KURT NIKKANEN and MARIA ASTERIADOU

SUNDAY 3rd APRIL 2011 at 2:30 pm

J.S. Bach - Sonata for Violin & Harpsichord No 3 in E major BWV1016

Beethoven - Violin Sonata in A major Op 47 'Kreutzer'

Debussy - Violin Sonata

de Falla - Suite Populaire Espagnole

Waxman - Carmen Fantasy

PROGRAMME NOTES

(For performer biographies, see below)

Violin Sonata No 3 in E major (BWV1016)            J.S. Bach

Adagio – Allegro – Adagio ma non tanto – Allegro

The E major is the best developed of Bach's six sonatas for violin and harpsichord, which were amongst the first to have the keyboard part written out rather than presented as a figured bass. This allowed Bach to write a complex part (more of a trio sonata than an accompaniment) which is particularly harmonic in the first and (passacaglia) third movements, and polyphonic in the second and fourth movements. The instruments play an equal part and their interchanges foretell much to follow in the classical period.

Violin Sonata in A Major "Kreutzer" Op 47            Beethoven

Adagio sostenuto: Presto – Andante con variazioni – Finale: Presto

The "Kreutzer" is perhaps the doyen of all violin sonatas - indeed, Beethoven conceived of it as more of a concerto than a sonata in scale and ambition.  The first movement opens with a slow elegy on the violin which is answered by the piano.  The first theme proper creeps in presto and we are off to Beethoven at his best.  The first theme is the focus of the development in free sonata form and increasingly virtuosic fugal style, with lesser use of the slow second theme: a brief eventual recapitulation of the first theme leads to a lengthy coda echoing the opening elegy before finishing with a dash.  The second movement presents an elegant melody which is subject to highly imaginative variation which stretches the theme almost beyond recognition, whilst the finale, based on a relentless tarantella, includes a fugue and is in sonata rather than rondo form: increasing suspense ends in pure Beethovenian joy.

Allegro vivo – Intermède: fantasque et léger – Finale: très animé

This, Debussy's last work written within a year of his death, has tragic elements that seem to presage his painful demise from cancer, or perhaps reflect on the tragedy of the on-going Great War – but the work transcends both when the introspective theme which opens the first movement is recalled, now in the major, in the triumphant closing bars of the third movement, whilst the skittish second movement is hardly the work of someone facing his end. This work exploits, as only Debussy could, the subtlest shading of colour in both instruments: the violin makes liberal use of harmonics, triple and quadruple stopping. The work is more cyclical – motif-based – than classical in structure. How much is achieved in this short work, and how one wonders how Debussy would have developed 20th century language had he lived longer!

El paño moruno – Nana – Canción – Polo – Asturiana – Jota

De Falla, perhaps Spain's greatest 20th century composer, originally wrote this work in 1914 as a set of songs, but it soon became more famous in a violin transcription. It is quintessentially Spanish music based on traditional dance forms: all the excitement of the swirling skirts and seductive smiles of the dancers in the heat of the fiesta are beautifully portrayed in this virtuoso piece. The order of the dances varies between de Falla's original and Kochanski's transcription, and may not be as listed here.

Fireworks alternate with lingering, often gypsy inspired, variations on Bizet's well-known theme in this work by this German émigré who produced much film music for Fritz Lang in addition to several well respected orchestral works. The Carmen Fantasy was, in fact, one of several tracks composed in 1947 for a film about a struggling violinist (!): it was written for Jascha Heifetz but played in the film by Isaac Stern when the producers refused to pay Heifetz' fee!.

American violinist Kurt Nikkanen was born in Hartford, Connecticut, and began his violin studies at the age of three, later studying with Roman Totenberg and Jens Ellerman. At twelve he gave his Carnegie Hall debut, performing with the New York Symphony; two years later he was invited by Zubin Mehta to perform the Paganini Concerto No 1 with the New York Philharmonic for a Young People's Concert. He studied with Dorothy DeLay at the Juilliard School.

Kurt regularly receives invitations from the leading orchestras in the USA and Europe, and has toured Japan and the Far East. An enthusiastic advocate of contemporary music, Kurt has given numerous performances of the John Adams Violin Concerto, and he has recorded Steven R Gerber's violin concerto, which was written especially for him. Highlights of recent seasons have included a UK tour with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, performances with the Gothenburg Symphony and Neeme Jarvi at the BBC Proms, and concerts with the Rotterdam Philharmonic, Prague Symphony and RTE Orchestra in Dublin. Kurt has given recitals at Wigmore Hall and at Lincoln Center, performing "ViolinDance" - a programme consisting of pieces composed upon or inspired by dance forms, similar to the inspiration for tonight's concert.

MARIA ASTERIADOU

A native of Greece, Kurt's wife Maria is an acclaimed soloist and chamber musician highly praised as an artist with intense personality, virtuosic flair and beautiful tone.

Maria has performed with many orchestras, including the Moscow Radio Symphony, Academy of St Martin in the Fields, and the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. Her love for her native Greece and her enthusiasm for new music has resulted in prestigious premiere performances of works by many of Greece's most important composers. As an active chamber musician, Maria has collaborated with members of the New York Philharmonic and performs regularly in Festivals and Summer Music Institutes. Together with Kurt she founded the Elektra Chamber Players, an ensemble comprised of performers from the great orchestras and conservatories of New York City.

The recipient of numerous awards and prizes, Maria won first prize in performance from the State Conservatory in Greece as well as top prize in the Maria Callas International Piano Competition. Maria enjoys the distinction of being the only pianist selected from the Musik Hochschule in Freiburg to perform in honour of the composer-conductor Pierre Boulez in Baden Baden, Germany. Both her Geneva debut recital, as well as her debut at Weill Hall in New York's Carnegie Hall, for which she won the sponsoring competitions, were greeted with rave reviews. In 1992 she won the Dora Zaslovsky piano competition at the Manhattan School of Music in New York and consequently was selected to collaborate with the renowned conductor, Christopher Keene in a critically acclaimed performance of Beethoven's Third Piano Concerto.

In addition to her performing career Maria is also an energetic and passionate teacher. In the summers of 2002 and 2004 she served as a Chamber Music Coach at the New York Piano Competition.