Following
a number of successful duo performances by Vesko Eshkenazy and Ludmil Angelov,
the idea of recording a CD with the two of them began to take shape. Ludmil
suggested doing something with music by George Gershwin.
However, Gershwin's original repertoire for violin and piano is rather limited.
It consists of precisely one small composition entitled Short Story, which
has so far remained little known, composed in association with the violinist
Samuel Dushkin. Therefore, it was decided first to use the historic arrangements
by Jascha Heifetz, the brilliant violinist and bosom friend of Gershwin. Heifetz'
arrangement of the Three Preludes For Piano contains in the outer movements
various spectacular violin passages such as could be written only by an exceptional
virtuoso; by contrast, in the Andante it is the simplicity of the writing itself
which demands the violinist’s full input. Apart from this arrangement,
which he himself also recorded (and a frequently performed selection from Porgy
and Bess), Heifetz also worked on a violin-piano arrangement of An American
in Paris. Our CD begins with this work, the version of which was compiled from
Heifetz’ remaining sketches by his pupil and accompanist, the Indonesian
violinist and pianist Ayke Agus.
Gershwin’s musical songs are among his best-loved repertoire. The lyricism
of their melodies makes them extremely suitable for violin, and with such an
overwhelming array of choices for new arrangements, it was not easy to keep
to a limit. Finally, we chose three so-called "Rhythm Songs" ( Fascinating
Rhythm, I Got Rhythm and Clap Yo' Hands) and three Ballads (Someone To Watch
Over Me, Embraceable You and Love Is Here To Stay). I based my arrangement
of the three Rhythm Songs on the composer’s own piano versions, available
in his George Gershwin Songbook (1932). This edition contains some eighteen
transcriptions demonstrating the staggering talent of his art of improvisation.
As the published versions are rather short, we thought it would be a good idea
to lengthen the arrangements by the addition of the ever-surprising "verses",
and to play around a bit with the musical design.
The executive producer, Job Maarse, suggested the addition of guest musicians
in various numbers to offer a bit more spice to the original violin-piano concept.
We felt especially honoured that a number of Vesko’s friends and colleagues
from the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra were interested in joining in our "Gershwin
adventure". In the first place, we wanted to record Gershwin’s only
string quartet, his early work Lullaby (1919), which was published posthumously.
It is amazing to hear how the composer - who continued during his entire short
life to supplement his brilliant intuition with knowledge and skills from the
classical sector – had already mastered this material, which in fact
was so alien to him, at such a young age.
Triple Tribute is the title we gave to a compilation of three remarkable instrumental
works: this consists of Impromptu in Two Keys, Rialto Ripples and Two Waltzes
in C.
To start with the middle panel of this triptych: Rialto Ripples (1917) is the
earliest work on this CD and a good example of the enormous influence ragtime
brought to bear on both Gershwin the composer and Gershwin the pianist throughout
his entire life. At the time he wrote this (together with a colleague, Will
Donaldson, who has remained unknown), he was still working as a young song-plugger
for the music-publisher Remick & Co..
The other two works come from a theatrical background: the Impromptu (1929)
was actually written for the Ziegfield musical East is West, which never got
further than the drawing board. Luckily for us, Gershwin saved his compositions
for later use: the immortal Embraceable You also stemmed from this doomed production!
Two Waltzes in C comes from the musical Pardon My English (1933), which did
run for a while, but turned out to be a flop. In those days it was considered
a risqué composition. Waltz No. I was nicknamed "His Waltz",
and Waltz No. II "Her Waltz" – and they were followed by a
brilliant entwinement of both themes, "Their Waltz". Gershwin was
proud of it and enjoyed playing the work as a piano duet with his fellow Broadway
composer Kay Swift, with whom he enjoyed a long friendship.
We also thought it would be great to do something with the Rhapsody In Blue
(1924) – with Vesko's violin as the solo instrument! Of course, the famous
opening glissando of the clarinet is a must; and the cello provides a warm
and melodic reply. However, the toccata in the finale remains the domain of
the piano. Considering the scope of the entire CD, we decided to shorten the
work somewhat, with the greatest of care; this was possible, as a rhapsody
consists more of a chain of themes and motives than a solid structure forming
an indissoluble entity.
Just as the three "Rhythm Songs" chosen for the CD stand side by
side in brotherly fashion, so also Someone To Watch Over Me and Embraceable
You seem almost sisterly, with melodies of an almost classical beauty and harmony
as only Gershwin could write. Such an abundance of expressive possibilities
provides mouth-watering opportunities for a violinist like Vesko Eshkenazy,
and gives a pianist like Ludmil Angelov the chance to demonstrate all his subtle
nuances of toucher and colour. These two songs are also derived from musicals,
respectively Oh, Kay! (1926) and Girl Crazy (1930).
As we had extra players at our disposal, we were also interested in including
a longer composition in the selection for a larger cast of musicians. The idea
of playing around with "classical" form in a medley attracted us.
Fantasy In Seven Colors (which refers to our seven musicians) consists of 14
songs, ordered roughly according to the chronology of Gershwin's oeuvre. It
turned into a kind of "Kammersinfonietta", with the four movements
allegro-andante-scherzo-finale running on into each other. The angular, bluesy
character of I'll Build A Stairway To Paradise and the flowing, lyrical character
of The Man I Love made these the perfect choice for the first and second theme
of the allegro; Do It Again forms the transition in between, and Somebody Loves
Me is used for the final phrase. Love Walked In became the intro and finale
of the entire medley. The ballads Liza and But Not For Me were both used for
the andante; and the up-tempo numbers I Got Plenty o' Nuttin' and By Strauss
became the Scherzo. The finale consists of a rondo-like number with three songs
taken from the last year of Gershwin's life: They Can't Take That Away From
Me, A Foggy Day, and Let's Call The Whole Thing Off. Motives from It Ain't
Necessarily So are threaded through this; and the coda from Nice Work If You
Can Get It finally leads us back to the main motive.
To follow this exuberant medley, we chose Love Is Here To Stay, the moving
swan-song of the genius George Gershwin, who die
Vesko
Eschkenazy
The Violinist Vesko Eschkenazy was born in the Bulgarian capital of Sofia in
1970. He passed his final examination at the local school of music in 1990.
He continued his studies with Yfrah Neaman at the Guildhall School of Music,
London, taking the soloist’s diploma in 1992. He has won prizes in several
violin-playing competitions, such as the Polish Wieniawski competition (along
with Maxim Vengerov) and the Carl Flesch competition in London. He has performed
as a soloist with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra,
English Chamber Orchestra, C.P.E. Bach Chamber Orchestra, Monte-Carlo Symphonic
Orchestra, Orquesta Sinfonica del Estado di Mexico, National Irish Symphony
Orchestra, Prague Symphony Orchestra and Philharmonic Orchestra of Sofia. He
has also made appearances with the MIDEM in Cannes, Radio France in Montpellier,
the Nantes and Reims festivals, the Varna summer festival and the New Year
festival in Sofia. He has played with such famous conductors as Riccardo Chailly,
Sir Colin Davis, Carlo Maria Giulini, Bernard Haitink, Kurt Masur and Seiji
Ozawa. In December 1997 he made his début in the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam,
with Beethoven’s Violin Concerto. He returned there in 2000 to play Khachaturian’s
Violin Concerto on six consecutive evenings. Since January 2000 Vesko Eschkenazy
has been first leader of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra.
Ludmil
Angelov
Ludmil Angelov was born in Varna, Bulgaria, into a family of well-known musicians
of Bulgarian and Greek descent. He started taking piano lessons at the age
of six and soon made his debut in Sofia and other Bulgarian cities. Graduated
with an Honours Degree from the Bulgarian State Academy of Music, where studied
with eminent pianist and pedagogue Konstantin Stankovich, former assistant
of the legendary Nadia Boulanger.
In 1994 Ludmil Angelov was unanimously awarded First Price at the World Piano
Masters International Competition of Monte Carlo. Marking a turning point in
his career, this price enabled the young pianist to perform in some of the
most important concert halls of Europe, enjoying both audience and critical
success.
During the 1987/1988 season Ludmil Angelov performed, in a cycle of 12 recitals,
The Complete Piano Music of Chopin. For this unique event he has been awarded "Musician
of the Year of Bulgaria". Consequently, he has appeared at some of the
most important festivals like the Warsaw International Chopin Festival in Poland
and "La Roque d’Anthéron International Piano Festival" in
France.Since 1992 Ludmil Angelov lives in Spain, where he is the Founder and
Artistic Director of the Toledo International Music Festival. He teaches at
Toledo Conservatory and also gives master-classes at Castellón Conservatory.
Since 1995 he forms a duo with violinist Vesko Eschkenazy who he has known
since his studies in Sofia.
“Both the Rhapsody and An American in Paris are Readers’ Digest
versions of the originals…Recorded in the Netherlands, this ensemble
is another example of the skilled and serious expertise brought by Dutch
musicians to bear on updated views of a variety of music that is not usually
regarded as strictly classical.” --Jahn Sunier, Audiophile Audition
“With
jazzy glissandi, a natural feel for timing and above all a lot of guts and schwung
violinist Vesko Eschkenazy, concertmaster of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
has now recorded these works on a light but also solid CD…all participating
musicians blend sublime together in an ensemble sound which calls for more
of
this kind of enthusiastic co-operations.” ---Mischa Spel, NRC Handelsblad
“We have 14 tracks including a five-minute American in Paris, a ten-minute
Rhapsody in Blue (with the opening solo played by the famous George Pieterson,
principal clarinet of the Concertgebouw), and various songs and shorter works.
These are bold performances vividly played very well recorded , with the performers
in front, ambient sound from the rear.” ---Robert Benson, Classicalcdreview