoire, such as Enescu’s Légende and Peter Maxwell Davies’s impressive showpiece, Sonata for Trumpet and Piano Op.1.

Josu De Solaun ENESCU Complete Works For Solo Piano

As a First Prize winner of the XIII George Enescu International Piano Competition in Bucharest, the Spanish pianist JOSU DE SOLAUN has been invited to perform in distinguished concert series throughout the world, having made notable appearances in Bucharest (Romanian Athenaeum), Venice (Teatro La Fenice), St Petersburg (Mariinsky Theatre), Washington, DC (Kennedy Center), New York (Carnegie Hall, Metropolitan Opera), Princeton (Taplin Hall), London (Southbank Centre), Paris (Salle Cortot), Leipzig (Schumann Haus), Taipei (Novel Hall), Mexico City (Sala Silvestre Revueltas), Prague (Nostitz Palace), and Rome (Academia de España). He is the only pianist from Spain to win the Enescu and Iturbi competitions in their respective histories, and was invited to a private reception with the King and Queen of Spain at the Royal Palace after winning the coveted Bucharest prize. Josu De Solaun is a graduate of the Manhattan School of Music.

Vilde Frang BARTÓK Violin Concerto No. 1 ENESCU Octet

Bela Bartók and George Enescu were born in same Year - 1881, Bartók in the Austrian-Hungarian city of Nagyszentmiklos (today Romania), Enescu in the Moldovian town of Liveni-Botosani (today Romania). 

Both pieces on this recording are youth works of theirs - 1900 (Enescu's Octet) and 1907 (Bartók's first violin concerto). Both works were neglected - Enescu's Octet for nearly a decade due to the challenges of the piece (being premiered in 1909) , and Bartók's concerto was neglected by its dedicatee, the violinist Stefi Geyer (who was also his young love), and was published only after her death, in 1956 (being premiered in 1958). Bartók and Enescu both died in self-chosen exile - Bartók 1945 in New York, Enescu 1955 in Paris - yet both were respected and admired for being contributors to the development of their countries’ culture and art, particularly as great ambassadors for the folk music.

Andrew Rangell FROM THE EARLY 20TH...

Andrew Rangell, who has previously recorded J.S. Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, and Eastern European folk music for the Steinway & Sons label, now turns his attention to composers of the early 20th century for his latest album release.

The centerpiece of the album is Charles Ives’ Concord Sonata, whose “monumental cussedness, tenderness, and imaginative daring epitomize the character and gifts of its Yankee creator,” in Rangell’s words. Rangell makes the work his own through several idiosyncratic executional decisions, including playing on piano the optional viola part at the end of the “Emerson” movement; using his own forearm instead of a block of wood for the black-key tone clusters in “Hawthorne”; and in “Thoreau,” whistling the optional flute solo. “I hope there may be, in this species of self-reliance, something of Emerson,” writes Rangell.

Framing the Concord Sonata are three shorter works from Ives’ contemporaries, including the final piano works of Arnold Schoenberg and Carl Nielsen; and George Enescu’s “Carillon Nocturne,” written at the same time as the Concord, and which Rangell sees as a spiritual counterpart to Ives’ “Thoreau” meditation.

Matei Varga GEORGE ENESCU Piano Sonata No. 1 - Suite No. 2

The rediscovery of Eastern European repertoires from the first half of the 20th century continues to yield treasures, and here is a new set. Romanian composer George Enescu remains mostly known for his Romanian Rhapsodies for orchestra, but between the world wars he was known, respected, and followed all over Europe, by Ravel among others. Enescu's little-heard piano music has been recorded in toto by Luiza Borac, but those wanting a single disc at the attractive Naxos price would do well to pick up this selection of diverse works recorded by the young Romanian American Matei Varga. Enescu's models were the French impressionists, but his voice is unique, with a dedication to sheer knotty complexity that was alien to French music. The Choral from the Pièces Impromptues, Op. 18, makes a good place to start: it develops a large structure in an unbroken arc from the chorale-like material stated at the beginning. The same sense of the long line is present in the first movement of the Piano Sonata No. 1, Op. 24/1, composed in 1924; its tempo indication, Allegro molto moderato e grave, gives an idea of its constantly shifting harmonies and tempi. It's an extraordinary piece that copies no school, constantly surprises the listener, and yet seems to hang ineluctably together. The Suite No. 2 in D major, Op. 10, partakes of the neo-Baroque strain present in the music of Debussy and Ravel, but again is entirely different in effect, with dense harmonic complications enveloping the stately Sarabande and Pavane. The folk strain in Enescu's music is only hinted at (in the sonata's last two movements), but it is well known from elsewhere, and this fine recording, with a pianist fully on top of the rather punishing and never showy virtuosity required by Enescu's music, is likely to whet the listener's attention for more of it. With top-notch engineering from New York's Patrych Sound Studios, this is a standout among Naxos' discs seeking the revival of lost national repertories. (James Manheim)

Tippet Rise OPUS 2017 Daydreams

Tippet Rise OPUS 2017 is the second compilation album to emerge from the summer music season at Montana’s Tippet Rise Arts Center, which features performance spaces of acoustic perfection amidst a sculpture-laden terrain of awe-inspiring beauty, nestled against a backdrop of the Beartooth Mountains near Yellowstone National Park. From the PENTATONE Oxingale Series, Tippet Rise OPUS 2017 inhabits the sphere of Daydreams, a sculpture by Patrick Dougherty where natural saplings organically emerge out of an eroding schoolhouse.

In this whimsical, imaginary world, composers open a visionary portal to the past and future. In the jazz-infused FIRST CLUB DATE, a world premiere by Aaron Jay Kernis and a Tippet Rise commission, cellist Matt Haimovitz and pianist Andrea Lam illuminate the musical playground of a boy on the cusp of manhood. The new work is dedicated to Haimovitz and the composer’s cellist-son Jonah, with double-entendre movement titles like “Puppy Love” and “Matt’s Monkish Machinations.” Violinist Caroline Goulding and pianist David Fung embody the youthful spirit of George Enescu’s Impressions from Childhood, while a pastoral mood reigns in Eugène Bozza’s Image for solo flute, performed by Jessica Sindell. An epic expansiveness saturates Red Arc / Blue Veil by John Luther Adams, featuring electronics and a wide array of sounds from pianist Vicky Chow and percussionist Doug Perkins. Opening the album is Jeffrey Kahane’s hopeful America the Beautiful, performed on piano by the composer himself, while works by Chopin and Bach, performed by pianists Yevgeny Sudbin and Anne-Marie McDermott, anchor the program with their sheer beauty and virtuosity. (PENTATONE)

Irina Muresanu FOUR STRINGS AROUND THE WORLD

Irina Muresanu writes of this release: “It all started when I tackled Mark O’Connor’s “Cricket Dance.” It is a short, straightforward tune that requires the skills of an intermediate player, and yet it took me an absurdly long time to learn. To put things in context: I was capable of learning whole violin concertos in a matter of weeks, so why was the O’Connor piece so hard to get under my fingers? Could it have been because it was written in a musical style completely different than my classical training? And if so, how many more different languages were there outside of the traditional/standard repertoire? With this idea, I started my exploration of works reflecting the ways the violin (including its ancestors and relatives) is employed in musical settings worldwide. What resulted is Four Strings Around the World, a celebration of diverse cultures refracted through the unifying voice of solo violin, a project which immersed me in sounds and colors I didn’t even realize could be produced by my own instrument…” “irresistible…not just a virtuoso but an artist” (The Boston Globe) “Musical luster, melting lyricism and colorful conception made Irina Muresanu’s performance especially admirable” (LA Times)

Mara Dobresco SOLEILS DE NUIT

That which we sense without knowing, what we cannot perceive in the darkness, in the reflections or the dancing glimmers, that which can only be said in music, or can only appear in a dream… This is the subject of the album Soleils de Nuit (“Suns of Night”). It is not an album for insomniacs, made to caress and relax. Rather it is an evening stroll, with the particular listening quality a stroll can elicit, in search of extraordinary (or unheard of) lighting… An eyes-wide-open dream.

Alongside the magnificent nocturnes of Chopin, Grieg, Debussy and Tchaikovsky, this disc aims to present lesser-known compositions, such as the nocturnes of Lipatti and Britten, Enesco’s Carillon nocturne, as well as compositions from our time, by Oscar Strasnoy, Philippe Hersant and Anatol Vieru. The choice to include contemporary compositions – and thus share the project with the composers of today – was important to me. I had the opportunity to collaborate with Oscar Strasnoy, who dedicated the cycle Piano4 to me. The Berceuse on this disc is drawn from the cycle, and I have developed a deep affection for the work. My affinity with the music of Philippe Hersant was immediate. His music speaks to me; when playing it I feel “at home”.

I am especially happy to include the Nocturne in F-sharp minor by Dinu Lipatti, my mentor from the beginning, a great pianist whose compositions are unknown to the general public. This Nocturne, written in 1939, is dedicated to Clara Haskil, who appreciated it enormously and performed it on numerous occasions. This piece had to feature in a program which is a search for light in darkness. I always remember the words he regularly repeated to his students: “Always search for the light higher in other people, and as deeply as possible within yourself.”

I chose to end this dreamy evening stroll with a prodigious composition: a posthumous piece by G. Enesco, drawn from the Pièces impromptues. In it, one hears the bells of northern Romania’s monasteries. The atmosphere is palpable, solemn, pensive, impulsive, and at the very end of the piece, I imagine a farewell gesture, formed by a hand at the edge of the world.

Sinziana Mircea UNENDING LOVE

Pianist Sinziana Mircea writes of her new release: “I do not know how to write poems, but I love reading them, as I love the poetry of the music and the music of a whispered love poem. My [album] is a sound poem dedicated to Love. In all its forms. It resonates with the first verses of Rabindranath Tagore’s famous poem “Unending Love”… In the most wonderful way, my favorite Bengali poet brings together philosophy and religion, blended with the deep emotions we all experience in our lives.” Young Romanian pianist Sinziana Mircea had her debut at the Romanian Athenaeum, the main venue in her country, at the age of 7, followed by numerous appearances in Europe. She made her American debut at the age of 11 and began touring at the age of 14. She was the first Romanian pianist to be granted a scholarship from the Van Cliburn Foundation and TCU School of Music at PianoTexas Festival & Academy. She is an active chamber musician, soloist, and is a Steinway Artist. (Naxos)

Leonidas Kavakos / Péter Nagy MAURICE RAVEL Sonate Posthume - Tzigane GEORGE ENESCU Impressions d'enfance - Sonata No. 3

Leonidas Kavakos, the outstanding Greek violinist, makes his ECM debut on this disc, as does the comparably gifted Hungarian pianist Péter Nagy, in a programme that explores the musical-historical relationship between Ravel and Enescu.

Increasingly regarded as one of the most insightful musicians of his generation, Kavakos first attracted attention via his spectacular successes in international music competitions, taking first prizes in both the Sibelius and Paganini competitions. From the outset, however, it was clear that  he had more than virtuosity at his disposal, and the depth of his musicality was already evident.

Born in Athens into a musical family with strong traditions in folk music, Kavakos began studying violin with his father, continuing his studies at the Greek Conservatory with Stelios Kafantaris. An Onassis Foundation scholarship enabled him to attend master classes with Joseph Gingold at Indiana University, and he made his concert debut at the Athens Festival in 1984. Major debuts at the London BBC Proms and international festivals in Edinburgh, Salzburg, Ravinia and the Hollywood Bowl, were followed by invitations to play with orchestras, including the London Symphony Orchestra, BBC Symphony, City of Birmingham Symphony, Munich Philharmonic, Orchestre de Paris, Gothenburg Symphony and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. In May 2003, Kavakos made his debut with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.

An active chamber musician, Kavakos has been the Artistic Director of his own chamber music cycle in the Megaron, Athens since 1992. He regularly appears at chamber music festivals with partners including Natalie Gutman, Nobuko Imai, Kim Kashkashian and Mstislav Rostropovich. The Camerata Salzburg recently appointed Kavakos their Principal Guest Artist (a post they created especially for him) and he has toured extensively with this ensemble, on both sides of the Atlantic.

Several further recordings for ECM have already been made. Scheduled for release early in 2004 is an album of music by Armenian composer Tigran Mansurian in which Kavakos is the soloist in the Violin Concerto (also on this disc are Kim Kashkashian, Jan Garbarek, the Hilliard Ensemble, and the Munich Chamber Orchestra under Christoph Poppen). A Kavakos CD with music of Bach and Stravinsky is also in preparation.

A child prodigy, Péter Nagy was admitted at the age of 8 to the Special School for Young Talents of the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music, Budapest. His teachers were Ferenc Rados and Klára Máthé. In 1975 he became a regular student of the Liszt Academy, and in 1979 he won the first prize in the Hungarian Radio Piano Competition. He graduated with distinction from the class of Prof. Kornél Zempléni in 1981.

Nagy has appeared as  a soloist with the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, the Helsinki Philharmonic, the Hungarian State Symphony Orchestra and the Hungarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. As a chamber musician he has performed at major festivals, including Aix-en-Provence, Athens, Davos, Edinburgh, Stockholm, Helsinki, and the Marlboro Music Festival.

The duo of Kavakos and Nagy has toured in the USA, Spain, Greece, Germany, Italy, Scandinavia and Hungary. In addition to the works on the present recording, they have also recorded Stravinsky’s Duo Concertante and Suite Italienne for future release on ECM New Series. Nagy has also accompanied violist Kim Kashkashian in recitals in Europe and North America.

In 2001, Péter Nagy received the prestigious Liszt Award. (ECM Records)