Conservatorium of Music
Thursday Concert Class
Thursday Concert Class
| Variations - sur un thème slovaque | Bohuslav Martinu (1890 - 1959) |
| Thème - Poco Andante, rubato Variation 1 - Moderato Variation 2 - Poco Allegro Variation 3 - Moderato Variation 4 - Scherzo, Allegretto Variation 5 - Allegro | |
| Camille Stevenson-Mentiplay , Cello | |
| Amir Farid, piano | |
| Bohuslav Martinů was a Czech composer and violinist who studied at the Prague Conservatory and later with Roussel in Paris. The Variations based on a Slovak Folk Song were written shorty before his death in 1959 and the Theme is a song titled “Ked bych ja vedela” (If only I knew), a bittersweet title for someone composing their last chamber work before dying. Therefore this work has a more serious and brooding character compared with his earlier works. | |
| Tambourin Chinois, Op. 3 | Fritz Kreisler (1875 - 1962) |
| Peiyi Ng, Violin | |
| Amir Farid, piano | |
| Regarded as one of the greatest violinists of all time, Fritz Kreisler also composed dozens of miniature pieces for violin and piano to perform in his recitals. Tambourin Chinois (Chinese Drum) is one of the virtuoso's most popular showpieces and features many open-fifths and pentatonic scales that give the exotic and oriental qualities heard in the outer sections. | |
| Dumka Op. 59 | Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840 - 1893) |
| Zac Wang, Piano | |
| Tchaikovsky's Dumka Op. 59, subtitled "Rustic Russian Scene" completed in 1886 after a year of residence in the countryside far north of Moscow. It begins with an Andantino cantabile ballad that may derive from a Russian folk song, followed by an exciting con anima section, a bravura cadenza and finally returns to the opening ballad. The piece ends with three loud, abrupt chords. | |
| Sonata for Cello and Piano in D minor Op. 40 | Dmitri Shostakovich (1906 - 1975) |
| III. Largo IV. Allegro | |
| Jason Lim, cello | |
| Amir Farid, piano | |
| The cello sonata signaled Shostakovich's return to purely instrumental composition after a protracted immersion in the writing of music for film and opera (Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District). The third movement, long-breathed Largo of searing poignancy, has muted in spirit as well as timbre. In the finale, playfulness reasserts itself in the mincing, catlike tread of the opening theme. But Shostakovich's manic energy is never far below the surface, and the sonata ends with a savage flourish that affirms the elusive D-minor tonality. | |
| Viola Concerto | William Walton (1902 - 1983) |
| 1 | |
| Eunise Cheng, Viola | |
| Amir Farid, piano | |
| The Viola Concerto by William Walton was written in 1929 when he was 27 for Lionel Tertis who was one of the first Viola virtuosos in the 20th century. Despite Walton’s best efforts however, Tertis turned the premiere down (much to his regret later) and it was instead first performed in 1929 by another of Walton’s friends, the German composer and violist Paul Hindemith. The Concerto is now a staple of viola repertoire and regarded as one of the most difficult viola concertos in existence containing many unusual leaps and unconventional techniques in the viola melody. | |
| Transcendental Etude No.10 in F minor, Allegro Agitato Molto | Franz Liszt (1811 - 1886) |
| Ann Anh-Thu Nguyen, Piano | |
| Transcendental Étude No. 10 in F minor, "Allegro agitato molto" is the tenth Transcendental Étude of a set of twelve by Franz Liszt. Franz Liszt wrote three versions of the transcendental etudes. The first, titled 'Études en Douze Exercizes', came in 1826; the second in 1838; and the final one in 1851. This is one of the more popular études of the set. It is in sonata form, with a second group in E-flat minor, and an explosive coda. This etude is also known as the ‘Appassionata’ Etude as its coda bears similarities to the coda in the finale of Beethoven’s ‘Appassionata’ Sonata. | |
| Funérailles - October 1849 | Franz Liszt (1811 - 1886) |
| Ann Anh-Thu Nguyen, Piano | |
| Funérailles is the seventh and most famous piece in Liszt's piano collection, Harmonies poétiques et religieuses (Poetic and Religious Harmonies). It is an elegy written in response to the Hungarian Revolution by the Hasburgs. There has also been theories believe that Liszt also wrote this as a solemn farewell to his close friend, Frédéric Chopin who also died in October 1849. The left hand octaves towards the end are deemed to be correlating to Chopin's 'Heroic Polonaise in A-flat Major'. | |
| Credete al mio dolore, Morgana's aria from Alcina | George Frideric Handel (1685 - 1759) |
| Corryn Rattray, Voice | |
| Amir Farid, piano | |
| Earlier in the opera, Morgana as rejected Oronte her lover in favor of a new man she met, Riccardo. Later, she finds out that Riccardo is really Bradamente in disguise (a princess from another land). In this moment of the opera: with some humility, Morgana has now returned to Oronte and tries to convince him of her love and to take her back. | |
| Laurie's Song "Once I thought I'd never grow" from The Tender Land | Aaron Copland (1900 - 1990) |
| Corryn Rattray, Voice | |
| Amir Farid, piano | |
| The Tender Land tells the story of a farm family in the Midwest of the United States. Laurie, the high-school senior daughter of the Moss family, is on the brink of graduating from high school. In this aria she has just arrive home from her last day of school and ponders what her future holds. | |
| Piano Sonata No. 21 in C major, Op. 53, 'Waldstein' | Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 - 1827) |
| I. Allegro con brio II. Introduzione: Adagio molto III. Rondo. Allegretto moderato – Prestissimo | |
| Christopher Wong, Piano | |
| Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 21, Op. 53, known as the Waldstein, was derived from his dedication to Count Ferdinand Ernst Gabriel von Waldstein of Vienna, a patron as well as a close personal friend. Completed in summer 1804 and surpassing Beethoven's previous piano sonatas in its scope, the Waldstein is a key early work of Beethoven's "Heroic" decade (1803–1812) and set a standard for piano composition in the grand manner. Additionally, this sonata is also known as 'L'Aurora' (The Dawn) in Italian, for the sonority within the third movement, which is said to conjure an image of daybreak. | |