Eugenia’s Concerts at the Verbier Festival 2011
July 17
11:00 Eglise
Dmitry Sitkovetsky,
Kirill Troussov, violon
Nobuko Imai, alto
Frans Helmerson, violoncelle
Eugenia Zukerman, flûte
Alexander Bedenko, clarinette
Robert Gleadow, baryton-basse
Elena Bashkirova, piano
Hanns Eisler (1898 – 1962)
Vierzehn Arten, den Regen zu beschreiben, variations pour vents, cordes et piano op.70
(Zukerman, Bedenko, Sitkovetksy, Imai, Helmerson, Bashkirova)
Duo pour violon et violoncelle op.7
—Tempo di minuetto
—Allegretto vivace
(Sitkovetsky, Helmerson)
Eisler was another of Schönberg’s students. Although the teacher disapproved of his pupil’s politics (socialism) the two respected each other greatly. “Fourteen Ways of Describing the Rain,” is witty, and evocative, and it was presented to Schonberg for a 70th birthday gift. Eisler felt it was his best chamber work. The aim of the piece was to convey a natural impression of the sound of rain. He also saw rain as a symbol of mourning.
Milton Babbitt (1916 -)
Deux Sonnets pour baryton, clarinette, alto et violoncelle
Gleadow, Bedenko, Imai, Helmerson)
Samuel Osborne Barber (1910 – 1981)
Dover Beach pour quatuor à cordes et baryton(Gleadow, Sitkovetsky, Troussov, Imai, Helmerson)
Arnold Schönberg (1874 – 1951)
Kammersinfonie pour flûte, clarinette, violon, violoncelle et piano N° 1(Sitkovetsky, Helmerson, Zukerman, Bedenko, Bashkirova)
The famous early 20th century pioneer of atonality wrote his Kammerkonzert opus 9 for 15 solo instruments, but he then felt it would be best reduced to five soloists—flute,clarinet,violin,cello and piano. Schönberg asked one of his pupils, Anton Webern to make the arrangement. The piece is really a late romantic work, but it’s also multidimensional, comprising five short segments that connect to form one continuous movement. The concentrated sequences, melodies, and structure hint at the complexities of the twelve tone music that was to become Schönberg’s signature. As the composer explained, “I am a conservative who was forced to become a revolutionary.”
July 21
20:00 Eglise
Lisa Batiashvili, violon
Nobuko Imai,
Lawrence Power,
Julian Rachlin, alto
Marie-Elisabeth Hecker,
Maximilian Hornung, violoncelle
Eugenia Zukerman, flûte
Martin Helmchen,
Lars Vogt, piano
Andreas Jakob Romberg (1767 – 1821)
Quintette pour flûte et cordes en mi mineur op.41 N° 1—Allegro
—Minuetto : Allegretto moderato
—Larghetto
—Finale : Allegretto vivace
(Zukerman, Batiashvili, Imai, Power, Hornung)
Andreas Jakob Romberg, was born into a large family of German musicians. Beethoven apparently admired his talents, and Hadyn took such an interest in Romberg’s string quartets, that he supposedly even passed off one of the quintets as his own. Romberg wrote 8 operas and 10 symphonies. His quintet op 41 #1 is for flute, violin, 2 violas and cello. It’s in 4 movements, and its slow movement quotes a popular English folk tune of the time, one that has a lot of resonance for Americans–God Save our King/Queen, which in the United States is Our Country Tis of Thee….It’s a charming, graceful quintet, written in a style moving from classical to the romantic.
Robert Schumann (1810 – 1856)
Trio pour piano, violon et violoncelle N° 3 en sol mineur op.110—Bewegt, donc nicht zu rasch
—Ziemlich langsam
—Rasch
—Kräftig, mit Humor
(Vogt, Rachlin, Hecker)
Franz Schubert (1797-1828)
Trio pour piano, violon et violoncelle N° 2 en Mi bémol majeur D 929—Allegro
—Andante con moto
—Scherzando. Allegro moderato – Trio
—Allegro moderato
(Helmchen, Batiashvili, Hecker)
July 24
11:00 Eglise
Renaud Capuçon,
Ye-Eun Choi,
Kirill Troussov, violon
Lawrence Power, alto
Gautier Capuçon,
Maximilian Hornung, violoncelle
Eugenia Zukerman, flûte
Llŷr Williams, piano
Richard Dubugnon (1968 – )
Quintette à cordes op.53 “Pentalog”Commande du Verbier Festival et du Concertgebouw d’Amsterdam
(Capuçon, Troussov, altiste à déterminer, Power, Capuçon)
Behzad Ranjbaran (1955 – )
Fountains of Fin pour flûte, violon et violoncelle(Zukerman, violoniste Ye-Eun Choi, Hornung)
Called ” music’s magical realist” by the Philadelphia Inquirer, Behzad Ranjbaran was born in 1955 in Tehran, Iran. Mr. Ranjbaran is the recipient of the Rudolf Nissim Award for his Violin Concerto and his works are played by some of the finest soloists and orchestras in the world. His musical education started early when he entered the Tehran Music Conservatory at the age of nine. He came to the United States in 1974 to attend Indiana University and received his doctorate in composition from The Juilliard School, where he currently serves on the faculty. Composed in 2008, Fountains of Fin is an exotic and lyrical work inspired by one of the most enchanting gardens in the world — the garden also has a dark and brutal history, and the 12 minute work reflects both the beauty and the violence of its past.
Jean Sibelius (1865 – 1957)
Quintette pour piano et cordes en sol mineur
—Grave – Allegro
—Andante
—Scherzo : Vivacissimo
—Intermezzo : Moderato
—Moderato – Vivace
(Williams, Troussov, Choi, Power, Hornung)