Women’s Voices from Eastern Europe
With pianist Ieva Jokubaviciute
This special program stems from my latest CD, “Violin Odyssey”, which includes works by Dora Pejacevic and Grazyna Bacewicz. The two composers have distinctive styles, and Ieva and I thought that this could be a nice entry point into the musical world of women from Eastern Europe. Since both of us have ancestry there, there was a personal connection, too.
Dora Pejacevic (1885-1923) writes in a highly romantic style. Her Slavonic Sonata, written during the First World War, is a tumultuous and dramatic piece, perhaps affected by her volunteer work as nurse. She became a beloved figure in her native Croatia, known simply as “Dora”.
Grazyna Bacewicz (1909-1969) was a virtuoso violinist, laureate of the 1935 Wieniawski competition, as well as an accomplished pianist. Violin Sonatas and Seven Violin Concertos, Bacewicz also excelled in short forms, writing several miniatures inspired by Polish folk in the 1950’s.
Sofia Gubaidulina (born 1931) has been one of the world’s leading composers in the past decades. Dancer on a tightrope explores, in the composer’s words, ‘life as risk and art as flight into another existence’. It is highly innovative in its sound world, dialogue between the two instruments, and the use of a glass tumbler to stroke the piano strings.
Vitezslava Kapralova (1915-1940) completed no fewer than fifty works, conducted all over Europe, and received the Smetana Award before her premature death at the age of 25. Legend for violin and piano is a beautiful lyrical piece, fittingly setting up a fairy-tale like atmosphere.
Lera Auerbach (born 1973) is a soviet born American composer, widely performed all over the world. Her 3rd Violin Sonata is a journey in four movements. Often dark, sometimes nostalgic but always passionate and compelling, the piece places high demands on both instruments.
The full program:
Vitezslava Kapralova: Legend;
Dora Pejacevic: Slavonic Sonata in B flat Minor for Violin and Piano;
Sofia Gubaidulina: Dancer on a tightrope;
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Grazyna Bacewicz: Slavonic Dance, Witraj (Stained-Glass Window), Oberek No. 1;
Lera Auerbach: Sonata No. 3 for Violin and Piano