Trio for piano, violin and cello in B flat major (“Archduke”) Allegro Scherzo: Allegro Andante cantabile ma però con moto. Poco piu adagio. Allegro moderato – Presto L. v Beethoven (1770-1827) The Trio op. 97 is Beethoven’s last work in this genre. It is significant that his opus 1 was his first attempt at the relatively unassuming genre of the piano trio. Composed between 1800 and 1811 his eleven trios span from his early years to his mature creative phase. The special meaning the unique combination of three instruments had for the composer can be seen in his even preparing a trio arrangement of the second symphony. In fact, the four movement structure of all his piano trios echoes that of the classical symphony. The work originated in 1811, in the vicinity of the seventh and eighth symphonies, whereas the pure lyrical beauty of the first movement’s opening theme echoes that of the violin concerto. The prominence of the piano in all four movements may point to the dedicatee of the work and amateur pianist, the Archduke Rudolph. In accordance with the later practice (such as the ninth symphony) the scherzo occupies the second place. Its ternary structure allows for a wealth of ideas, including polyphony. The third movement is the emotional core of the work: a moving adagio theme with four variations. In the finale-rondo the symphonic quality of this seemingly small scale ensemble piece attains true dramatic features. Starting off in the innocent spirit of the scherzo, it soon acquires speed and drive. Towards the end the music accelerates towards a pianissimo point, where the closing coda commences: a thrilling series of piano trills leading towards a rousing close. Piano Trio in e minor, op. 90 A. Dvořák (“Dumky”) (1841-1904) Lento Maestoso (E minor and major) Poco Adagio (C# minor) Andante (A major) Andante Moderato (Quasi Tempo di Marcia) (D minor and major) Allegro (Eb major and minor) Lento Maestoso (C minor and major) The e minor trio is Dvořák’s best-known ensemble work. The composer himself chose to name it dumky (singular form: dumka), i.e. a popular Slavic folk song and dance tradition, thereby characterising its unique nationalist sound. The work is further extraordinary because of its almost total lack of traditional features: Instead of the usual four movements, there are six “dumky”, of which the initial three are connected without interruption, which leaves the listener with the impression of one long first movement. The final three dumky are presented in unrelated keys, thus giving the overall impression of a four-movement structure. The constant change of tempo (slow-fast) can be interpreted as an expression of change between serious, even lamenting qualities, and light-heartedness, a typical feature of the East-European spirit. PINCHAS ZUKERMAN has remained a phenomenon in the world of music for over four decades. His musical genius, prodigious technique and unwavering artistic standards are a marvel to audiences and critics. Devoted to the next generation of musicians, he has inspired younger artists with his magnetism and passion. His enthusiasm for teaching has resulted in innovative programs in London, New York, China, Israel and Ottawa. The name Pinchas Zukerman is equally respected as violinist, violist, conductor, pedagogue and chamber musician. Pinchas Zukerman’s 2014-2015 season includes over 100 worldwide performances, bringing him to multiple destinations in North America, Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia. He completes his 16th and final season as Music Director of the National Arts Centre Orchestra of Ottawa, with whom he tours the United Kingdom in October 2014. In his sixth season as Principal Guest Conductor of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London, he leads the ensemble in concerts at home in the United Kingdom as well as on its January 2015 tour of Florida. Additional orchestral engagements include the Colorado, San Diego, Kansas City and Tucson Symphonies. Overseas he visits the Budapest Festival Orchestra, Salzburg Camerata, Berlin Staatskapelle, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Korean Chamber Orchestra, Bamberger Symphoniker, Philharmoniker Hamburg, and returns to Australia for appearances with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra and West Australian Symphony Orchestra in Perth. Recital appearances in Berlin, Istanbul, Seattle, San Diego and Ottawa, and tours with the Zukerman ChamberPlayers to Italy, Spain, Australia, China, Japan and Korea round out the season. Over the last decade, Pinchas Zukerman has become as equally regarded a conductor as he is an instrumentalist, leading many of the world’s top ensembles in a wide variety of the orchestral repertoire’s most demanding works. A devoted and innovative pedagogue, Mr. Zukerman chairs the Pinchas Zukerman Performance Program at the Manhattan School of Music, where he has pioneered the use of distance-learning technology in the arts. In Canada, he has established the NAC Institute for Orchestra Studies and the Summer Music Institute encompassing the Young Artists, Conductors and Composers Programs. Born in Tel Aviv in 1948, Pinchas Zukerman came to America in 1962 where he studied at The Juilliard School with Ivan Galamian. He has been awarded the Medal of Arts, the Isaac Stern Award for Artistic Excellence and was appointed as the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative’s first instrumentalist mentor in the music discipline. Pinchas Zukerman’s extensive discography contains over 100 titles, and has earned him 2 Grammy awards and 21nominations. The effusive critical acclaim for cellist AMANDA FORSYTH’s playing and technique is as varied as the range she displays as an internationally in- demand soloist, chamber musician and principal cello of Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra. Critics have praised her vibrant, assertive and energetic sound while also hailing her as a warm, lyrical, articulate and gracious musician. In all roles, she is noted as a performer of distinction and dedication with impeccable technique and command. In January 2014 Ms. Forsyth will tour the US as a featured soloist with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra with concerts in Newport News, VA, Fairfax, VA, Louisville, KY, Carmel, IN, Los Angeles, CA, Palm Desert, CA, Santa Barbara, CA and San Diego, CA. She will make her Carnegie Hall debut in March 2014 with the Israel Philharmonic, traveling with the orchestra to perform in West Palm Beach, FL. In addition to frequent performances and tours with the Royal Philharmonic and Israel Philharmonic Orchestras, she regularly performs with such orchestras as Orchestre Radio de France, Lisbon’s Gulbenkian Orchestra and the English Chamber Orchestra including their summer tour of Mediterranean island venues in 2011. In the US she has performed with the San Diego, Colorado and Grand Rapids Symphonies and toured with the Dallas Symphony in both Texas and on its tour of Florida, and with the Oregon Symphony. She made her debut at the Moscow Conservatory in 2009 returning with the Moscow Virtuosi in both Moscow and St Petersburg in 2011 for performances that were filmed for national television broadcast. In June 2012 Ms. Forsyth appeared with the Mariinsky Orchestra in St Petersburg conducted by Valery Gergiev and was reengaged as part of the reopening of the hall in 2013. Her performances with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra and the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra have earned critical acclaim and she has performed return engagements in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Sichuan, Shenyang and Beijing. Ms. Forsyth returns to her position as principal cello of the National Arts Centre Orchestra for the 2013-14 season following a year-long sabbatical. She will be the featured soloist in March 2014 performing a double concerto composed by her late father, Dr. Malcolm Forsyth. She has performed and recorded her father’s compositions throughout her career, winning a Juno Award in 1997 for her recording of his cello concerto Elektra Rising. As a founding member of the Zukerman ChamberPlayers she has visited Germany, Israel, Italy, Finland, Holland, Switzerland, New Zealand, Turkey, and cities such as London, Vienna, Paris, Belgrade, Budapest, Dubrovnik, Warsaw and Barcelona, and performed for the Petra Conference for Nobel Laureates in Jordan. In addition this ensemble has had a series in New York at the 92nd Street Y and has performed several South American tours. In March 2013 Ms. Forsyth returned to Asia with the ensemble for concerts in Taiwan, China and Japan followed by concerts in Santa Monica, CA and Scottsdale, AZ Summer festival appearances included Ravinia, Tanglewood, Verbier and Edinburgh in 2013. She has appeared regularly at Japan’s Miyazaki Festival and in May 2011 she appeared in gala fundraising concerts following the Japanese earthquake disaster. In late 2013 Ms Forsyth will return to Australia for performances with the Sydney Symphony, the West Australian Symphony and the Adelaide Symphony. Born in South Africa, Ms. Forsyth moved to Canada as a child and began playing cello at age three. She became a protégé of William Pleeth in London, and later studied with Harvey Shapiro at the Juilliard School. After two seasons with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra she became the youngest principal ever selected by the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra—a post she occupied for six years. She was appointed principal cello of the National Arts Centre Orchestra in 1998. Ms. Forsyth’s recordings appear on the Sony Classics, Naxos, Altara, Fanfare, Marquis, Pro Arte and CBC labels. In 2002 she was the subject of the Bravo! Canada television documentary Amanda Rising: The Amanda Forsyth Story. The program followed Ms. Forsyth’s life from her early years as a young South African immigrant to her later success on the international music scene. In 2007 Ms. Forsyth featured prominently on Wynton Marsalis’s soundtrack for The War, Ken Burns’s widely-acclaimed World War II documentary filmed for PBS. Outside of the concert hall, Ms. Forsyth is an enthusiastic and accomplished combat karate practitioner who currently holds her red belt in the sport. Ms. Forsyth performs on a rare 1699 Italian cello by Carlo Giuseppe Testore. Consistently praised for her brilliant technique, tonal beauty and superb musicianship, Canadian pianist ANGELA CHENG is one of her country’s national treasures. In addition to regular guest appearances with virtually every orchestra in Canada, she has also performed with the Alabama Symphony, Buffalo Philharmonic, Colorado Symphony, Houston Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony, Jacksonville Symphony, Louisiana Philharmonic, Saint Louis Symphony, San Diego Symphony, Syracuse Symphony, Utah Symphony and the Israel Philharmonic. In the spring of 2012, Ms. Cheng made her highly acclaimed Carnegie Hall debut with the Edmonton Symphony. She also made her debut at the prestigious Salzburg Festival in a recital with Pinchas Zukerman during the summer of 2012. Highlights this coming season include the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa, Sinfonia Toronto, Vancouver Symphony and the Winnipeg Symphony. In 2009, at the invitation of Pinchas Zukerman, Ms. Cheng toured both Europe and China as a member of the Zukerman ChamberPlayers. She joined them again in the spring of 2010 for a U.S. tour, which included concerts at Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. and the 92nd Street Y in New York. Subsequent seasons have seen multiple tours of Europe, Asia and South America, including performances at the Musikverein in Vienna, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, and at the Schleswig-Holstein, Salzburg and Ravinia festivals. An avid recitalist, Angela Cheng appears regularly on recital series throughout the United States and Canada and has collaborated with numerous chamber ensembles including the Takács, Colorado and Vogler quartets. Her festival appearances include Chautauqua, Banff, Colorado, Houston, Vancouver, the Festival International de Lanaudière in Quebec and the Cartegena International Music Festival in Colombia. Ms. Cheng’s debut recording of two Mozart concerti with Mario Bernardi and the CBC Vancouver Orchestra received glowing reviews. Other CDs include Clara Schumann’s Concerto in A Minor with JoAnn Falletta and the Women’s Philharmonic for Koch International; for CBC Records, four Spanish concerti with Hans Graf and the Calgary Philharmonic, both Shostakovich concerti with Mario Bernardi and the CBC Radio Orchestra, and a solo disc of selected works of Clara and Robert Schumann; and, most recently, an all-Chopin recital CD released by Universal Music Canada. Angela Cheng has been Gold Medalist of the Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Masters Competition, as well as the first Canadian to win the prestigious Montreal International Piano Competition. Other awards include the Canada Council’s coveted Career Development Grant and the Medal of Excellence for outstanding interpretations of Mozart from the Mozarteum in Salzburg.
Posted on: Sun, 24 Aug 2014 11:37:20 +0000
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