Fr ench V i o l i n Sonatas
Natalia Lomeiko Olga SITKOVETSKY
GARETH FARR RUAUMOKO NEW ZEALAND SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA KENNETH YOUNG
Claude Debussy
Sonata for Violin and Piano in G minor 1 Allegro vivo – Appassionata 2 Intermède: Fantasque et léger 3 Finale: Très animé
13:49 5:00 4:08 4:41
Maurice Ravel
Sonata for Violin and Piano in G major 4 Allegretto 5 Blues: Moderato 6 Perpetuum mobile: Allegro
17:34 7:50 5:32 4:12
Fr ench V i o l i n Sonatas
Natalia Lomeiko Olga SITKOVETSKY
Maurice Ravel
7 Pièce en forme de Habanera
3:07
Eugène Ysaÿe
8 Poème élégiaque, Op. 12
13:26 TRI3003
Camille Saint-Saëns / Eugène Ysaÿe
9 Valse-Caprice
Total Time
8:31 56:29
Digital Stereo Recording C 2004 Trust Records International Ltd P2004 Trust Records International Ltd
Claude Debussy (1862-1918)
and falling glissando. Beneath this, the piano
Sonata for Violin and Piano
launches into its own arpeggios. With the
in G minor
recapitulation the violin echoes these arpeggios
Allegro vivo – Appassionata
and the accompaniment recalls the opening
Intermède: Fantasque et léger
theme. Once again, violin and piano switch
Finale: Très animé
places although the piano takes a secondary
First performed in 1917, this sonata was
role as the coda begins.
Debussy’s last completed work. It was the third
The evanescent second movement
in a proposed cycle of six sonatas. A sonata for
opens with a delightful tune played by both
flute, viola and harp, and another for cello and
instruments at a distance of two octaves with
piano had preceded it in 1915. The project then
piano chords between. The piano subsequently
came to a standstill, the composer’s advancing
has the double-octave melody with both
cancer preventing its completion.
instruments filling the middle register.
Nonetheless Debussy himself premiered
Debussy’s finale has hints of a toccata. It
the G minor Sonata with violinist Gaston Poulet
opens with a brilliant piano motive embodying
in what was to be his last public performance.
the main theme of the preceding Intermède. The
The first movement has much in common with
violin harks back to the opening of the sonata
classical sonata form, but instead of developing
and the remainder of the work comprises a
existing material the central section introduces
burlesque-like figure introduced by violin alone.
two new themes, the second resembling a chant with repeated notes followed by a rising
Although the 1914-18 War sharpened Debussy’s jingoism, as early as the 1890s he
was conscious of the threat Wagner posed to
Maurice Ravel (1875-1937)
the development of French music, regarding
Sonata for Violin and Piano
an ‘assault’ on Wagner’s idiom as a sacred
in G major
crusade. His final work stands in total contrast
Allegretto
to the developmental attitudes that motivated
Blues: Moderato
Wagner; indeed, it progresses in a succession
Perpetuum mobile: Allegro
of flurries and agitations, like leaves in an
Written between 1923 and 1927, this sonata
autumn wind.
is, like that of Debussy, a three-movement work concluding in G major. Otherwise the two works have scarcely any similarity. There seems little doubt that Ravel was aware of – and possibly familiar with – Debussy’s three sonatas. But where the older composer had committed himself in his final work to exploring the ‘heartbeat’ of the violin in a thoroughly Romantic manner, Ravel intended nothing of the sort in his own sonata. The work’s long gestation began when Raoul Gunsbourg signed Ravel to complete L’Enfant et les Sortilèges for the Monte Carlo Opera by the end of 1924. Ravel had previously explored more discordant
and aggressive territory in the Duo for Violin
Maurice Ravel (1875-1937)
and Cello (1920-22). Yet in this sonata, he
Pièce en forme de Habanera
adhered to a more balanced, Classical form,
During 1907 Ravel embarked on his ‘Spanish
although he appeared to regard the violin
phase’, beginning with the Vocalise-Étude en
primarily as the source of a sound distinct from
forme de Habanera for voice and piano. Later
that of the piano: ‘essentially incompatible
it was to become available in transcriptions for
instruments,’ he called them.
violin, cello, harp, four flutes, alto saxophone
In the first movement, violin and piano
and clarinet. The original was written as a
do share material but the first theme is
study for pupils of A.L. Hettich at the Paris
demonstrably so well suited to the violin that
Conservatoire where Ravel also studied with
it sets the two instruments somewhat at odds.
Fauré and the professor of counterpoint and
It proceeds with long 6/8-9/8 rhythms and
fugue André Gedalge. In the most popular
as many as five distinct motifs. The central
versions for violin, cello, and four flutes his
‘Blues’ was a gamble designed to incense the
piece gained widespread popularity, giving
reactionaries by introducing snatches of jazz
credence to the quip that the best Spanish
into a ‘Classical’ setting. And finally, in the fabric
music is by French composers. In any event
of semiquavers of the Perpetuum mobile, Ravel
the modest piece became a launching pad for
seems to nod slyly in the direction of Paganini –
a succession of works incorporating Spanish
evidently trying a foot in two camps long before
idioms; notably the evocative finale of his one-
the term ‘crossover’ was coined.
act opera, L’Heure espagnole and the crystalsharp Rapsodie espagnole. On more than one
occasion this interpretation of the Iberian dance
EugèneYsaÿe (1858-1931)
form was cited as Ravel’s first masterpiece. Its
Poème élégiaque, Op. 12
significance to the composer is made clear by
In this work, written in 1892/93 and dedicated
his quotation of Baudelaire in the inscription
to Gabriel Fauré, the Belgian composer,
to his first, unpublished, essay in the form, the
conductor and towering violin virtuoso seems to
Habanera for two pianos of 1895: ‘au pays
distance himself from the taxing virtuoso works
parfumé que le soleil caressé’ (to the beautiful,
of his youth which were composed primarily for
perfumed country, caressed by the sun).
display. Ysaÿe’s sole legacy from that dazzling past is the effective employment of scordatura (altered tuning): in this work, the lowest string of the violin is tuned from G to the F a tone lower, giving it a darker coloration, the instrument tending to sound like a viola. The work was initially written for violin and piano, and Ysaÿe subsequently orchestrated it. However it was the violin and piano original that made a huge impression on Ernest Chausson, serving later as the catalyst for the composition of his famous and deeply moving Poème for violin and orchestra. Ysaÿe gladly lent his assistance and advice to the composer, notably in the writing of
the solo part and its integral cadenza. The mood
Waltz, providing ammunition to detractors
and form of these two works have, therefore,
who increasingly ridiculed Saint-Saëns as
much in common, and both conclude with
a composer of frivolous nineteenth-century
ethereal trills. It is said that Chausson eventually
lollipops. It fell to the Belgian virtuoso Eugène
referred to his own inescapably sombre work as
Ysaÿe to rework the waltz into its present form,
‘Mon-ton poème’ (my-your poem).
transforming it in doing so into a yet more impressive showpiece for violin – not least for ‘barnstormer’ Ysaÿe himself. A year before, de Serres had asked César Franck, another noted Belgian, for a concertante piece; in response he penned Les Djinns, in which the orchestra represents forces of evil and the piano forces of
Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921) /
light. If Saint-Saëns felt any animosity over this
Eugène Ysaÿe
‘intrusion’ it did not show in the romantic and
9 Valse-Caprice
lively Valse-Caprice, whose principal melody
In 1885, the same year that Saint-Saëns
has become familiar to thousands.
composed his first violin sonata, he presented one Caroline de Serres with this waltz as a wedding gift, in its original version for piano and strings. This most delightful and lively work came to be known as the Wedding-Cake
Frances Hodgkins (1869-1947), The Miller’s House, Cerne Abbis, Dorset, 1943, gouache on paper, 535 x 425 mm. Courtesy of John Leech Gallery, Auckland.
Natalia Lomeiko Born into a family of musicians in Novosibirsk, Russia in 1979, Natalia Lomeiko has already established herself internationally as a regular performing artist. She has won prizes in the Menuhin International Violin Competition in 1993 and 1995, the Tibor Varga International Violin Competition in 1997, the Antonio Stradivari International Violin Competition in 1998 and the Tchaikovsky International Violin Competition in 1998. She won the Gisborne Music Competition in 1999, the 2000 Young Musician of the Year Competition (New Zealand), and received the Gold Medal and the First Prize in the Premio Paganini International Violin Competition in the same year. In 2003 Lomeiko won the First Prize in the Michael Hill International Violin Competition. Lomeiko studied at the Specialist Music School in Novosibirsk with Professor A. Gvozdev, at the Yehudi Menuhin School in England with Lord Menuhin and Professor N. Boyarskaya, at the Royal College of Music and the Royal Academy of Music with Professor Hu Kun. Since her debut with the Novosibirsk Symphony Orchestra at the age of seven, Lomeiko has performed as a soloist with many orchestras, including the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Lord Menuhin, the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, the Tokyo Royal Philharmonic and the Nice Philharmonic. In 2001 she recorded the three violin sonatas of Edvard Greig with pianist Olga Sitkovetsky. Natalia Lomeiko has performed extensively as a soloist and chamber musician in such prestigious venues in London as the Wigmore Hall, the Purcell Room, the Queen Elizabeth Hall, Buckingham Palace, the Barbican and the Royal Festival Hall. She has toured Great Britain, Italy, France, Germany, Finland, Russia, Poland, USA, Brazil, Puerto Rico, Japan and New Zealand.
Olga Sitkovetsky Born in Moscow, Russia, Olga Sitkovetsky studied piano and concertmaster skills at the College of Music affiliated with the Moscow Conservatory, and later at the St. Petersburg Conservatory. Sitkovetsky has performed as an accompanist in numerous international violin competitions and has received numerous awards for her accompaniment. She has also participated in the International Musical Academies in Tours (France), Kent (England) and in summer courses in Italy and France. In 1991, Lord Menuhin invited her as an accompanist to the Yehudi Menuhin School of Music in Surrey, England. Her work at the School from 1991-2000 has helped a number of students to win top prizes at major international competitions. Sitkovetsky now enjoys accompanying these former students, now accomplished musicians, in their tours all over the world. She participated in a compact disc recording celebrating Lord Menuhin’s 80th birthday. In July 1998, Sitkovetsky made her official American debut at the renowned Newport Music Festival in Rhode Island. Recently, Sitkovetsky has toured extensively in Italy, Belgium, Gilbraltar, Japan, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. 2002 and 2003 found her performing in some of the most prestigious concert venues in the world including Carnegie Hall, the Concertgebouw, the Salzburg ‘Mozarteum’ and the Vienna Konzerthaus. She has also recorded with various artists for Angel Records/EMI Classics, Dynamic, Naxos and ASV.
Frances Hodkins (1869-1947) Frances Mary Hodgkins is arguably the first major New Zealand artist of the twentieth century, and certainly one of its best known. Although born in Dunedin she spent a large portion of her adult life in Europe, principally in France and Britain. While in France she became interested in impressionism and this concern for light and its effects can be seen in much of her painting. At the time war broke out in September 1939 until her death in 1947, Hodgkins lived between the village of Corfe Castle in Dorset and a cottage in Somerset. Her work was largely associated at this time with the neoromantic artists. Her colours and medium changed from the strong clear palette of her watercolours of the 1920s and 30s to the muted broken tones of her gouache technique. These works largely depict exterior scenes of farmhouses and disused machinery in the idiosyncratic naturalism of her late style. Although her works became increasingly sombre during the war years, she did not lose her expressive sense of colour. Her brushstrokes, while firm, became increasingly more rhythmic adding a new level of intensity to her painting
French Violin Sontatas Natalia Lomeiko Olga Sitkovetsky TRI003 Digital Stereo Recording C 2004 Trust Records International Limited 2004 Trust Records International Limited Recorded in Wathen Hall, St Paul’s School, London, 19-21 April 2003 Producer Andrew Keener Recording Engineer Simon Eadon Digital Editing and Mastering Wayne Laird Executive Producer Ross Hendy Design Mallabar Music Photography Sasha Gusov Music Notes Howard Smith Trust Records International gratefully acknowledges the support of the following people and organisations in the making of this recording: Melanie Roger, John Leech Gallery ALL RIGHTS OF THE PRODUCER AND OF THE OWNER OF THE WORK REPRODUCED ARE RESERVED. UNAUTHORISED COPYING, HIRING, LENDING, PUBLIC PERFORMANCE AND BROADCASTING OF THIS RECORDING IS PROHIBITED.
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GARETH FARR RUAUMOKO NEW ZEALAND SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA KENNETH YOUNG
Claude Debussy
Sonata for Violin and Piano in G minor 1 Allegro vivo – Appassionata 2 Intermède: Fantasque et léger 3 Finale: Très animé
13:49 5:00 4:08 4:41
Maurice Ravel
Sonata for Violin and Piano in G major 4 Allegretto 5 Blues: Moderato 6 Perpetuum mobile: Allegro
17:34 7:50 5:32 4:12
Fr ench V i o l i n Sonatas
Natalia Lomeiko Olga SITKOVETSKY
Maurice Ravel
7 Pièce en forme de Habanera
3:07
Eugène Ysaÿe
8 Poème élégiaque, Op. 12
13:26 TRI3003
Camille Saint-Saëns / Eugène Ysaÿe
9 Valse-Caprice
Total Time
8:31 56:29
Digital Stereo Recording © 2004 Trust Records International Ltd P2004 Trust Records International Ltd