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Although its essential characteristics may have been thrown into relief only by recent events, the music of Ukraine has periodically come into focus throughout the past 250 years, especially during the mid-20th and early-21st centuries. These periods encompass the three composers featured on the first of our violin-and-piano recital albums this month. The second is a programme of works by the 19th-century French composer/violinist Henry Vieuxtemps, who revolutionised the role of his instrument, setting aside the old repertoire and transforming the technique, aesthetic and poetry of the instrument.
Ukrainian Masters
BORTKIEWICZ • KOSENKO • SKORYK
Violin Sonatas
Solomiya Ivakhiv, ViolinSteven Beck, Piano
The expressive vitality in this collection of violin sonatas transcends the cultural upheavals from which these three Ukrainian composers emerged. Bortkiewicz’s Violin Sonata in G minor is among the most impressive of his relatively few chamber works, finding his musical language at its most vivid and directly communicative. Kosenko’s Violin Sonata in A minor is notable for the satisfying balance of its two subtly differentiated movements. Skoryk’s Second Violin Sonata is a stylistically diverse chamber work, with pointed allusions to Beethoven, Prokofiev and Gershwin during its compact and always eventful course.
III. Burlesque: Vivo
Ukrainian born violinist Solomiya Ivakhiv is a highly celebrated soloist, chamber musician and educator. Since 2010, Dr Ivakhiv has served as artistic director of the Music at the Institute Concert Series in New York City, where her primary focus is to introduce audiences to Ukrainian classical music. She is also artistic director of the Caspian Monday Music Festival in Greensboro, Vermont. In 2021, she was named Honoured (Merited) Artist of Ukraine, her native country’s highest cultural honour.
Pianist Steven Beck made his concerto debut with the National Symphony Orchestra. His annual Christmas Eve performance of Bach’s Goldberg Variations at Bargemusic has become a New York institution. An experienced performer of new music, he has worked with Elliott Carter, Pierre Boulez, Henri Dutilleux, Charles Wuorinen, George Crumb, George Perle and Fred Lerdahl. His discography includes George Walker’s piano sonatas (Bridge Records) and Elliott Carter’s Double Concerto (Albany Records).
Henry VIEUXTEMPS (1820–1881)
Voix intimes
Rarities for Violin and Piano
Vilmos Csikos, Violin • Olivier Lechardeur, PianoManon Lamaison, Soprano
Famed for his profoundly Romantic violin concertos, Henry Vieuxtemps revolutionised violin playing in the 19th century. His loyal student Eugène Ysaÿe pointed out that his teacher’s work was ‘a treasure to be protected at all costs’ and ‘ought to be known in its entirety’. Vieuxtemps’ bicentenary in 2020 provided an ideal opportunity to unearth lost and often unpublished manuscripts passed down through the composer’s family. These rediscovered gems include the world premiere of the Fantasy for Voice, Violin and Orchestra, presented here in a piano reduction, an amazing work in which the voice, evoking the composer’s memories in a wordless vocalise, wraps itself around the notes of the violin.
Violinist Vilmos Csikos is laureate of numerous international violin competitions, having won First Prize at both the Andrea Postacchini International Violin Competition and the Remember Enescu International Violin Competition in 2007. He was also awarded First Grand Prize both at the 2017 Leonid Kogan International Competition for Young Violinists and the 2020 Henry Vieuxtemps International Violin Competition. He is regularly invited to perform at international music festivals in Europe and Asia.
Violin Concertos, Vol. 1
Nos. 1-4
Bielow • National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine • Sirenko
– Crescendo
Violin Concertos, Vol. 2
Nos. 5-9
Bielow • National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine • Sirenko
– Classical Music Daily
Fantasia Appassionata • Ballade et Polonaise
Fantaisie Caprice • Greeting to America
Keylin • Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra • Mogrelia
– American Record Guide
Violin Concertos Nos. 5, 6 and 7
Keylin • Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra • Mogrelia
Arnhem Philharmonic Orchestra • Yuasa
– ClassicsToday.com