ARTEK Recordings
Contents of CD7 Booklet
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ARTEK Recordings
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Time has a fascinating way of imprinting the mind and soul with
memories and impressions that, when reduced to their simplest form, become
part of the fabric of oneıs musical and emotional being. In preparing to
record an album of short pieces this became a strong
musical consideration. What shall I play? Do I focus on the range of
my interpretive style? Do I choose repertoire that shows the lyrical,
the virtuosic or the diversity of musical character?
In the early part of my career, when faced with such considerations, I would
have no doubt contemplated all of those elements. However, when thinking
about the material for this particular album I instantly recalled the
memories and impressions of works played by the most beloved violinists of
my youth. Yes, it may be sentimental and nostalgic, but indeed the time was
ripe for me to look back to those special moments and to make them part of
my recorded legacy. So, rather
than offer you more of the same historical information in the form
of liner notes, I have chosen to share with you some of my personal feelings
instead.
All of the pieces on this album are works that I have always wanted to
record. They all have a particular connection to specific violinists in my
memories. The Massenet Mediation from Thais, for instance, is one of the
first pieces I heard the remarkably gifted Michael Rabin play. The beauty of
his tone and purity of musical expression made a lasting impression on me.
The transcriptions of Gershwinıs Porgy and Bess, Ravelıs Valse Nobles et
Sentimental, Achronıs Hebrew Melody and Krollıs Banjo and Fiddle are pieces
every serious violinist associates with the great Heifetz. No doubt those
performances remain in our minds and hearts forever. In the Smetana Aus Der
Heimat, as well as the Novacek Perpetuum Mobile and Mussorgskyıs Hopak, I
pay remembrance to
a friend and mentor Nathan Milstein. These are pieces I associate
exclusively with him, and his performances of these great works glisten in
my memory as if I heard them yesterday. And, of course, there is the great
Kreisler who if not for his inimitable style and golden tone the violin
world would be half empty.
These are the memories I cherish and the reasons for this album. With this
CD I hope that I can take my listeners back in time, to an era when one
could express the special joy and uniqueness of the golden age of violin
playing.
This album is dedicated to the memory of my parents Jose and Virginia
Oliveira.
Elmar Oliveira, Violin
Elmar Oliveira has taken his place as one of the most
commanding violinists of our time, with his unsurpassed combination of
impeccable artistry and old-world elegance. Mr. Oliveira is one of the few
major artists committed to the entire spectrum of the violin world
constantly expanding traditional repertoire boundaries as a champion of
contemporary music and rarely-heard works of the past, devoting energy to
the development of the young artists of tomorrow, and enthusiastically
supporting the art of modern violin and bow makers.
Among his generation's most honored artists, Elmar Oliveira remains the
first and only American violinist to win the Gold Medal at Moscow's
Tchaikovsky International Competition. He is also the first violinist to
receive the coveted Avery Fisher Prize, in addition to capturing First
Prizes at the Naumburg International Competition and the G. B. Dealey
Competition.
Mr. Oliveira has become a familiar and much-admired figure at the world's
foremost concert venues. His rigorous international itinerary includes
appearances in recital and with many of the world's greatest orchestras,
including the Zurich Tonhalle, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Leipzig Gewandhaus
Orchestras; the New York, Helsinki, Los Angeles and London Philharmonic
Orchestras; and the San Francisco, Baltimore, Saint Louis, Boston,
Indianapolis, Oregon, Vancouver, Taiwan and Chicago Symphonies, and the
Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. He has also extensively toured the Far East,
South America, Australia, New Zealand, and regularly performs at the Mostly
Mozart, Seattle, Grant Park, Blossom, and Chautauqua summer music festivals.
Engagements this season include the Chicago, Atlanta, Vancouver, New World,
San Francisco, New Mexico, Winnipeg, and Nashville Symphonies, the New York
Chamber Symphony, and the Louisiana Philharmonic.
Mr. Oliveira's repertoire is among the most diverse of any of today's
preeminent artists. While he has been hailed for his performances of the
standard violin literature, he is also a much sought-after interpreter of
the music of our time. He has premiered works by such distinguished
composers as Morton Gould, Ezra Laderman, Charles Wuorinen, Joan Tower,
Andrzej Panufnik, Benjamin Lees, Nicholas Flagello, Leonard Rosenman, Hugh
Aitken, and Richard Yardumian. He has also performed seldom-heard concerti
by Alberto Ginastera, Einojuhani Rautavaara, Joseph Achron, Joseph Joachim,
and many others. In recent seasons, he gave the World Premiere of Leonard
Rosenmanıs Violin Concerto No. 2 at Carnegie Hall with the American
Composers Orchestra, and the Spanish Premiere of Krzysztof Penderecki's
Second Violin Concerto, conducted by the celebrated composer.
A prodigious recording artist, Elmar Oliveira is a two-time Grammy nominee
for his CD of the Barber Concerto with Leonard Slatkin and the Saint Louis
Symphony. His discography on Angel, SONY Masterworks, Artek, Vox, Delos,
IMP, Ondine, and Melodiya ranges
widely from works by Bach and Vivaldi to the present. His best-selling new
recording of
the Rautavaara Violin Concerto with the Helsinki Philharmonic (Ondine) won a
Cannes Classical Award and has appeared on Gramophone's "Editor's Choice"
and other Best Recordings lists around the world. Other recent recordings
include the Joachim Concerto "in the Hungarian Manner" with the London
Philharmonic (IMP) and the Tower Concerto (written for him) with the
Louisville Orchestra (d'Note). Also recently released is the rarely heard
Pizzetti and Respighi sonatas (Artek), the Chausson Concerto for Violin,
Piano, and String Quartet, and the Lekeu Sonata, and a recording of the
Brahms and Saint-Saens B minor Concerti with Gerard Schwarz and the Seattle
Symphony (Artek). Of great historical significance are two unique projects:
a major video and CD released by Bein & Fushi of Chicago, featuring Mr.
Oliveira performing on some of the world's greatest violins (fifteen
Stradivaris and fifteen Guarneri del Gesus), and a recording of short pieces
highlighting the rare violins from the collection of the Library of
Congress.
The son of Portuguese immigrants, Mr. Oliveira was nine when he began
studying the violin with his brother John. He later continued his studies
with Ariana Bronne and Raphael Bronstein at the Hartt College of Music and
the Manhattan School of Music, where Mr. Oliveira also received an honorary
doctorate. He has served on the juries of some of the most prestigious
violin competitions, including the Montreal, Indianapolis, Naumburg, and
Vianna da Motta. He has appeared on international TV including Good Morning
America, CBS Sunday Morning, the Today Show, and A&Eıs Breakfast with the
Arts among others. The Prime Minister of Portugal recently awarded Mr.
Oliveira the countryıs highest civilian honor - The Order of Santiago.
Elmar Oliveira performs exclusively on an instrument known as the
³Stretton², made in 1729-30 by Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesu, and on an exact
copy of that violin made by Curtin and Alf in 1993.
Robert Koenig, Piano
Pianist Robert Koenig performs regularly in many of the major centers
throughout North and South America, Europe and Asia. His 1998-1999 season
included
performances in Montreal, Dallas, Seattle, Alice Tully Hall in New York
City, and the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. In Europe his recent
engagements have included London, Paris, Milan, Frankfurt, Munich, Amsterdam
and Moscow. While in Asia, he has performed in Tokyoıs Suntory Hall, the
National Theater of Taipei and the Seoul Arts Center.
Mr. Koenig has appeared at many festivals including Aspen, Ravinia, Banff,
the Campos do Jordao Festival in Brazil, the Seattle Chamber Music Festival,
Festival dıete du Quebec, and the Mostly Mozart Festival in New York. He has
collaborated with such noted artists as Aaron Rosand, Elmar Oliveira, Sarah
Chang and Pamela Frank. He is
frequently heard on radio and television including the CBC Network in
Canada, WQXR Radio in New York, the BBC in London, National Public Radio and
ABCıs ³Good Morning America². Since 1992, Mr. Koenig has been staff pianist
at the Juilliard School of Music in New York and the 1998-1999 season saw
him in residence as visiting artist at The Curtis Institute of Music. In
January 1999, his most recent CD on the Biddulph Label with
violinist Elmar Oliveira performing Chaussonıs Concerto for violin, piano
and string quartet was released.
Commencing with the September 2000 academic year, Mr. Koenig was appointed
Assistant Professor of Piano Chamber Music at the University of Kansas in
Lawrence.
Born in Canada, Mr. Koenig began his formal training at the Vancouver
Academy of Music with Lee Kum Sing and Gwen Thompson and later studied at
the Banff School of Fine Arts and the Academie di Chigiana in Sienna, Italy.
During this time he received several awards from the Canadian Government
including a Canada Council Project Grant. Mr. Koenig completed both his
Bachelor and Masters Degrees in Accompanying from The Curtis Institute of
Music where he studied with Dr. Vladimir Sokoloff and chamber music
with Felix Galimir and Karen Tuttle. Currently he resides with his violinist
wife Elaine
in Lawrence.
[1] Jules Massenet: Meditation from ³Thais² (4:41)
Jascha Heifetz: Transcriptions for Violin from George Gershwinıs
Porgy and Bess
[2] Summertime / A Woman is a Sometime Thing (3:18)
[3] My Manıs Gone Now (3:27)
[4] Bess, You Is My Woman Now (2:38)
[5] It Ainıt Necessarily So (2:13)
[6] Tempo di Blues (2:43)
[7] Sergei Rachmaninoff: Vocalise Op. 34 No. 14 (5:22)
Maurice Ravel / Jascha Heifetz: Valses Nobles et Sentimentales
[8] No. 6 (0:48)
[9] No. 7 (2:34)
[10] Fritz Kreisler / Christopf Willibald Gluck: Melodie (2:55)
[11] Ottokar Novácek: Perpetuum Mobile (2:45)
[12] Joseph Achron: Hebrew Melody (5:05)
[13] Fritz Kreisler: Liebesfreud (Loveıs Joy) (3:16)
Victor Herbert: Three Pieces
[14] 1) Serenade (1:35)
[15] 2) Canzonetta (1:57)
[16] 3) A la Valse (1:40)
Friedrich Smetana: Aus der Heimat (From the Native Country)
[17] I. Moderato (3:07)
[18] II. Andantino (5:05)
[19] Modest Musorgski: Hopak (1:55)
[20] William Kroll: Banjo and Fiddle (2:44)
Manuel de Falla: Suite Populaire Espagnole
[21] 1) El Paño Moruno (2:04)
[22] 2) Nana (1:53)
[23] 3) Canción (1:19)
[24] 4) Polo (1:08)
[25] 5) Asturiana (2:10)
[26] 6) Jota (2:54)
[27] Felix Mendelssohn / Fritz Kreisler: Lied ohne Worte (Song
Without Words) (2:53)
Total Time: 74:23
Producer:
Laura Harth Rodriguez
Engineer:
Francisco X. Rodriguez
Editing and Mastering:
Digital Dynamics Audio Inc.
Graphic Design:
Jim Manly, Judd Robbins
Cover Photo:
Laura Lewis
Special Thanks:
Jill Jaffe
Recorded on July 25, 2000
at Concordia College,
Bronxville, New York
Piano courtesy of Steinway, NY
Elmar Oliveira, Violin
Robert Koenig, Piano