CHAMPS HI1

Leoi Janatek I N THE MISTS (V MLHACH)

i Andante ii Molta adagio iii %dontino ~ I I Presto

Franz Schubert SONATA I N A MINOR, D784

i Allegro giusto ii Andante iii Allegro vivace

Franz Liszt TRE SONETTI D I PETRARCA FROM A N N ~ E S OE P~LERINAGE - DEUXI~ME A N N ~ E : ITAL IE

SONETTO 4 7 : BENEDETTO SIA 'L GIORNO 06:02 SONETTO 104: PACE NON TROVO 06:44 SONETTO 1 2 3 : I' V I D I I N TERRA ANGEUCI COSTUMI 0653

Sergei Rachmaninov PRELUDE I N D MAJOR, OP.23, N0.4: Andante cantobile 04:35 PRELUDE I N G MAJOR, OP.32, N0.5: Moderato 02:49

MOMENTS MUSICAUX, OP.16: N0.3 I N B MINOR: Andante cantabile N0.4 I N E MINOR: Presto

Total time: 73:34

FOREWORD

The concept for this CD started with the Schubert Sonata D784. I have always fel t a t home with works of a Classical construction, so getting t o know the way Schubert took on and developed the Sonata seemed part o f a natural process for me. The work appears to be an odd one out, since Schubert i s the only non-Eastern European i n this group of composers, bu t as I discovered this Sonata I heard presentiments of Musorgsky, particularly i n the opening textures and sonorities. The remaining pieces on the CD a l l share an introspective mood - whether conveying emotions of unrequited love i n Liszt's Petrorch Sonnets, haunting reminiscences imbued with folk-like melodies i n Janitek, or simply portraying a daydream i n Rachmaninov's Preludes. These composers have come t o form a very important part of my musical core, and I hope tha t the CD wi l l serve as a journey through pieces that are suffused with passion and lyricism that show a l l the facets of my musical personality.

I am extremely grateful t o Mary and David Bowerman for enabling me to record a t the wonderful Champs Hi l l and for supporting the CD t o this stage. I would Like t o thank Claire Willis for making it happen, and t o Roland Heap and particularly Will Brown for their great work on the recording. I am grateful t o Hampshire's Dayas

h Music Scholarship Trust for their grant towards the costs of recording the CD. And a special thanks t o Jeremy Bines for his support and encouragement for the project a t every stage o f the process.

Leof Jan i t ek (1854-1928) I N THE MISTS (I/ MLHACH)

i Andante ii Molto adagio iii Andantino iv Presto

I n 1912, JaniTek was nearing 60 and living i n relative obscurity; the two events that would turn his l ife around - the success of his opera Jenufa i n Prague and Vienna and his meeting and iubsequent infatuation with Kamila Stosslovi, a married woman 38 years his junior - were st i l l several years off, and what's more he was st i l l l iving i n the shadow of the death of his daughter Olga from tuberculosis a t the age of just 21. I n the mists i s a product of these uncertain and frustrating times. Writing i n what is essentially a Romantic mode suffused with melody, Jani tek blurs, fragments and displaces i n a way tha t is uniquely and unsettlingly his.

The first three bars of the opening Andante encapsulate the essence of his style. A beautifully meandering melody refuses t o give up the secret o f i t s tonality; a Db drone i n the lef t hand is reminiscent of some instrument from the depths of Moravia - a cimbalom perhaps - and the quartal harmony blurs our perception further. We can picture the composer improvising on his wheezing harmonium. A fragment of folk melody (actually a Slovak anthem), first heard i n the distance ushers i n a turbulent middle passage, where elation i s tempered with bitterness. The movement ends with a tranquil coda i n Db major.

The second piece opens with a more homely, chordal melody but it is broken by shallow breaths and interrupted by mysterious fragments i n which the melody is distorted to suggest insects scratching i n the night. Presto passages develop the theme i n what appears t o be a conventional way, though always displaced by a demisemiquaver - even though it may sound rooted, the look on the page is deeply unsettling. A distant, slow coda makes the rhythmic displacement explicit and poisons the Ob major tonality with sour notes.

The Andantino i n Gb major which follows seems t o offer us respite, with a simple child- like theme recurring throughout the movement; even here though, Janbtek's attempt t o keep his spirits up seems t o wane after just four bars as a hushed ppp takes us to a

Cb minor coloured with ninths. These yearning ninths, a trademark of Janitek's language, are developed i n the passage tha t follows, i n probably the most free- flowing, easy episode of the cycle. A third theme, marked "dolorous, impassioned", makes the yearning more explicit and bold and i s streaked with flashes of Lightning. The movement closes as it opens, with the nursery rhyme, ending on a disquieting ellipsis.

A l l the insecurities of the previous movements pile up and multiply i n the fourth, marked Presto (but immediately countermanded by a fermata, sostenuto, accel. molto, meno mosso, a l l within the space of two bars!): the opening i n the f inal ell iptical harmonic blur of the third movement, respelled and transposed: a meandering thematic line searching for a home, underpinned by rhythmic spasms; fragments, shallow breaths, rhythmic displacements, tempo changes; it i s as i f a l l the ideas of the cycle compound and implode, as i f the composer can't get t o grips with his own emotional state. No ideas run their course; this is distilled, pure Janitek. A recurring searing melody accompanied by rocking Abs and Fbs, is interrupted by the weirdest, most touching moment of the cycle: a simple trill on an E and an F. The "dolorous, impassioned" theme from the third movement makes a transformed reappearance, i t s l ightning strikes even more cutting. Eventually the mists clear and the cycle ends with a pessimistic, bitter, emphatic shudder.

Franz Schubert (1797-1828) SONATA IN A MINOR, D784

i Allegro giusto ii Andante iii Allegro vivace

, Composed i n 1823, Schubert's A minor Sonata D784 was written shortly after he had completed the Wanderer Fantasy and a t the time of his diagnosis with syphilis. It is one of three of his sonatas tha t share this key, yet this work i s particularly terse and dark i n mood. Throughout the entire work, we hear Schubert thinking beyond the instrument and using orchestral colours, evident i n the first movement through sudden chordal and octave outbursts as well as use of tremolandas. The movement i s dominated by short, breathless phrases and dotted rhythms - the latter are reminiscent of Mozart's A minor Sonata K310, written shortly after the death of

Mozart's mother. The rare intimate moments o f major tonality i n the second subject quickly dissolve in to more anguished harmonies and restless rhythms. This tension builds t o a triumphant mood that dominates the development section, wi th a series of left-hand octaves tha t sweep down the keyboard accompanied by brass-like right- hand chords. A variation o f the second theme follows where the dotted rhythms are elaborated into a accompanying figuration.

The second movement is i n F major, as i n the Mozart sonata mentioned, and provides a moment of repose. The calm of this lyrical intermezzo is, however, continually ruffled by a whispering mot i f tha t recalls the tension of the first movement. A central variation of the theme is marked pianissimo, the melody recast as a duet - for cello and flute perhaps. A series of seemingly unrelated tri l ls creates a question mark, before the movement closes with a re-statement of the opening phrase, now i n a more conclusive form.

The finale is a relentless mot0 perpetuo with scurrying triplets set for two parts which chase each other across the whole range of the keyboard. The element of shock persists from the first movement i n the form o f sudden contrary-motion arpeggios which create surprise and uncertainty. This i s particularly acute when the arpeggios outline diminished chords, shortly before a blissful episode i n the remote key of Db major. A lullaby-like second theme periodically appears i n several different keys, seemingly searching for the right one and outlining the rondo structure of the movement. I t s final and most comforting statement i s i n A major; it is, however, quickly interrupted by the return of obsessive figurations from the opening, now wri t large i n double octaves, tha t draws the sonata t o a vehement conclusion.

Franz Liszt (1811-1886)

TRE SONET~I D I PETRARCA FROM A N N ~ E S OE P~LERINAGE - DEUXI~ME A N N ~ E : ITALIE

S O N E ~ O 47: BENEOEnO SIA 'L GIORNO SONETTO 104: PACE NON TROVO S O N E ~ O 123: I' V I D I I N TERRA ANGELIC1 COSTUMI

Liszt's Three Petrorch Sonnets are best known as part of the second onnee of his collection AnnCes de Pglerinage published i n 1858, bu t their genesis occurred around 20 years before. During his stay i n I ta ly i n 1837-9, Liszt had set three of Petrarch's poems for tenor and piano; the vocal part i s striking i n i t s passion and indeed i t s range, ascending three times t o an optional high D flat. As he often did with his and other composers' works, Liszt produced a piano transcription, published i n Vienna i n 1846; this was revised several years later t o form the version as we know it from the AnnCes de Pglerinoge.

Petrarch was one of the earliest poets i n the Italian vernacular and his poems are dominated by his obsessive infatuation with a woman he calls Laura, whom he claims t o have met on Good Friday 1327. He offers us few clues t o her identity, or even whether she i s real or idealised; what is clear i s tha t she had an all-encompassing hold on his passions i n a way tha t is s t i l l captivating t o us seven centuries later. The strong and contrasting emotions exemplified i n Sonnet 104, Pace non trovo - "I f ind no peace, bu t have no reason to make war... I burn and I freeze ... both death and life displease me" - resonated with Liszt's high Romantic aesthetic and found i n him an ideal artistic kindred spirit.

Although the original song settings are by no means unsophisticated, i n adapting them for piano Liszt made some important structural improvements. He transposed and changed the order of the first two sonnets t o create a more convincing dramatic arc; and while Sonnet 47, Benedetto sio '1 giorno, and Sonnet 123, I' vidi i n terra ongelici costumi, are Largely lef t alone, he recomposed large episodes of Poce non trovo thereby tightening the form considerably. And yet, the surface alterations of the piano adaptation are, like a l l Liszt's transcriptions, so perfectly judged and free- sounding as t o make one doubt tha t they ever could have existed i n another form.

The transports o f Benedetto sio '1 giorno ("Blessed be the day, the month, the year, the season, the time, the hour, the moment, the beautiful land and the place where I was met by two beautiful eyes which bound me") are introduced by harmonies which unfurl as i f a succession o f doors were opening; after a brief recitative, the song i s quite faithfully reproduced, with the melody always sighing a quaver behind the

accompaniment. There is a warmth about this sonnet which reflects the joy o f young love expressed i n the text, only clouded by a melisma of diminished seventh chords where the word "lagrime" - "tears" - occurs i n the original song.

Sonnet No.104, Pace non trovo, is a song o f big, dramatic emotions; it tells of the torment, the sense of confinement i n a "prison that is neither open nor closed" that Laura has caused fhe poet - and of his pleasure i n that torment. An opening salvo of harmonically rootless syncopations searches for peace but cannot find it unt i l the song proper begins i n a broken recitative. Liszt explores the constant reference to contradiction of the poem by setting tender, intimate moments i n the music against wild, public outbursts of both excitement and despair. A sense of resigned acceptance suffuses the final phrases, which seem to rise t o the heavens i n anticipation of the last sonnet.

I' vidi i n terra angelio' costumi ("I saw on earth angelic grace, and heavenly beauty unique i n the wor ld) is a vision of Laura as perfection, "making the sun a thousand times jealous". The sighing piano introduction from the original song is Left almost untouched, and the melody first stated simply and tenderly, accompanied by a few chords. Liszt never ceases t o colour the texture with references t o the text - i n the heavens one moment and i n the shadows the next - and the sonnet ends with broken, searching phrases causing one to hold ones breath as Laura's beauty "stills the leaves on the bough''.

Sergei Rachmaninov (1873-1943)

PRELUDE IN D MAJOR, OP.23, N0.4: Andante cantabile PRELUDE IN G MAJOR, OP.32, N0.5: Moderato

MOMENTS MUSICAUX, OP.16: No.3 i n B minor: Andante cantabile No.4 i n minor: Presto

Rachmaninov would turn t o writing short piano pieces throughout his l ife and they seemed to flow quite naturally from his pen. The Six Moments Mu3icaux Op.16 were

written i n 1896 as a distraction from work on his first symphony; bu t they also sewed the useful purpose of earning him some income a t a time when, as a 23-year- old, his means were limited. The famous, crushing premiere of that symphony (a shoddy performance which was savaged by critics and lef t Rachmaninov unable to compose for three years) was s t i l l months away and these pieces, which share a t i t le but l i t t le else with Schubert's Moments Musicaux, exhibit a confident, calm grandeur of expression and scale.

By the year 1903 Rachmaninov had been healed and enjoyed a new outpouring o f melody-infused work which included his first set of 10 Preludes, Op.23. A more mature, self-aware style is evident i n the Op.32 set from 1910, though as i n a l l his piano works, Rachmaninofs virtuosic skil l as a performer i s obvious from his compositional command of the sonorities a piano can conjure up.

The D major Prelude is an arching, resonant song over a rocking accompaniment which is varied, developed t o a climax and varied once more; i n the closing variation, the melody i s ghosted by high bell-like chimes. The Prelude i n G has a rhapsodic, free-ranging melody over a left-hand accompaniment i n which impressionistic, oscillating quintuplets bring t o mind the unfolding of spring; pervaded by a nostalgic and comforting mood, it ends with a playful coda.

The Moment Musical i n B minor i s a plangent, full-bodied funeral march i n which the harmonies of Russian choral music are never far off. Thick, diatonic chords of sevenths and elevenths cry out for the soul of his homeland, which Rachmaninov had not yet lef t although he would finish his days far from it. A recapitulation i s accompanied by low, trudging octaves suggesting a cortege. As a contrast, the fourth Moment Musical is a furious virtuosic whirlwind, i t s bravura theme growing ever more heroic as the persistent chime of the bells of the Russian Orthodox Church - for which Rachmaninov had a passion - build t o a clangorous climax.

O Jeremy Bines & lvana Gavrit, 2010

Ivana Gavri i

Ivana has performed around the UK including a t the Wigmore Hall, Royal Festival Hall, Royal Albert Hall and Windsor Castle (in the presence of HRH The Prince of Wales). She has also given recitals i n The Netherlands, France, Denmark, Croatia, Italy, Switzerland, Russia and Japan, and has performed concertos with orchestras i n London, Cambridge and Barcelona.

Ivana performed y i t h the renowned violinist Maxim Vengerov, broadcast on BBC Radio 4, as part of Live Music Now i n 2007. Her performances o f Chopin and Beethoven feature i n BBC2's adaptation o f The Line of Beauty. Additionally, she was invited by the late Oscar-winning director Anthony Minghella t o perform Bach on the soundtrack of his film, Breaking and Entering, recorded a t Abbey Road Studios.

Born i n Sarajevo, Ivana completed her Masters i n Advanced Performance with Distinction a t The Royal College of Music, where she won a prestigious Frankopan Fund Scholarship (Sainsbury's Family Charitable Trusts). She holds an MA i n Music from Cambridge University, where she was also, an Instrumental Award Holder. Her teachers include Niel Immelman, Pascal Devoyon, James Gibb, Peter Bithell, ALexander Satz and Roger Vignoles.

A dedicated chamber musician, Ivana has partnered colleagues on the concert platform a t festivals around the UK, i n Ireland, Spain and France. She has taken part i n IMS Prussia Cove, and she is an alumna of the Britten-Pears Young Artist Programme and the outreach scheme Live Music Now (set up by the late Lord Menuhin), for whom she now mentors.

Ivana has been invited t o take up a residency a t the Banff Centre, Canada, i n the Autumn 2010, t o study and perform works by Jangtek.

"Ivana is a wonderful and sensitive artist - direct, powerful and exciting." Maxim Vengerov

"Outstanding[y successful in every regard ... a flawless performance from a young artist who is destined for the highest ronk." Musical Opinion

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I Menotti Chamber Works Including the Trio for violin, clarinet & piano, and Cantilena e Scherzo for quartet & harp.

**** Editor's Choice, & Disc o f the Fortnight, Classical Music Magazine

"immediately attractive ... perfect , with Pimms" RockZilla

I Johannes Brahms Brahms' piano quintet (Op.34). before he settled with the ideal medium of the piano quintet, was described by Joachim as "a piece of the greatest significance ... ful l of great strength and sweeping design." and Clara Schumann, too, paid effusive compliments.

Recorded here by the Schubert Ensemble, this is an energetic and powerful performance of one of Brahms' most coherent works.