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The First Day of Summer, 2007 |
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Written by Andrew Sords
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Jun 21, 2007 at 12:37 PM |
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Well, it is now the first day of 2007's summer, and I am starting to get in the swing of things after a week of little productivity. ENCORE commences on Sunday, and I play there with Anita Pontremoli the following week. ENCORE is the festival in Hudson, Ohio founded by David and Linda Cerone, and this will be my sixth summer attending. I must say, the performance space (the Western Reserve Academy Chapel) is actually THE most nerve-wracking place I have ever played--perhaps it is all the critical ears in the audience, and the history that that particular stage has with performing artists. The quaint town, though very "Truman show-esque", has a number of fine restaurants, and I end up frequenting the Starbucks and ice cream shops when the temperatures hit triple digits. After five weeks at ENCORE, it's off to South Korea to Hyo Kang's Great Mountains Music Festival and School, when I begin working with Chee-Yun for the first time. As that will be my first visit to the far East, I'm quite excited...especially for the outstanding Korean food I'm bound to have! In between, I will vacation in northern Ontario with my grandparents for a week in July, which is always relaxing. My family has owned a small island in a remote lake north of the Georgian bay for fifty years or so, with no electricity, phone service (a breath of fresh air, let me tell you...), and incredible weather, swimming, and sauna-ing that will be had. It'll be nice to "escape", if only for a week or so. However, it is high time I start being productive again--this past week, I took it easy and did everything possible away from the violin: go out each night, visit a friend's mother in a hospital, and spend time with a great friend. At times like these, I must remember....violin goes in the left hand, bow in the right, the strings are G-D-A-E, and the Beethoven concerto is, in fact, in D major!
Best wishes for a fabulous start to everyone's summer!!!!
~A
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Moving Apartments; Beethoven Violin Concerto; Graduation/Birthdays |
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Written by Andrew Sords
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May 26, 2007 at 03:17 PM |
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Capping off a stressful spring has been a busy May. My apartment lease is up in about 120 hours, I haven't moved a thing, and the place has music, clothes, and dvds strewn everywhere. I played a couple times this week at the Cleveland Botanical Gardens Biannual Flower Show, in arguably the most beautiful setting in Cleveland (well, there isn't much competition), and have been working assiduously on the Beethoven concerto. It's a daunting work...at times with this concerto, I feel as though I have dug myself into a hole and forgot to bring the ladder down with me. I'm giving myself close to a year to become fully comfortable with it before playing it with orchestra, as (I'm stating the obvious here) one shouldn't take Beethoven Op. 61 lightly. Additionally, I am going to begin practicing piano again, as I am accompanying the studio of my first violin teacher at their recital downtown in a couple weeks. I have always enjoyed wearing the hat of a pianist, as I get that opportunity so infrequently. In two months, I move out of Cleveland, though I haven't settled on an apartment yet...I must get on that! I'm going to miss the familiar sights and sounds of this...unique city. I will especially miss those associated with the orchestra and institute...it's certainly a close-knit community. Graduation was just held, and I enjoyed walking across the stage in a cap and gown. Saying goodbye to the Institute and ENCORE will be hard. This may potentially be the last summer for the ENCORE School for Strings, and that in and of itself is astronomical--the festival that David and Linda Cerone founded during the summer of 1985 has been a training ground for a veritable "who's who" of violinists: Leila Josefowicz, Hilary Hahn, Stefan Jackiw, Lara St. John, Ellen dePasquale, Robert Chen, Ryu Goto, Sheryl Staples...the list is endless. Before ENCORE begins though, I have a birthday, and I am deciding on how it will be different from any other. Hopefully the "National Enquirer" won't carry the details!!! Anyways, my birthday coincides with a certain celebutante/socialite beginning a prison sentence, so I doubt anything will top that...Anyways, this post is rambling, but I wish everyone well, and hope that the transition into summer is painless and enjoyable! |
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Last Updated ( May 26, 2007 at 03:22 PM )
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Written by Andrew Sords
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May 07, 2007 at 12:19 PM |
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Finally, the weather in Cleveland has changed for the better: after six months of arctic temperatures, constant slush and cloudy skies, the temperatures are up (albeit a bit chilly), the sun is shining, and outdoor activity has picked up. As I return to my apartment, my neighbors are always on their balconies, enjoying the balmy weather. All I can say is: FINALLY! :) The last 6 weeks have been a bit of a record for me. Since mid March, I have performed Bruch Scottish Fantasy, Brahms Violin Concerto, and the Fein Violin Concerto; sonatas by Mozart, Brahms, Grieg, and Franck; and showpieces with orchestra. I have been in San Francisco, Bowling Green, Dallas, and Cleveland, and in the next two weeks, I have two Bach performances, bringing the total amount of concerts in 7 weeks to 12. i was sick for three of these weeks--tonsilitis, strep, and the stomach virus are NO fun, and I'm still in school. I want to spend the next two months curled up on the couch, watching cheesy movies and eating junk food, and let my violin go on vacation. Last night, I worked with Kelly Corcoran--a young, charming conductor who will help head the Nashville Symphony in the fall--and the Heights Chamber Orchestra, an ensemble that has been playing in the Cleveland area now for 24 years. They are enthusiastic and gracious, and in playing Serenade Melancolique and Havanaise with them, it was certainly a memorable evening. Last Wednesday, I played my senior recital at the Cleveland Institute of Music. After first playing on the Kulas stage at age nine in the prep orchestra, I'm leaving the school at 21, and have some pretty amazing memories to take with me. Also of note were the dinners following both concerts: a party of about 18 went to my favorite Chinese restaurant in Cleveland, including some family that drove in from Virginia to attend. Last night, a former teacher, her boyfriend, and my best friend went to a tavern to celebrate the end of a chaotic week. The terrific meals following concerts are sometimes more memorable than the concerts! Today I must sleep, think about replacing my ancient phone, and do some (much needed) spring cleaning. I'm going to also find a few notes on the Beethoven concerto, and prepare for that study--definitely a daunting task that I am looking forward to. I hope everyone is starting to enjoy the outdoors, and I'm certainly looking forward to a lazy month of June!! :) *Note: now that this site has attracted numbers in the tens of thousands, I will begin posting notices of other types of concerts (rock, Broadway, etc), that I have seen and strongly recommend. More on that later!* |
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Last Updated ( May 26, 2007 at 03:20 PM )
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Mozart, Grieg, and Franck Program Notes for May 2nd Recital |
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Written by Andrew Sords
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May 01, 2007 at 03:44 PM |
Today, there are nineteen standard sonatas for "piano and violin" left by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791). Eighteen of them are straightforward, classical in nature, and each in a major key. The lone sonata written in minor, his e minor K. 304, was composed under somber circumstances.
During the concert season of 1777-1778, Mozart was engaged to play a tour of Paris with his sister, premiering many of his earlier violin sonatas, and certainly playing at least one of his concerti (composed about three years prior). His K. 301-306 sonatas are now referred to as his Paris-Mannheim sonatas, and commence a new chapter in his maturity. During this tour, Mozart's mother, Anna Maria Pertl, actually was reported to have accompanied her children, even though she was not recognized for her abilities. In July of 1778, Frau Mozart died of fever, and Mozart immediately set to work composing this sonata for he and sister Maria Anna "Nannerl" to play, and thus this sonata is very significant in Mozart's maturing from adolescence to adulthood. Though the two movements (Allegro and Tempo di Menuetto) are quite clearly classical in form, the somberness and melancholic feelings pervading the work had rarely been heard from by the talented composer, and certainly would not appear in his violin catalogue until the second movement of his Sinfonia Concertante for violin and viola a year later.
This sonata has special significance for me as well. The first weekend in April 2005, I was to play two recitals, each opening with the Mozart e minor. The day of the first recital, I learned of my grandfather's passing. Each recital, I dedicated this sonata to his memory, and since then I have had a personal connection with this work.
The c minor sonata by Edvard Grieg, Op. 45 (1843-1907) remains the most popular of his three sonatas, and was completed while Grieg was residing in Troldhaugen, Norway. Occupying a standard place in the violin repertoire, this sonata has memorable themes, a sense of drama throughout, and shows off the instrument well. Written in c minor, a key well remembered for heroicism (Beethoven Sonata Op. 30 No. 2, Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, the second movement of Beethoven's Eroica Symphony), there is a sense of virility and conquest in the opening movement. There is a feeling of uneasiness and nervousness, as portrayed by the consistent syncopations. The second movement, opening eerily like a contemporary pop ballad, has a gorgeous theme in E major, and a rustic secondary theme that hints at the playful. The Finale opens with a Nordic theme, emphasizing the interval of the fifth throughout, and is demanding of both instruments. I became quickly enamored with the piece after hearing the energetic Leila Josefowicz perform it, and programmatically, the sonata usually fits very well.
Last summer, I was asked to play the Franck A major sonata on very short notice. Never having played this work before, as I held a great deal of reverence and awe for its emotional range and reputation as a pinnacle of the repertoire, I approached it with trepidation. After a couple days of stalling and avoiding the work at all costs, I turned to an invaluable aid: Anita Pontremoli. I had already worked on many concerti and sonatas with Anita, and learned so much each time. Patiently, she worked through the sonata with me over the course of a week, and we have since performed it a couple of times. It is with a great deal of gratitude that I culminate my senior recital by collaborating with Anita on the Cesar Franck Sonata.
Cesar Franck (1822-1890) was born in Liege, Belgium (not France, as so many will state), to German parents who coerced him into a piano career. Befriending the Olympian-talented (and sized) violinist Eugene Ysaye, this sonata was written for his wedding. Like Ysaye’s six Op. 27 unaccompanied violin sonatas, the Franck sonata has a feeling of rhythmic flexibility, and is clearly written with the violinist in mind. A autobiographical sense surrounds this work, with the leisurely, innocent opening movement representing youth; a hormonal, highly-charged second movement as young adulthood; the Recitativo-Fantasia movement representing older age and reflection; and the final Allegro (in a canon between the two instruments) looking back on a life well-lived. I never tire of this sonata, and though it is rather emotionally draining, I am honored to share the stage with Anita Pontremoli for its duration.
A special thanks to Pi-Ju Chiang for her willingness to rehearse and collaborate; to Linda Cerone and David Russell for reining me in and helping this recital come together; to Charlie Tyler for relentlessly (albeit sometimes reluctantly) lending a pair of ears to this learning process; to Virginia Weckstrom, for listening to so much collaborative rep over the years; to Anita Pontremoli, for an exorbitant amount of hours of help and collaboration; and to my family, for always coming to this soirees.
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Last Updated ( May 26, 2007 at 03:20 PM )
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Written by Andrew Sords
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Apr 24, 2007 at 12:05 PM |
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When I play concerti with orchestra, I so rarely get the chance to present my own program notes, as I can typically do in a recital setting. I am in the process of researching the Mozart K. 301-306 sonatas, Grieg, Franck, and some showpieces, and I came across some notes from 3 years ago when I had my first opportunity to write the background for a concerto performance. Three years ago (March and April 2004), I played the Saint-Saens b minor Concerto with Liza Grossman conducting the Contemporary Youth Orchestra, a collaboration that is still very vivid in my memory. It was a learning process and nostalgic at the same time, as I began lessons with Liza about fifteen years ago. She is now heard on CD/DVD from Malibu to London, and is quickly building a name for herself and the Contemporary Youth Orchestra. In rehearsing for the the Saint-Saens performances, Liza had a stipulation for me: I must write my own program notes. In poring over several essays on Saint-Saens, the concerto, and the violin world in the 1880's, I quickly discovered that I really didn't have any background information on the concerto to help solidify any sort of an interpretation I was gathering at that time. So, thanks to Liza's insistence, I was able to grow and mature with the piece with extensive research and listening to many interpretations. Below are the notes. Enjoy! :) Camille Saint-Saens (1835 - 1921) Violin Concerto, no. 3, op.61 in B minor
conducted by Liza Grossman
Born in 1835 in Paris, Camille Saint-Saens is the most renowned French composer of the 19th century. His violin compositions are standards of the virtuoso repertoire. His most famous works for the instrument—Havanaise, Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso, and the Third Concerto in B minor—were each instant successes, featuring saucy Iberian themes, virtuosic tricks, and powerful climaxes. The Concerto is also popular as a debut vehicle, and such artists as Hilary Hahn, Leila Josefowicz, and Pinchas Zukerman all made Cleveland Orchestra debuts with the piece.
Dedicated to the Spanish violinist Pablo de Sarasate, the B minor Concerto has elements of French, Spanish, and Italian motives. The first movement, representing an easygoing, Parisian feel, quickly became popular with the audiences due to its "poetic atmosphere and compelling melodiousness" (George Bernard Shaw). The movement is in A-B-A-B-A form, with sentimental phrases sandwiched between pyrotechnical exploits. The original opening melody, played for the first thirty bars on the violin’s lowest string, the G-string, returns to launch the coda, driven by an ever increasing crescendo and tempo, utilizing every position on the instrument.
The second movement, based off of a simple Siciliano melody, is very much chamber music between the solo violin and principal winds, as the phrase is handed back and forth between the oboe, flute, clarinet, and violin. The rhythmic pulse is leisurely, the mood is always uplifting, and the soaring melodies demonstrate the vocal qualities of the instrument. The violin concludes the movement with arpeggios in artificial harmonics.
The third movement begins with a rhapsodic, cadenza feeling, leading to a sensuous, energetic Spanish theme that is reminiscent of the dedicatee’s (de Sarasate) own music. The movement is fast-paced until the orchestral violins introduce the secondary melody, which is the only lapse in the spirited pulse. The tension and virtuosity increase until the coda, marked Presto. The movement finishes with a dynamic flourish, bringing the concerto to a heroic ending.
Pablo de Sarasate premiered the concerto in 1881, and the concerto was published the following year. I first learned this concerto when I was 14 in Vermont, and again in the summer of 2003. It has always been one of my favorites due to it's accessibility and rich themes. The concerto shows off many palettes of the instrument, and is ultimately a rewarding piece.
I would like to dedicate this performance to twelve years of inspiring guidance and friendship from Ms. Liza Grossman.
~Andrew Sords March, 2004 |
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