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Schoeck CO M P L E T E VIOLIN S O N ATA S
MARISTELLA PATUZZI violin MARIO PATUZZI piano
OTHMAR SCHOECK The three Sonatas for violin and piano The creative parabola of the Swiss composer Othmar Schoeck closely resembles that of many other artists who bore out their destiny in the same era. Born in Brunnen beside Lake Lucerne on September 1st 1886, Schoeck truly belonged to the “(Eighteen)-Eighties Generation” which, in a broad sense, included such artists as Alban Berg, Anton Webern, Igor Stravinsky, Béla Bartók, Zoltán Kodály, Alfredo Casella, Ildebrando Pizzetti and Karol Szymanowski: composers who entered their full creative maturity at a time of profound crisis and of the fundamental disruption of traditional musical language, endeavouring, each in his own way, to offer a personal solution to the problem. The three sonatas for violin and piano composed by Schoeck respectively in 1908/9, 1931 and 1905 (the latter being revised in 1952) offer an eloquent variety of choices of musical language which, in an exemplary manner, reflect all the different stylistic trends of the Swiss composer inherent to the various phases of his musical career. Son of a popular landscape painter, Schoeck had for some time been considering taking up his father’s profession, when he at last decided to study music at the Musikschule in Zurich, which he attended between 1904 and 1907. In 1907/1908 he did post-graduate studies in Leipzig under the guidance of Max Reger. He then returned home, at first earning his living (1909/1918) as a choirmaster in Zurich, while also beginning to become known as a composer. He was initially appreciated for his Lieder: following the great tradition of the German Lieder, they are without doubt quantitatively the most important part of Schoeck’s production. A man of great culture and intimate friend of the writer, Hermann Hesse – with whom he travelled to Italy and Ticino –Schoeck was appointed director of the Symphonic Concerts of St. Gallen in 1917, a position which at last allowed him to comfortably devote himself to composition. Among many other works, he wrote some eight operas, the libretto of the most important of which, Penthesilea, was his own adaptation of the play 2
by Heinrich von Kleist and performed with great success on 8 January 1927 at the Semperoper in Dresden. Schoeck always remained very closely tied to Germany and German culture. In April 1943 in fact, in the middle of World War II, while the fate of Germany was turning towards disaster, one of his works, Das Schloss Durande, was performed at the Staatsoper in Berlin. This caused some controversy in home, in part because of his undisguised Nazi sympathies. After a heart attack in 1944, which forced him to give up his role as director of the Symphonic Concerts of St. Gallen, Schoeck’s public commitments diminished considerably. He died in Zurich on March 8th 1957. The Sonata in D major for violin and piano Op.16, was composed in 1908/9, after studying in Leipzig with Max Reger, and is dedicated to the Hungarian violinist, Stefi Geyer (Budapest, 1888 - Zurich, 1956). Then in her early twenties, Geyer was a child prodigy, whose extraordinary musical talent, combined with a great personal charm – to which Schoeck was certainly not insensitive – gave rise to the Sonata and, a few years later (1911/1912) to his Violin Concerto Op.21, which is also dedicated to her (Geyer, as is well-known, was also the dedicatee of the First Violin Concerto of Bela Bartok, but this was published only after his death). Divided into three movements, Sonata Op.16 clearly reflects the musical language – essentially tied to tradition – that was typical of many Swiss composers in the first decade of the twentieth century. The work opens with a quiet Nicht zu langsam, that evokes a sense of demure recollection within a fluid and dreamy lyricism. The second movement, Ruhig, proposes an opening theme, of lyrical character, which alternates with more vivid ideas, the melodic contour of which is of vaguely Baroque ancestry. The influence of his studies with Max Reger becomes more evident in the final movement, Allegro con spirito, in which the contrapuntal writing is enhanced by a joyful and lively quintessence: a truly merry feastfulness of rhythmical interplay. Schoeck completed Sonata No.2 in E major Op.46 in 1931, twenty-two years after Sonata Op.16. Immediately after the end of World War I, and for much of the 3
twenties, Schoeck had very carefully contemplated European avant-garde music – an experience that had culminated in 1927 in the composition of Penthesilea, which is of strongly expressionistic character. But after 1928, and especially after a jury had rejected his Sonata for clarinet and piano at the International Festival of Contemporary Music in Siena, Schoeck had gradually moved away from his more radical experiences, to fall back on a more moderately updated style that he preserved until the end of his career. The contrast between this second Sonata and the previous one is very pronounced and is immediately evident right from the beginning of the Tranquillo opening movement. The warm luxuriousness and intimacy of the opening movement of Sonata Op.16, has now given way to a sort of austere neoclassicism and a more detached and restrained language. The second movement, Scherzo, rasch und leicht, takes its character directly from the title, highlighting Schoeck’s relinquishment of any concession to lyricism, a renunciation which pervades the whole work. With its almost lunar abstractness and the frenzy of the writing – in which the two instruments seem almost continuously to go each their own way – the Scherzo is probably the most successful movement of the entire composition, finally flowing seamlessly into the final movement, Breit. Kräftig bewegt, a very complex page of severe and introverted character. The CD ends with the Sonata in D major WoO22, which is actually the first of the Sonatas to have been composed, but which was later revised by the author in the last years of his life and finally published only in 1956. Schoeck composed it in 1905, when he was only nineteen and still studying at the Musikschule in Zurich, thus well before his studies with Max Reger in Leipzig. Like its two sister-works, Sonata WoO22 has only three movements, and shows all the characteristics of a youthful work of a very promising composer who has not yet reached maturity, but who already clearly reveals all the gifts of his talent: a melodic richness that is not ashamed to freely express itself in the initial Anmutig bewegt; Schoeck’s already considerable ability in musical manipulation to be found in the central Thema mit 4
Variationen; and the especially notable clear plasticity of the musical profile of the conclusive Schnelle Viertel. In 1952 Schoeck returned to this youthful composition, which he had never wanted to publish, modified some passages and effected some modest cuts, but without significantly affecting the substantial nature of the work. And it was Stefi Geyer, the muse of almost fifty years before (who in the meantime had settled in Zurich and who had re-established cordially formal relations with the composer) who, with the pianist Walter Frey, would take on responsibility for the first performance of the work after its revision. This performance took place in Zurich on the 6th March 1954. In 1956 the Canton of Zurich then oversaw the publication of the first edition of the Sonata WoO22, offering it as a gift to the composer in occasion of his seventieth birthday. © Danilo Prefumo Translation: Robert Michaels
OTHMAR SCHOECK Le tre Sonate per violino e pianoforte La parabola creativa del compositore svizzero Othmar Schoeck ricorda da vicino quella di molti altri autori che ebbero la sorte di vivere nella sua stessa epoca. Nato a Brunnen, sul Lago dei Quattro Cantoni, il primo settembre del 1886, Schoeck apparteneva a tutti gli effetti a quella “Generazione dell’Ottanta” di cui facevano parte, in senso lato, Alban Berg, Anton Webern, Igor Stravinskij, Béla Bartók, Zoltán Kodály, Alfredo Casella, Ildebrando Pizzetti, Karol Szymanowski: autori che entrarono nel periodo della loro piena maturità creativa in un momento di fortissima crisi e sconvolgimento del linguaggio musicale tradizionale, cercando, ciascuno a modo proprio, di offrire una personale soluzione al problema. Le tre Sonate per violino e pianoforte composte da Schoeck rispettivamente nel 1908/9, nel 1931 e nel 1905 (ma revisionata nel 1952) offrono un’eloquente varietà di scelte di linguaggio 5
musicale, che riflette in maniera esemplare i vari orientamenti stilistici del compositore svizzero nelle diverse fasi della sua carriera musicale. Figlio di un apprezzato pittore di paesaggi, Schoeck aveva pensato per qualche tempo di dedicarsi professionalmente all’attività del padre, e solo in seguito avevo optato definitivamente per gli studi musicali alla Musikschule di Zurigo, da lui frequentata tra il 1904 e il 1907. Negli anni 1907/1908 si perfezionò a Lipsia sotto la guida di Max Reger; tornato in patria, si guadagnò da vivere dapprima (1909/1918) come direttore di coro a Zurigo e cominciò anche a farsi conoscere come compositore, venendo inizialmente apprezzato soprattutto per i suoi Lieder, scritti nel solco della grande tradizione tedesca: i Lieder costituiscono in effetti la parte quantitativamente più importante della produzione di Schoeck. Uomo di notevole cultura, amico dello scrittore Hermann Hesse, col quale viaggiò anche in Italia e nel Canton Ticino, nel 1917 Schoeck fu nominato direttore dei Concerti Sinfonici a San Gallo, ciò che gli permise di dedicarsi finalmente con agio alla composizione. Tra le altre cose, scrisse otto opere teatrali, la più importante delle quali, Penthesilea, su libretto proprio tratto dall’omonimo dramma di Heinrich von Kleist, fu rappresentata con grande successo l’8 gennaio del 1927 alla Semperoper di Dresda. Schoeck fu molto legato alla Germania. Nell’aprile del 1943, nel bel mezzo della seconda guerra mondiale, e quando ormai le sorti della Germania volgevano al peggio, una sua opera, Das Schloss Dürande, fu messa in scena alla Staatsoper di Berlino, e la cosa provocò non poche polemiche in patria, anche a causa delle non celate simpatie naziste del compositore. Dopo essere stato colpito da un attacco di cuore nel 1944, che lo obbligò a rinunciare all’attività di direttore dei Concerti Sinfonici di San Gallo, Schoeck diradò notevolmente i propri impegni pubblici. Morì a Zurigo l’otto marzo del 1957. La Sonata in Re maggiore per violino e pianoforte Op.16 fu composta negli anni 1908/9, dopo gli studi lipsiensi con Max Reger, ed è dedicata alla violinista ungherese Stefi Geyer (Budapest, 1888 – Zurigo, 1956). Allora poco più che ventenne, la Geyer 6
era stata una bambina prodigio; ad uno straordinario talento musicale univa anche un grande fascino personale al quale Schoeck non fu certo insensibile, e che si tradusse anche nella composizione, qualche tempo dopo la Sonata (1911/1912), del Concerto per violino Op.21, esso pure a lei dedicato (la Geyer, com’è noto, fu anche la dedicataria del primo Concerto per violino di Béla Bartók, che però fu pubblicato solo dopo la sua morte). Articolata in tre movimenti, la Sonata Op.16 riflette in maniera esemplare il linguaggio musicale, sostanzialmente legato alla tradizione, tipico del compositore svizzero nel primo decennio del Novecento. L’opera si apre con un tranquillo Nicht zu langsam, di un’effusività pudica e raccolta, dalla cantabilità fluida e sognante. Nel secondo movimento, Ruhig, al motivo iniziale, di carattere lirico, si alternano spunti più vivaci, dal profilo melodico di ascendenza vagamente barocca; l’influsso degli studi compiuti con Max Reger appare poi evidente nel movimento conclusivo, Allegro con spirito, in cui la scrittura contrappuntistica si sposa ad un andamento gioioso e vivace, ad una festevole piacevolezza di accenti. Schoeck portò a termine la Sonata No.2 in Mi maggiore Op.46 nel 1931, ventidue anni dopo la Sonata Op.16. Subito dopo la fine della prima guerra mondiale, e per buona parte degli anni Venti, Schoeck aveva guardato con molta attenzione alle avanguardie musicali europee – un’esperienza che era culminata, nel 1927, nella composizione dell’opera Penthesilea, di carattere fortemente espressionistico. Ma dopo il 1928, e segnatamente dopo che la giuria aveva rifiutato la sua Sonata per clarinetto basso e pianoforte al Festival Internazionale di Musica Contemporanea, a Siena, Schoeck si era progressivamente allontanato dalle esperienze più radicali, per ripiegare su un linguaggio moderatamente aggiornato che conservò fino alla fine della sua carriera. La distanza che separa questa seconda Sonata dalla precedente è comunque evidentissima e si avverte immediatamente fin dalle prime battute del Tranquillo d’apertura. La calda effusività, l’intimismo dell’analogo primo movimento della Sonata Op.16 hanno qui lasciato il posto ad una sorta di austero neoclassicismo, ad un linguaggio più distaccato e contenuto. Il secondo movimento, Scherzo, rasch 7
und leicht, declina il suo carattere fin dal titolo, evidenziando la rinuncia ad ogni concessione al lirismo che impregna tutta l’opera. Con la sua lunare astrattezza, all’interno di una scrittura concitata in cui i due strumenti sembrano procedere quasi sempre ciascuno per conto proprio, lo Scherzo è probabilmente il momento migliore dell’intera composizione: esso sfocia poi senza soluzione di continuità nel movimento finale, Breit. Kräftig bewegt, una pagina estremamente complessa, dal carattere severo e introverso. Conclude il CD la Sonata in Re maggiore WoO22, che in realtà è la prima in ordine di tempo ad essere stata composta, ma che fu poi riveduta dall’autore negli ultimi anni della sua vita e infine pubblicata nel 1956. Schoeck la scrisse nel 1905, a soli diciannove anni, all’epoca di suoi studi alla Musikschule di Zurigo, e dunque prima di iniziare i corsi di perfezionamento con Max Reger, a Lipsia. Formata da tre soli movimenti come le altre due consorelle, la Sonata WoO22 mostra tutti i caratteri dell’opera della giovinezza di un compositore molto promettente che non ha ancora raggiunto la maturità, ma che già lascia intravvedere con chiarezza tutti i doni del suo talento: la ricchezza melodica che non si vergogna di effondersi liberamente nell’Anmutig bewegt iniziale, l’abilità di manipolazione musicale già ragguardevole nel Thema mit Variationen centrale, la chiara plasticità del profilo musicale dello Schnelle Viertel conclusivo. Nel 1952 Schoeck ritornò sulla sua composizione giovanile, che non aveva mai voluto pubblicare, modificò qualche passaggio e operò alcuni modesti tagli, senza peraltro alterare in modo significativo il carattere sostanziale del suo lavoro. E fu proprio la musa di quasi cinquant’anni prima, Stefi Geyer, che nel frattempo si era stabilita a Zurigo e intratteneva rapporti cordialmente formali col compositore, a curare insieme al pianista Walter Frey la prima esecuzione dell’opera successiva alla revisione, il 6 marzo 1954, a Zurigo. Nel 1956 il Cantone di Zurigo curò poi la prima edizione della Sonata WoO22 offrendola come regalo al compositore in occasione del suo settantesimo compleanno. © Danilo Prefumo
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Maristella Patuzzi was born in Lugano. At the age of four, she began playing violin and piano. At seventeen she was awarded the Diploma in Violin as a private student – with full marks, honours and special mention – at the Conservatorio Giuseppe Verdi in Milano: the same year she gained her Swiss federal matriculation at the Lugano Liceo. She studied with Susanne Holm from 1995 and with Massimo Quarta from 1997 to 2003, having been awarded a scholarship by the Pierino Ambrosoli Foundation of Zurich. In March 2005 she was admitted to Indiana University, Bloomington as a graduate student in the class of Miriam Fried, where she was awarded a scholarship for excellence. After 2006 she studied under the guidance of Mark Kaplan and in 2007 she gained a Performing Diploma with full marks and then in 2008 a Master Degree in Violin, again with the highest possible marks. In 2011 she was received her second Master of Arts Degree in Specialized Music Performance with First Honours at the Conservatorio della Svizzera Italiana in Lugano. From the age of five she has often played in public accompanied by her father, Mario Patuzzi. At the age of ten she gave her first concert as soloist with an orchestra in Lugano Cathedral and her first recital in Minusio (Locarno). She was then awarded the 1997 Premio Elisarion for the “remarkable personality of her interpretation” and for the “charisma that radiates throughout her performances”. Just after her eleventh birthday she recorded Ravel’s Tzigane for the Televisione della Svizzera Italiana. In 2000 Sony published her first live CD. Since 2002 she has performed as soloist with the Orchestra Mozart in Milano, Padova and Veneto, with the Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana, with the Adelphi Symphony Orchestra of Long Island, New York, with the Lucerna Chamber Orchestra, with Mitteleuropa Orchestra, Philarmonia Orchestra in London and Orchestra Arturo Toscanini recording Manuel De Sica violin Concert, published in 2014 by Brilliant Classics. In January 2015 maristella got 2 new important CD release: the first for Brilliant Classics dedicated to Bloch’s music recorded in duo with her father, pianist Mario Patuzzi, and recorded at Auditorium RSI in Lugano; the second, entitled “Intimamente Tango”, dedicated 9
to the music of Astor Piazzolla, published by DECCA (Universal Music) performed with harpist Floraleda Sacchi. She has won first prizes in competitions in Biella, Villar Perosa, Tortona, Freeze, Vittorio Veneto, the Premio Bruno Zanella in Crevalcore (Bologna), the Torneo Internazionale di Musica in Rome, the Friedl Wald Foundation Scholarship in Basel, the Premio Francesco Geminiani in Verona, the Preis der Stiftung für junge Musiktalente 2011/2012 in Meggen, as well as other prizes for chamber music. She has performed in many festivals: the Lake District Summer Music Festival, the Mozart Festival of Rovereto (Italy), the Festivals of Ischia and of Bologna, the Progetto Martha Argerich in Lugano, the International Rostropovich Festival in Baku and Octobre Musical Carthage 2014. Her violin is Stradivari, Ex Bello Mary Law, 1687, lent by a private collector. Mario Patuzzi was only 19 years old when he finished his final examinations at the classical secondary school and at the same time gained his diploma in pianoforte with full marks and honours, at the Francesco Antonio Bonporti Conservatoire of Trent (Trento) – who then immediately offered him a full teaching professorship. Having won a series of prizes in various Italian competitions ((Monza, Treviso, Livorno, Taranto, Vercelli, Trieste e Varallo Sesia), he was then awarded First Prize at the Munich International Music Competition in 1977. Following an intense period of recitals and concerts with various orchestras, including those of the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, the Bayerischer Rundfunk (Munich) and the Hesseischer Rundfunk (Frankfurt am Main), he then spent several years studying harmony, counterpoint and composition with Andrea Mascagni and Renato Dionisi, gaining his diploma in composition in 1983 at Trent Conservatoire. He has made many recordings for the Swiss Radiotelevisione di lingua italiana, while continuing his international concert career performing, in particular, the complete Twenty-seven Études by Fryderyk Chopin. He also recorded Cherubini’s Capriccio for the Nuova Era lable and then, for the Dynamic label, the complete piano works of Julius Reubke, Franz Listz’s favourite pupil. 10
He has always remained faithful to his mission in teaching pianoforte, with a full professorship at the Como Giuseppe Verdi Conservatoire, as well as giving seminars and post-graduate courses in Lugano, at the Festival di Musica del Novecento in Perugia, at the Universities of Trent and Piacenza, in Val Tidone and at the Kunitachi University of Tokyo. In January 2015, Brilliant Classics published a monographic CD dedicated to the music of Ernst Bloch (95015), which he had recorded together with his daughter Maristella, at the Auditorium of the Radio della Svizzera Italiana in Lugano.
Recording: 18 & 19 May 2013, Auditorio Stelio Molo RSI, Lugano – Besso, Switzerland Sound-engineer: Manuel Veronesi Mastering and editing: Manuel Veronesi Musical supervision: Manuel Veronesi Producer: Giovanni Caruso Executive Producer: Giuseppe Clericetti RSI – Rete Due Photographer: Patuzzi Photo Writer and musicologist: Danilo Prefumo p & © 2016 Brilliant Classics
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