RICHARD JENKINSON and BEN FRITH
SATURDAY 25th JUNE 2011 at 8:00 pm
Richard Jenkinson (violoncello)
Benjamin Frith (pianoforte)
Benjamin Frith
Suite Italienne (after "Pulcinella") Igor Stravinsky
Sinfonia Serenata Scherzino Allegretto Andantino Tarantella Toccata Gavotta (con due variazioni) Vivo Minuetto Finale
Stravinsky's ballet Pulcinella was based on the classical Italian commedia dell'arte including themes by Pergolesi and others. Its composition in 1920 marked Stravinsky's conversion from the complex modernity of works such as the Rite of Spring to the leaner "neoclassical" style in which he continued for several decades. Although Stravinsky hardly changed Pergolesi's melodies and bass lines, he laced them with modern harmonies and rhythms.
Spurred by the ballet's popularity, Stravinsky later selected 11 movements from the original 18 to form the orchestral Suite Italienne which he transcribed for cello and piano.
Sonata in D minor (Op 40) Dmitri Shostakovich
Allegro non troppo Allegro Largo Allegro
This early work was composed in 1934, a period of emotional turmoil as Shostakovich had fallen in love with a young student, resulting in what was to prove a brief divorce from his wife Nina. Shortly after, he was to be criticised as being too "bourgeois", although this work displays much of the sarcasm and cynicism that was to follow this denouncement.
The first movement is in sonata form. The cello presents the broad first theme accompanied by piano arpeggios which develop to an intense climax. The piano reduces the tension with the tender second theme, with unusual tonal shifts, to be imitated by the cello. A spiky motif penetrates the development of the first theme, but soon the gentler second theme reappears. Shostakovich casts convention aside by introducing the recapitulation pianissimo in slow motion, with the cello's sustained line set against staccato chords in the piano.
In the second movement perpetuum mobile both instruments share a relentless ostinato, whilst the piano presents a delicate almost incongruous theme in widely spaced octaves. The cello then offers a more light-hearted theme which is later imitated in the piano's brittle highest range. Piquant wit abounds in contorted familiar gestures and sudden lurches into unrelated keys, until the opening ostinato leads to a sudden conclusion.
The slow movement evokes the bleak expanses of Russia: the piano providing a dark backdrop for the cello's rhapsodic, vocal theme. This is an early example of a mood that was to feature in many of Shostakovich's most powerful works: reflective introspection portrayed by icy dissonances that touch on warmer consonances, until the music fades into an impressionist twilight.
Caustic wit colours the brief ebullient finale in rondo form. The main playful theme appears three times, imitated by both instruments, interspersed by episodes full of sparking scales. In the second of these, the piano lets loose a helter-skelter cadenza, veering into unexpected tonalities. The main theme returns, to close the movement in abrupt yet decisive brilliance.
INTERVAL
Sonata in G minor (Op 19) Sergei Rachmaninov
Lento: Allegro moderato Allegro scherzando Andante Allegro mosso
Rachmaninov wrote his Cello Sonata in 1901, at a time when he could scarcely have anticipated his exile from his beloved Russia. It is, nevertheless, a highly romantic work infused with typical Rachmaninov regret. Not surprisingly, it seems more of a "sonata for piano with cello".
The first movement begins with a slow introduction in which the piano presents a six-note theme that is to play a key role throughout. The tempo picks up and the cello presents a passionate theme to be followed by a slower, wistful melody leading to a stormy development. The recapitulation ensues and the movement ends with the themes racing to the finish, the piano crowning the coda with three resolute chords.
The second movement begins with piano writing reminiscent of the faster sinister passages in the Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. The cello presents a brief rhythmic motif at the start, to be followed by two fuller themes, the second of which is recalls the mood of the slow movements of the second and third piano concertos.
The third movement opens with the piano extolling an intimate and passionate theme. The cello expands the material again in concerto style to a powerful climax, and the movement ends softly.
The cello starts the finale with a robust theme, which is followed by a soaring passionate second subject. The two themes interplay deftly until the coda is announced by the cello recalling the piano's opening notes from the first movement, and the work ends brilliantly.
Richard Jenkinson studied with Raphael Wallfisch and William Pleeth. After winning the Gold Medal at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, he studied abroad with Yfrah Neaman and Peter Wallfisch. In 1994 he became principal cellist in the CBSO under Simon Rattle, and since invited guest cello leader of the Philharmonia, Halle, Northern Sinfonia, BBC Scottish and Royal Liverpool Philharmonic orchestras as well as playing in the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group. He has performed internationally as a soloist and in concertos, and his performance in Nairn of the complete Beethoven sonatas was unforgettable. Richard founded a string ensemble in 2002 which has played and broadcast widely, and is a member of the Frith Piano Quartet. His recordings and broadcasts include works by Bach, Boccherini, Kodaly, Martinu, Berkley, Kodaly and others.
Benjamin Frith studied under Dame Fanny Waterman (of "the Leeds"). At twenty he won the Mozart Memorial Prize and was invited by Sir Peter Pears to appear at the Aldeburgh Festival. He achieved international recognition by sharing top prize in the 1986 Busoni International Piano Competition and first prize in the 1989 Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Competition, and made his dιbut at the Edinburgh Festival in 1992 with Beethoven's Diabelli Variations. He has given recitals and concerto performances worldwide with many leading orchestras and conductors including Zubin Mehta and Tamαs Vαsαry. Frith's solo recording has explored the early Romantics such as Hummel, Mendelssohn and John Field, an area in which he specialises.