GEOFFREY SABA
SATURDAY 10th DECEMBER 2011 at 8:00pm
Programme
Schubert - Waltzes arr by Prokofiev
Schubert - Piano Sonata in D D850
Rachmaninov - Sonata No 1 in D minor Op 28
Programme Notes
Waltzes Franz Schubert (arranged Prokoviev)
Concert promoters in the USA prevailed upon Prokoviev to include works of the Classical era in his piano recitals and Stravinsky suggested arranging a collage of dances to meet that request, following Liszt's arrangements. The dozen or so dances selected by Prokofiev come from works spanning most of Schubert's life: some are used simply as a refrain. Although Prokofiev declared that he left the original music's textures and harmonies virtually untouched, he did occasionally add astringent markings in the first version for solo piano made in 1919 for his brief trip to America. In the 1923 two-piano version he made more significant changes allowing his own voice to be heard with Schubert's.
Schubert almost invariably referred to his dances as 'Ländler' or 'Deutsche Tänze'. Only on one extant manuscript does he call a dance a 'Walz', but his publishers preferred to issue them as 'Waltzes' and this fashion has been followed by Prokofiev's publishers. Prokofiev gave no opus number to this work, perhaps because he viewed this work as standing apart from his original compositions. The arrangement demonstrates how Schubert's loosely-linked dances may be recreated for the concert hall.
Sonata in D major (D850) Franz Schubert
Allegro vivace: Con moto – Andante – Scherzo: Allegro vivace – Rondo: Allegro moderato
This ebullient, expansive work was written in 1825 on an extended summer holiday in the Alps. It was the second of only three piano sonatas to be published during Schubert's lifetime. Instead of the withdrawn, contemplative lyricism of the C major and A minor sonatas dating from the same year, it shows dynamic and extrovert brilliance aptly embodied in the upward surge of the opening bars, and a contentment which no doubt reflected Schubert's delight at leaving Vienna for Upper Austria. Outdoor music is evident throughout: the energy of the opening movement is interrupted by a yodel. The slow movement luxuriates in almost tactile chord textures, and the scherzo, of symphonic scale (the longest of all his piano scherzi) revels in foot-stamping rhythms. The final Rondo is based on a dance tune in dotted rhythm, seemingly beneath the dignity of a piano sonata, but in fact one more proof of Schubert's ability to enlist the vernacular to serve his own purposes. Schubert may well have been influenced in his progressive keyboard writing by having had access to a fine piano with a range of six octaves, and sustaining and una corda pedals.
INTERVAL
Sonata in d minor (op 28) Sergei Rachmaninov
Allegro moderato – Lento – Allegro Molto
Rachmaninov's first sonata was written in 1908, when he was living in Dresden to recover from the disastrous reception of his first symphony, an issue which was to cause him legendary problems. Although less often heard than his mighty second sonata, its scale and climaxes are no less ambitious. The composer's original idea came from the Faust myth and although he soon abandoned this as a programme for the work, traces can be identified. The sonata is classical in form but based on motifs which are re-used throughout the three movements. The first movement reflects on the turmoil of Faust's dilemma, starting with the opening cadences. The short slow movement includes complex overlapping voices, with no particular reference to Gretchen, and climaxes with a short cadenza. The Mephistophelean fury of the finale exploits the piano's sonority in typical Rachmaninovian style, and the closing massive chords will not disappoint!
Geoffrey Saba was born in Australia into a family of Lebanese descent. He studied at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music under Raymond Lambert and Ada Corder. In 1967 he was awarded the first Australian Musicians' Overseas Scholarship and left for Europe, where he worked with Maria Curcio and Peter Feuchtwanger in London and with Vlado Perlemuter and Stefan Askenase in Paris. After his acclaimed Wigmore Hall debut in 1972, he was awarded Bronze Medal at the First Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition. His subsequent international concert career has specialized in the music of Schubert and of contemporary Australian composers, several of whom have written for him. He is regularly invited to give master classes when on tour and has played at festivals in Great Britain, South East Asia and Australia. His discography spans the repertoire from Bach to Bartók, including the Debussy Preludes, Beethoven's Diabelli Variations and late Bagatelles and a CD of virtuoso operatic transcriptions. His interpretation of Mozart and Schubert – on whom he has done extensive research particularly into the unfinished sonatas – has won particular respect. The International Franz Schubert Institute in Vienna, has published his essay on a performer's approach to playing Schubert's unfinished piano sonatas in its facsimile edition of the C major Sonata (Relique) D 840. He is the artistic director of the Easter Spring Festival at Ellys Manor House, Lincolnshire and a member of the Advisory Board of the Australian Music Foundation.