LYSANDER PIANO TRIO
January 23, 2014 / 7:30 PM / Loeb Playhouse
Itamar Zorman, violin
Michael Katz, cello
Liza Stepanova, piano
JOAQUÍN TURINA
(1882-1949)
Circulo, Op. 91 (The Circle)
Amanecer (Dawn)
Mediodía (Midday)
Crepúsculo (Dusk)
WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART
(1756-1791)
Piano Trio in C Major, K. 548
Allegro
Andante cantabile
Allegretto
PAUL BEN-HAIM
(1897-1984)
Variations on a Hebrew Melody (1939)
INTERMISSION
MAURICE RAVEL
(1875-1937)
Piano Trio in A minor
Modéré
Pantoum: Assez vif
Passacaille: Très large
Finale: Animé
ASTOR PIAZZOLLA
(1921-1992)
Cuatro Estaciones Porteñas
(The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires - Excerpts)
Otoño Porteño (Autumn in Buenos Aires)
Primavera Porteña (Spring in Buenos Aires)
Program subject to change
Lysander Piano Trio is a winner of the 2012 Concert Artists Guild International Competition.
Lysander Piano Trio is represented by:
Concert Artists Guild--850 Seventh Ave, PH-A, New York, NY 10019
www.lysandertrio.com
www.concertartists.org
ABOUT LYSANDER PIANO TRIO
The Lysander Piano Trio is a winner of the 2012 Concert Artists
Guild Victor Elmaleh International Competition where it was
further distinguished as the Chamber Music America Showcase
Performance recipient. Jennifer Bilfield, President and CEO
of Washington Performing Arts Society and a member of the
jury for the Final Round of the CAG Competition, describes the
ensemble as bringing an “informed, energized musical personality
to its performances.” These qualities have made the Trio an
immediate standout at other competitions, and its prior awards
include top honors at the 2010 Fischoff National Chamber Music
Competition, the 2011 Coleman Chamber Ensemble Competition
(Grand Prize) and the 2011 J. C. Arriaga Chamber Music
Competition (First Prize).
The 2013-14 season is an auspicious one for the Lysander Trio,
featuring three prominent concerts in New York City: Weill
Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall (CAG New York Series); Schneider
Concerts Chamber Music Series at the New School; and Merkin
Concert Hall (Tuesday Matinee Series). Other season highlights
in North America include: Purdue University’s Convocations
Series; UCLA’s Clark Memorial Library, Rockford Coronado
Concerts near Chicago, Smith College (MA), Sheldon Friends of
Chamber Music (Lincoln, NE) and the Rhinebeck Chamber Music
Society in upstate New York.
Only two months after its founding in 2009, while the players
were graduate students at The Juilliard School, the Trio was
selected to represent Juilliard in a special concert in Mexico
City on the occasion of President Joseph Polisi’s visit to Mexico.
In that relatively short time, the ensemble has already enjoyed
performances at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall and David
Rubenstein Atrium, Merkin Concert Hall, Weill Recital Hall at
Carnegie Hall and the Terrace Theater at Kennedy Center in
Washington, DC. Other recent performances include concerts at
the Harvard Club, Jewish Theological Seminary and the Bruno
Walter Auditorium of the New York Public Library, Connecticut’s
Treetops Chamber Music Society and Elmira College in upstate
New York.
The Lysander Piano Trio has performed in master classes for
Alfred Brendel and for Ida and Ani Kavafian at the Chamber
Music Society of Lincoln Center, and it has studied with Ronald
Copes of the Juilliard String Quartet, Joseph Kalichstein of
the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio and Seymour Lipkin.
The Lysander Trio takes its name from the character in
Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
PROGRAM NOTES
Circulo, Op. 91
JoaquínTurina (1882-1949)
A fantasy in three movements on the progress of a single day,
Turina’s Circulo starts at dawn (Amanecer), and continues through
midday (Mediodía), to dusk (Crepúsculo). The music indeed starts
in the dark, with the murmuring low notes of the cello, and gains
more and more momentum both dynamically and rhythmically until
a big arrival in C Major, which could be interpreted as sunrise. As
is typical of Turina’s style, the melodies and rhythms have a very
distinctly Spanish flavor, and the opening of the second movement
has the strings play chords Pizzicato, imitating the guitar. The
pace keeps accelerating, and reaches its peak in the beginning of
the last movement, a thrilling dance in three. From there on, the
music calms down as the day comes to a close, and gradually we find
ourselves again in the dark, where the music of the first movement
comes back. It joins motives from the other movements, to reflect
and conclude the adventures of the day.
Itamar Zorman, Lysander Piano Trio
Piano Trio in C Major, K. 548
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
As Haydn forged the Classical period and Beethoven pushed it
towards Romanticism, Mozart consolidated it in a way unmatched
by any other composer. To it he brought not only the elegance and
grace we associate with the earlier Baroque period, but also the
brilliance, power, and clarity that define the Classical period. So,
too, was Mozart a harmonic and melodic innovator. His death at
thirty-five has left us with endless unanswered questions of where
he would have taken his profound effect on Western music. Despite
the brevity of his life, he produced a catalogue of works that defined
opera, the Mass, the symphony, the piano concerto, and the piano
sonata. To chamber music he brought his rich array of duo sonatas,
string quartets, string quintets, and piano trios that never dull in
their many performances. Those who play his music will quickly
attest to its singular virtuosic challenges based on a demand for
absolute clarity.
On the death of the American novelist Saul Bellow in 2005, The
New York Times wrote that Mr. Bellow once told a reporter that
“for many years, Mozart was a kind of idol to me—this rapturous
singing that’s always on the edge of sadness and melancholy and
disappointment and heartbreak, but always ready for an outburst of
the most delicious music.” That statement beautifully portrays the
music of Mozart and, specifically, the C Major Piano Trio.
Sometimes mistaken as a simple piece, the C Major Piano Trio
is far from that. First of all, it was written just three years short
of Mozart’s death, and, secondly, during a highly productive and
inspired period that also included the K. 543 Piano Trio, the 39th
Symphony, and the monumental 40th Symphony in G Minor. This
is to say nothing of the recently completed Marriage of Figaro
(1786) and Don Giovanni (1787). Nor does Mozart’s choice of the C
major key (F Major for the middle movement) indicate simplicity,
as evidenced by the Trio’s many harmonic transitions to the minor
and its remarkable virtuosic challenges. Governing all in the Trio is
Mozart’s elegant and complex operatic sense as described by Saul
Bellow. Interestingly, all six of Mozart’s piano trios, including the
K. 498 Trio for piano, clarinet and viola, were late works written
between 1786 and 1788.
The first movement Allegro begins strongly and cheerfully with
rising arpeggios. While the fortepiano of Mozart’s time had not yet
developed the brilliance of the modern piano, the keyboard part
of the C Major Trio certainly anticipated those changes. This is
immediately notable throughout the work beginning with its strong
opening statement. Mozart is also ahead of his time in his use of
mottos throughout the movement. The skipping rhythms and major
harmonies add delight and fun to the movement, but that is not
the whole story. Mozart’s dramatic unexpected shifts to the minor
mode, both momentary and extended, give us a picture of his
darker side.
The highly developed second movement Andante cantabile is
almost a work unto itself with its beautiful operatic qualities
offered by all three instruments. The violin sings over a quiet piano
accompaniment, but then the roles are artfully reversed with the
piano taking center stage. The cello, often misperceived as having
only an accompaniment role, also has its brilliant soloistic moments.
Thematic material is exchanged among the instruments in what
seems like an elaboration of questions and answers. Governing all in
the movement, however, is a quiet sense of the tragic.
All cares seem abandoned in the vigorous opening of the final
Allegro, but quick shifts to the minor mode lend a reminder of more
serious times. The virtuosic demands of the movement also speak of
Mozart’s irreplaceable strength and genius.
© 2014 Lucy Miller Murray (lucymillermurray.com)
Variations on a Hebrew Melody (1939)
Paul Ben-Haim (1897-1937)
Born Paul Frankenburger in Munich, Germany, Paul Ben-Haim
immigrated to Israel (then British Mandate of Palestine) in 1933,
and was one of the fathers of the “Mediterranean Style,” trying to
absorb musical materials and inspiration from folk music of the
Middle East. The Trio, written in 1939, was the second chamber
music work Ben-Haim completed after immigrating to Palestine.
It is in a way a reflection on the process of immigration, both for
him personally and for the immigration movement from Europe
to Israel more generally. The Hebrew Melody here is the folk song
“My motherland, the land of Canaan,” an Arabic tune to which the
Jewish settlers added Hebrew words during the Turkish regime, and
reflects their efforts to acclimatize in the new region. The theme,
with its arabesques, stylized descending glissandos and solemn
character, comes in stark contrast to the introduction, which is
stormy, chromatic and rhetorical. The characteristically EasternEuropean Jewish interval of the augmented second, which appears
towards the end of the introduction, might serve as a hint that this
is a musical reflection of the turmoil which was then taking place in
the old world, Europe.. Through the process of the variations one
comes to term with the new style and feeling of the Arabic tune,
exploring the potential for new colors and textures in it. The return
of the Eastern-European augmented second in the end of the piece
is now more peaceful, with a sense of nostalgia. Itamar Zorman, Lysander Piano Trio
Piano Trio
Maurice Ravel (1875-1937)
In the introduction to his 2000 biography of Ravel, Benjamin Ivry
asks the question, “Who was Ravel?” Quite in contrast to the elusive
portrait of himself that Ravel fostered, Ivry points out his popularity,
genius, and international impact—specifically in England, Germany,
Italy, Spain, and America. Ivry also addresses the question Ravel’s
homosexuality. This would seem secondary to a consideration of
his music except that Ivry sees it as essential to understanding
his life and work. “Powerful links may be found between his
hidden homosexuality and his obsession with sorcery,” says Ivry.
Furthermore, Ivry concludes, “Demonic passions forced under
control were at the heart of his creative urge.” Whatever the source
of his creativity, the results of it are extraordinary in his works all of
which bear his singular trademark of beautiful textures and effects
expressed in elegant and Classical form.
While the “exotic” qualities we associate with Ravel’s music
stem mostly from his compositional genius, surely they had to be
influenced by his family background—a mother of Basque-Spanish
heritage and a Swiss father from the French Haute-Savoie. Not to
be omitted from his list of influences would be the Spanish pianist
Ricardo Viñes who was a foremost interpreter of his piano music.
Ravel’s studies at the Paris Conservatoire where he was considered
“very gifted” but “somewhat heedless” were interrupted by his
being expelled in 1895. He returned, however, in 1898 to study
with Gabriel Fauré and to a competitive but mutually admiring
relationship with his older colleague, Claude Debussy. About that
time, he also became a member of the infamous Apaches, a group
of young artists, poets, critics, and musicians who championed the
avant-garde. His travels began in 1905 and brought with them his
productive Spanish period.
Although he was not accepted for enlistment, Ravel was profoundly
affected by World War I and shortly thereafter wrote his famous
La Valse which so ironically captures the climate of the times. In
post-war Paris he also came under the influence of American jazz
and in 1928 undertook a four-month concert tour in North America
where he met George Gershwin. He returned to France and later
that year produced his famous Bolero which surprised him with its
enormous success. His own description of the work was “a piece for
orchestra without music.” In 2008, the New York Times published
an article suggesting that Ravel may have been in the early stages of
frontotemporal dementia at the time of its composition, accounting
for its repetitive nature. Once again, as with most observations
about Ravel, the truth is elusive and such scientific projections
become relatively meaningless. The only thing we are certain of is
the beauty of his music.
Following brain surgery, he died in Paris on December 28, 1937 at the
age of 62.
“I think that at any moment I shall go mad or lose my mind,” Ravel
wrote to a friend. “I have never worked so hard, with such insane
heroic rage.” The source of his rage was the outbreak of World War
I, and the result of his labors was the magnificent A Minor Piano
Trio begun in 1913 and premiered in Paris on January 28, 1915.
Coupled with its technical perfection, the Trio contains some of
the most fervent and impassioned music of Ravel’s entire output,
rivaling his great tone poem Daphnis and Chloe in massiveness and
scope. While Ravel’s objective in his music was always technical
perfection, this work goes far beyond that in its depth of expression.
A certain struggle between heart and mind informs the whole piece
from its dark opening to its spectacular conclusion.
We are hardly aware of sonata form in the first movement Modéré
because of its haunting sadness, but rest assured that it is there.
We are probably more conscious of the exotic rhythmic patterns
as Ravel employs Basque dance forms of his native region. The
movement gathers a forbidding momentum before it ends quietly.
The piano part is remarkable in its dark bass and eerie treble notes, a
pattern that will continue throughout the work.
The Pantoum of the second movement refers to a form of verse
used in Malaysian poetry. Here, again, Ravel’s love of the exotic—
something he shared with the poets and artists of his day—belies
his elegant use of form. The movement might be heard as a scherzo
with a superficially bright beginning that turns to urgency and
then solemnity. The strings play a sad waltz against a contrasting
rhythmic pattern by the piano.
The third movement, a stately Passacaille reflecting Baroque
techniques, is a haunting set of ten variations progressive in their
intensity until the seventh one. The piano opens the movement
darkly followed by a mysteriously moving cello solo and equally
touching violin solo. The piano alone returns to begin a funereal
march joined first by the cello and then the violin. The intensity
heightens until the piano begins a descent under a moving cello part.
The strings recede and the piano alone creeps to an eerie end.
The Final is orchestral in nature, containing many references to
Ravel’s Spanish influences. It comes to one of the most dazzling
climaxes in the piano trio literature with the strings in endless trills
over the dramatic chords of the piano.
The Piano Trio reflects, in every way, Ravel’s statement that “Great
music, I have always felt, must come from the heart. Any music
created by technique and brains alone is not worth the paper it is
written on.” Ravel’s many other statements calling for technical
perfection as the goal of music conflict with this notion, but one
must remember that it also seemed Ravel’s goal to be elusive.
© 2014 Lucy Miller Murray
(lucymillermurray.com)
Otoño Porteño (Autumn) / Primavera Porteña (Spring) From The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires
Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992)
Astor Piazzolla is widely recognized as the greatest composer of
tango music. Born in Argentina in 1921, Piazzola spent much of
his childhood in New York City, where he was exposed to both
jazz and classical music. As a young composer, Piazzolla studied
with Alberto Ginastera who introduced him to the music of great
composers of the early 20th century such as Stravinsky, Ravel and
Bartok. At that point of his life, Piazzolla was interested in pursuing
a career as a serious classical composer.
He decided to move to Paris to seek instruction from the legendary
Nadia Boulanger, who has already mentored many of his famous
contemporaries. Boulanger was not convinced by his classical
compositions, saying they were at best an attempt to emulate the
music of his predecessors. However, after hearing one of his tangos,
she jumped and announced “you fool! THIS is Piazzolla!” From
then on he dedicated his efforts almost exclusively to writing tangos.
After returning to Argentina he invented a new approach to tango the Nuevo Tango. The Nuevo Tango abandoned the traditional large
ensemble in favor of a smaller chamber ensemble with jazz-like
improvisations. His rich musical background and style has made
him one of the only composers whose music both classical and
jazz musicians can justifiably claim as their own. Unlike Antonio
Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, the Cuatro Estaciones Porteñas (or “The Four
Seasons of Buenos Aires”) were initially conceived as four separate
pieces rather than a set. The pieces were composed for Piazzolla’s
own quintet comprised of violin/viola, piano, electric guitar, double
bass and bandoneón (accordion).
The word porteño in the title refers to the natives of Buenos Aires
and suggests that Piazzolla had in mind the four seasons particularly
in the context of the energetic city and its passionate people. This
arrangement for piano trio was done by José Bragato, who was the
cellist in many of Piazzolla’s Nuevo Tango ensembles, including the
Octeto Buenos Aires and the New Tango Sextet, in which Piazzolla
himself played the bandoneon. Bragato pioneered the idea of cello
solos in a tango ensemble, a distinction previously reserved for the
violin. He became a close friend and associate of Piazzolla who
dedicated a composition to him called Bragatissimo. Michael Katz, Lysander Piano Trio
INFO TO KNOW
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