June 4, 2012.  Beatrice Berrut.  One of the first pieces that Ms. Berrut uploaded to Classical Connect was Schumann’s Piano Sonata no. 1.  Schumann was just 23 when he composed what he called Grosse Sonate ("Grand Sonata").  Schumann had at the time already written a number of great pieces, from Papillons to Toccata in C Major to Carnaval, but clearly he still wanted to write a serious, classical piece (perhaps to impress his bride, the young virtuoso Clara Wieck).  Beatrice was the same age of 23 when she recorded the sonata in 2009.  What impresses the listener in this recording is the depth, the seriousness of it, something you may not expect from a young performer.  This is the hallmark of Ms. Berrut’s art.  Whether she plays her beloved Schumann (she recorded all three piano sonatas for Centaur Records), Chopin, Brahms, or Scriabin, she digs deep into the music to uncover the essence and bring it to the listener.  The great violinist Gidon Kremer recognized this quality when he described Beatrice as “a wonderfully talented and musical pianist, with impressive seriousness, commitment and sensitivity.”

Beatrice was born in the Swiss canton of Valais, and started the piano rather late, at the age of 9, first in Lausanne with Pierre Goy (paino) and Pierre Amoyal (chamber music), and then at the Neuhaus Foundation in Zurich under renowned pianist Esther Yellin, a pupil of Henrich Neuhaus.  She then graduated from the Hanns Eisler Hochschule für Musik in Berlin, where she studied with Galina Iwanzowa.  She receives  regular guidance from Menahem Pressler and John O’Conor.  Beatrice says that she’s also influenced by her work with pianists Brigitte Engerer and Leon Fleisher.

The winner of the Société des Arts Competition in Geneva, she was the Swiss laureate at the Eurovision Contest for young classical musicians, and represented Switzerland at the European Contest in Berlin.  She also won the Bach special award at Wiesbaden International Piano Competition.  Since the release of her debut CD in 2003 featuring works by Beethoven, Schumann, and Liszt, Beatrice has been in demand as a soloist both in recitals and with numerous orchestras, such as the Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana, Kammerphilharmonie Berlin, Menuhin Chamber Orchestra.  She also appears regularly on Swiss, German, US, and Canadian radio and television.

A keen chamber musician, Beatrice was invited  in 2005 by Gidon Kremer to play several concerts at his festival in Basel, and in 2007 and 2008 by Shlomo Mintz to his festival in Sion as well as \duo recitals in Argentina in September 2011. In August 2011, she performed Schumann’s Quintet with Itzhak Perlman at the Hamptons, NY.

On Wednesday, June 6 Beatrice will perform at the Dame Myre Hess concert in Chicago.  On the program are two Bach chorales in Busoni’s transcription, Chaconne in d minor, and Liszt’s Après une Lecture de Dante.  If you cannot make it to the concert, you can listen to Après une Lecture here.

May 28, 2012.  Isaac Albéniz.  When Isaac Albéniz was born on May 29, 1860, Spanish classical music was in a long decline.  Spain was the country where music flourished during the Renaissance and Baroque periods.  In the early 16^th century Spanish composers were in the forefront of the polyphonic development.  Local musicians traveled to Burgundy, France and the Flemish cities, studied and made music with the best of them; many of the best composers went to the courts of Spanish kings.  The music of Cristóbal de Morales (1500 – 1553) was known in many European countries.  Tomás Luis de Victoria (1548 –1611) is considered one of the greatest composers of the late Renaissance, on par with Giovanni da Palestrina and Orlando di Lasso.  During the Baroque period, music continued to thrive.  Gaspar Sanz (1640 – 1710) was one of the most important composers for the guitar.  Domenico Scarlatti spent a large part of his productive life in Spain.  Padre Antonio Soler (1729 –1783) followed in his steps; Soler’s keyboard sonatas are part of the regular piano repertory and are played often.  Luigi Boccherini, like Scarlatti, was born in Italy but spent most of his life in Madrid.  By the 1800s, however, classical music waned, as did much of the Spanish culture in general.  Albéniz was the oldest of the first group of talented composer (together with Enrique Granados, Manuel de Falla and Joaquín Turina) to revive Spanish music in the late 19^th century and bring it into the 20^th.

We’ll hear three piano pieces by Albéniz.  First, Jorge Federico Osorio plays Granada, from Suite Española no. 1 (here).  Then the young American pianist Pia Bose performs El Albaicín, from one of the most important Albéniz’s compositions, the suite Iberia (El Albaicín comes from Book III), here.  And finally (here), the Russian-American pianist Dmitry Paperno plays Cordoba, Op. 232, No. 4.  Here’s what Paperno writes about Cordoba: "The slow introduction to this beautiful piece describes the stillness of a Spanish night. One moment in particular strikes me because it comes extremely close to the sound of Russian Orthodox choir music. This is apparently coincidental, although there are definitely some links between Spanish and Russian music (starting with two Spanish Overtures by Glinka). The faster part of Cordoba is like a melancholic serenade accompanied by guitar. Its victorious major key culmination is interrupted at its peak. The piece never gets all that fast, however, because Spanish music always contains a feeling of dignity and melancholy."  We’ll use this quote to segue into yet another anniversary, that of the above-mentioned Mikhail Glinka.  Glinka, who was born on June 1, 1804, was, like Albéniz, a pioneer: there was practically no original classical music before his time.  Here is Glinka’s piano piece, The Lark, it is performed by the American pianist Tanya Gabrielian.

May 21, 2012.  Richard Wagner was born on May 22, 1813 in the Brühl, a street in the Jewish quarter of the city of Leipzig – an ironic twist of fate, considering Wagner’s eventual anti-Semitism.  Richard’s father died six months after his birth. The following year, his mother married the playwright Ludwig Geyer and the family moved to Dresden.  In 1821 his step-father died and Richard was sent off to the Kreuz Grammar School in Dresden. At the age of thirteen Richard decided to become a playwright and produced a tragedy, Leubald. Determine to set it to music, Richard persuaded his mother to allow him to receive proper musical instruction. Moving back to Leipzig with his family in 1827, Wagner took his first formal lesson in harmony. There he was introduced to the symphonies of Beethoven, who became a huge influence. In 1831, he entered the University of Leipzig and began composition lessons with the cantor of the St. Thomas Church.  He composed a Symphony in C major, his only one and written very much under Beethoven’s influence; the symphony later received performances in both Prague and Leipzig.  At the age of 20, Wagner completed his first opera, Die Feen (“The Faires”); it was never staged during his lifetime. He married his first wife, Christine Wilhelmine “Minna” Planer, on November 24, 1836. A year later Wagner and Minna moved to Riga, then a part the Russian Empire, as the music director of a local opera. However, within two years the couple had incurred so much debt that they were forced to flee from their creditors. Their escape led them first to London and soon after to Paris. It was the stormy passage by sea to London that led to Wagner’s inspiration for his opera, The Flying Dutchman.  During his four years in Paris (1839-42), Wagner produced Rienzi, his first successful opera, and The Flying Dutchman.

Returning to Dresden in 1842, Wagner was able, through the support of Giacomo Meyerbeer, a noted German Jewish composer, to secure a performance of Rienzi by the Dresden Court Theatre. Further productions included The Flying Dutchman and Tannhäuser.  However, his return to Dresden was brief. Wagner became increasingly involved with a socialistic movement that sought to unify Germany and the adoption of a new constitution. When discontent finally reached the breaking point in 1849, the uprising was quickly put down by an alliance of Saxon and Prussian troops. Wagner was forced to flee Dresden for fear of being arrested.  The following twelve years were spent in exile in Zurich, Switzerland. During this time he composed Lohengrin and was able to convince his friend, Franz Liszt, to stage the opera in Weimar in August 1850. It was also during this time, that Wagner laid the groundwork for his colossal opera cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen. 

We’ll have many occasions to talk about Wagner’s mature period, but today we’d like to note the passing of one of the greatest singers of the 20^th century, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, who died on May 18 at the age of 86.  Here’s Firscher-Dieskau in an aria from Tannhäuser with the Orchestra of Staatsoper Berlin under the direction of Franz Konwitschny (courtesy of Youtube).  This recording was made in the early 1960s. What an incredible voice!

May 14, 2012.  Double bass.  Usually we don’t think of the double bass as a solo instrument.  Surely it provides an indispensable aural foundation to any classical symphony; Johannes Brahms, Gustav Mahler, and Richard Strauss used the instrument extensively in their compositions, but as a solo?  It seems one would have to go back all the way to Giovanni Bottesini, the “Paganini of the double bass,” to hear music written for the bass as a solo instrument.   But don’t tell that to the people of the Bradetich Foundation.  The Foundation, established by the distinguished bassist and teacher Jeff Bradetich, was created  “with the sole purpose of advancing the performing, teaching and knowledge of the double bass,” as they put it on their web site.  The Foundation also runs an International double bass competition, and this, inaugural year, the winner was Artem Chirkov.  Listen to his virtuoso interpretation of Astor Piazzola’s Contrabajeando (here) and you’ll agree that the Bradetich Foundation has a point!

Artem Chirkov is the principal double bassist of the St. Petersburg Philharmonic orchestra, the youngest in orchestra’s 130-year-old history.  Artem began studying cello at the Special Music School of the St. Petersburg Conservatory and at the age of 16, switched to the double bass and continued at the St. Petersburg Conservatory with professors Alexander Shilo and Riza Gimaletdinov.  After graduating from the Conservatory, he went on to study at the Hochschule fur Music und Theater in Munich with Professor Klaus Trumpf.  In addition to winning the Bradetich Competition, Artem is also the First prize winner at the International competition Virtuosi 2000 in St. Petersburg; the Johann Matthias Sperger International Double Bass competition in Michaelstein, Germany; and International Double Bass competition in Brno, the Czech Republic.  He also received the 2nd prize in the International Double Bass competition of the International Society of Bass (Virginia/USA).

Atrem holds Principal Bass positions in numerous ensembles, including the St. Petersburg Camerata under conductor Saulus Sondeckis.  He gave numerous master classes: at the Mannes School in New York, at the USC-Los Angeles and Institute of Music San Diego, at the universities of Tokyo and Taipei, and many conservatories in Russia.  He performed solo at Pablo Casals festivals in Prades (France) and San Juan, Puerto-Rico, with St. Petersburg Camerata; International Double Bass week Zmok Wojnowice in Poland; with Yehudi Menuhin Society in Munich; at Oleg Kagan Music Festival in Kreuth; the Coburg Music Festival (Germany), Music Festival in Viana do Castelo, Portugal, among other.

We’ll hear several pieces performed by Artem and his wife, the pianist Mavzhida Gimaletdinova.  Here is Chant du ménestrel, Op. 71 by Glazunov.  The famous Vocalise by Rachmaninov is here.  And here is a solo piece by the Czech composer and double bass virtuoso Miloslav Gadjos, Invocation (2002).  You can listen to other performance by Artem Chirkov in our library.

May 7, 2012. Brahms and Tchaikovsky.  Two great Romantic composers were born on this day, Johannes Brahms in 1833, in the great Hansean city of Hamburg, and Pyotr Tchaikovsky in 1840, in a provincial city of Votkinsk (we usually follow the awkward tradition of using a patronymic in Tchaikovsky’s name but very much hope that it would be dropped: in Russia every person has a patronymic, but nobody presents Rachmaninov in English as “Sergei Vasilievich” or Mussorgsky as “Modest Petrovich.”  If anyone knows the history behind the tradition of calling Tchaikovsky “Pyotr Ilyich,” please let us know).

Considering Brahms’ talent and prodigious output, his first surviving compositions were written rather late: Opus 1, Piano Sonata no. 1 dates from 1853, when Brahms was already 20 (you can listen to it in the performance by Jean-François Latour).  (It’s interesting that by the age of 20, Mozart had already written at least 20 symphonies, eight piano concertos, five violin concertos, more than a dozen of violin sonatas, quartets too many to count, and several operas).  But we don’t really know the whole story: Brahms was an obsessive perfectionist and apparently destroyed a large number of his early compositions (he claimed to have destroyed 20 early quartets before eventually publishing one in 1773).  This is not the only example: the young Brahms worked on a symphony for a number of years, only to turn it into a piano concerto, his No. 1 (1859) – and a good thing too: it’s one of the greatest concertos in all of piano literature.  He also worked on his “official” First symphony for fifteen years, from about 1861 to 1876.  When he was 20, Brahms’ friend the violinist Joseph Joachim introduced him to Robert and Clara Schumann.  Robert was very impressed by Brahms and wrote an article praising the young composer.  Eventually Schumann and Brahms co-wrote (with Albert Dietrich) the “F-A-E” violin sonata and dedicated it to Joachim.  Brahms was passionately attracted to Clara Schumann.  After Robert’s attempted suicide he immersed himself into the family, serving as a go-between Clara and Robert.  When Schumann died in an asylum in 1856, Brahms moved into the same house as Clara into an apartment above hers.  We don’t know if they were lovers, but Brahms never married, (though he was engaged once), and they destroyed their correspondence.  Here is Brahms’s Piano Concerto no. 1.  It’s performed by Eteri Andjaparidze with the Russian State Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Valery Gergiev.

Tchaikovsky was even more of a late bloomer than Brahms.  His piano Scherzo op. 1 is dated 1867 when he was 27.  Tchaikovsky started his education in a School of Jurisprudence in St. Petersburg, and at that time studied music only sporadically.  His regular music lessons started only when he was 15 (his teacher didn’t think much of his musical potential).  At the age of 21 Tchaikovsky attended classes on music theory organized by the Russian Music Society.  One of the organizers of the Society was Anton Rubinstein, and one year later, in 1862, the classes evolved, with the help of Rubinstein, into the St-Petersburg Conservatory.   (Four years later his brother, Nikolai, a good friend of Tchaikovsky’s, would establish the Moscow Conservatory).  Pyotr enrolled in the first class of the Conservatory.  Even though very little was composed by Tchaikovsky during those years, Anton Rubinstein considered him “a composer of genius.”  Still, he didn’t like his First Symphony, written in 1866. That year Tchaikovsky graduated from the St.-Petersburg conservatory and immediately accepted a professorship in the just-created conservatory in Moscow.

Tchaikovsky wrote his Piano Concerto no. 1 in 1874-75.  He dedicated it to his friend Nikolai Rubinstein, expecting him to give the first performance.  Unfortunately Nikolai didn’t like the concerto.  The piqued Tchaikovsky withdrew the dedication and approached the pianist Hans von Bülow who was happy to oblige.  The concerto premiered in Boston in October of 1875 with Bülow at the piano and Benjamin Johnson Lang on the podium.  The public loved it, and a month later the concerto premiered in New York to great acclaim.  We’ll hear it performed by James Dick, with the Texas Festival Orchestra, Robert Spano conducting (here).

April 30, 2012.  The word “Wanderer” is close to our hearts these days.  It connotes so many states and emotions: nostalgia, wistful retrospection, but also the optimistic sense of beginnings, of new possibilities.  Franz Schubert, who didn’t travel much in his life, used the word Wanderer in the title of several very different pieces, and each time to denote a state of mind, not the body.  In 1816, when he was just 19 but already entering his mature compositional period, he wrote a Lied Der Wanderer (D. 493) on the text by Georg Philipp Schmidt, a minor German poet.  In the song, the protagonist, a "stranger everywhere," is searching for “his land,” his friends, a place he could call his own.  This beautiful Lied is sung here by the incomparable German baritone Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, with Gerald Moore on the piano (courtesy of YouTube).

Six years later Schubert wrote a piano Fantasy, so technically demanding that he himself couldn’t play it at all.  Schubert used the theme from Der Wanderer in the second movement of the Fantasy, the Adagio (Theme and Variations).  That led it to be called Wanderer.  You can listen to it here in performance by the Israeli-American pianist Alon Goldstein.

In 1826, only two years before his death and the year preceding the composition of the great Winterreise song cycle, Schubert wrote a Lied to the text of Johann Gabriel Seidl’s poem Der Wanderer an den Mond ("The Wanderer Speaks to the Moon").  It has a simple, almost folk-like tune, with the accompaniment imitating the chords of a guitar. "Happy is he, who wherever he goes, stands on his native soil" is the concluding line of the poem.  This little gem (the songs is just a bit longer than two minutes) is sung by the baritone Thomas Meglioranza.  Reiko Uchida is on the piano (here).

The illustration, Wanderer above the Sea of Fog, is by the German Romantic painter Caspar David Friedrich.  It was made in 1818, just two years after Schubert wrote his first Wanderer.

April 30, 2012.  The word “Wanderer” is close to our hearts these days.  It connotes so many states and emotions: nostalgia, wistful retrospection, but also the optimistic sense of beginnings, of new possibilities.  Franz Schubert, who didn’t travel much in his life, used the word Wanderer in the title of several very different pieces, and each time to denote a state of mind, not the body.  In 1816, when he was just 19 but already entering his mature compositional period, he wrote a Lied Der Wanderer (D. 493) on the text by Georg Philipp Schmidt, a minor German poet.  In the song, the protagonist, a "stranger everywhere," is searching for “his land,” his friends, a place he could call his own.  This beautiful Lied is sung here by the incomparable German baritone Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, with Gerald Moore on the piano (courtesy of YouTube).

Six years later Schubert wrote a piano Fantasy, so technically demanding that he himself couldn’t play it at all.  Schubert used the theme from Der Wanderer in the second movement of the Fantasy, the Adagio (Theme and Variations).  That led it to be called Wanderer.  You can listen to it here in performance by the Israeli-American pianist Alon Goldstein.

In 1826, only two years before his death and the year preceding the composition of the great Winterreise song cycle, Schubert wrote a Lied to the text of Johann Gabriel Seidl’s poem Der Wanderer an den Mond ("The Wanderer Speaks to the Moon").  It has a simple, almost folk-like tune, with the accompaniment imitating the chords of a guitar. "Happy is he, who wherever he goes, stands on his native soil" is the concluding line of the poem.  This little gem (the songs is just a bit longer than two minutes) is sung by the baritone Thomas Meglioranza.  Reiko Uchida is on the piano (here).

The illustration, Wanderer above the Sea of Fog, is by the German Romantic painter Caspar David Friedrich.  It was made in 1818, just two years after Schubert wrote his first Wanderer.