1. Art and Diseño

2014–2015 CHAMBER MUSIC SERIES
TWENTY-FIFTH SEASON
SAMUELI THEATER
January 31, 2015
Szymanowski Quartet
Saturday at 8 p.m.
Agata Szymczewska, violin
Grzegorz Kotow, violin
Vladimir Mykytka, viola
Marcin Sieniawski, cello
Preview talk by
Herbert Glass
at 7:15 p.m.
Joseph Kalichstein, piano
Three Poish Chorales
Mihi autem (c.1580)
MARCIN LEOPOLITA
(1537 – ca. 1584)
Protexisti me, deus (c. 1560)
MIKOLAJ OD CHRZANOW
(1485 – 1562)
Aleć made mna Wenus (c. 1540)
MIKOLAJ OF CRACOW
(c. 16th century)
Arranged: Szymanowski Quartet
With special underwriting from:
Sam B. Ersan
The Center applauds:
String Quartet No. 3 (2008)
“Leaves from an unwritten diary”
KRZYSZTOF PENDERECKI
(1933  )
Ballade No. 4 in F Minor, Op. 52
String Quartet No. 4 (1951)
Andante – Allegro molto
Andante
Allegro giocoso
FRÉDÉRIC CHOPIN
(1810 – 1849)
GRAŻYNA BACEWICZ
(1909-1969)
—INTERMISSION—
Media Partner:
Piano Quintet in A Major, Op. 81
Allegro, ma non tanto
Dumka: Andantne con moto
Scherzo (furiant): molto vivace
Finale: Allegro
ANTONÍN DVOŘÁK
(1841  1904)
Out of courtesy to the artists and your
fellow patrons, please take a moment to turn
off and refrain from using cellular phones,
pagers, watch alarms and similar devices. The
use of any audio or videorecording device or
the taking of photographs (with or without
flash) is strictly prohibited. Thank you.
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About the Program
Marcin Leopolita
Bornin, Lwów (now Lviv, Ukraine),
Leopolita is one of the most eminent Polish
composers of 16th century. He studied at
Kraków University (Collegium Maius) and by
age 20 was already a member of royal music
ensemble at the court of King Sigismund II
Augustus. Only a few of Leopolita’s works that
are still known today: five religious motets and
a single mass:Missa paschalis.
Mikołaj of Chrzanow
Little is known of his early life. He was
a student at the Kraków Academy in 1507,
where he received his baccalaureate in 1513.
In 1518 he became the organist at Wawel
Cathedral, a post he held until his death. His
duties there included directing the cathedral
choir—the Kapela Rorantystów—and supervising construction of organs; he traveled to
Biecz in 1543 to oversee the work there. His
only known work is the motet, Protexisti me,
Deus, which survives in tablature notation in
the 16th-century Wawel Part-Books. The same
composition appears in the Łowicz Organ
Tablature of 1580, with the initials N.Ch.,
which are presumed to indicate the composer.
Nicolaus Cracoviensis
(or Mikołaj of Cracow)
His name first appears in the Kraków
University archives as organist at the Kraków
court. Most of his compositions are included
in two great Polish organ tablatures: one
by Jan z Lublina (1537–48) and the Cracow
Tablature (ca. 1548). They include his masses,
motets, songs, dances and preludes. His works
show Italan influence. The best known of
his works is the choral work Aleć nade mną
Wenus (You, Venus, above me).
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KRZYSZTOF PENDERECKI
GRAZYNA BACEWICZ
Born: November 23, 1933 in Debica
Born: February 5, 1909, Lodz
Died: January 17, 1969, Warsaw
String Quartet No. 3
Krzysztof Penderecki is considered to
be Poland’s greatest living composer. His
String Quartet No. 3 was commissioned by
the Shanghai Quartet in 2008 for its 30th
Anniversary and premiered at a special 75th
birthday concert honoring the composer. It is a
single movement work consisting of four to five
short sections of contrasting tempos and character. Stylistically, the quartet is quite representative of his chamber works since the1990s, and
stands in sharp contrast to the first two quartets
from his avant-garde period. A stylistic polymath, he first came to prominence as a pioneer
of new textures for string instruments, such as
those found in the chilling 1960 work Threnody
‘To the Victims of Hiroshima’ for string orchestra. After completing his second string quartet
in 1968, Penderecki returned to the genre only
in 2008. This work reflects Penderecki’s inclusion of harmonic and textural colors associated
with music of the late nineteenth century, as
opposed to the highly abstract style developed
by other European composers after the Second
World War. “Towards the end of the work,”
recalls Nicholas Tzavaras, “a spectacular gypsy
melody appears, a theme that hasn’t been heard
in any of the composer’s previous works. It is
a melody that the composer’s father used to
play on his violin, perhaps a Romanian melody,
he thought, when he was a child.” Perhaps it
is partly for this reason that this composer has
such an affinity for the instrument and its siblings which he writes for so wonderfully.
String Quartet No. 4
Grazyna Bacewicz was a prolific composer
of three symphonies, seven violin concertos,
concertos for viola, cello, piano and two pianos
and seven string quartets of which no. 4 won
composition prizes in Belgium and Poland.
She was an independent spirit in mid-20thcentury Polish music. Broadly classifiable as a
neo-classicist (she studied briefly with Nadia
Boulanger), her unfrivolous, resolutely craftsmanlike music is much prized by those who
know her output. The Quartet no. 4 dates from
1950 and is in three movements the opening
movement begins with a Andante in ¾ time. It
is both rich and profound and has a telling retrospective nostalgia. The allegro has a vibrancy
and the reintroduction of a slower tempo does
not hinder the cogent musical development
in the moderato. Some of the musical phrases
are of a beauty rare in music of any age. The
clarity of the allegro is admirable proving this
composer’s enviable ability in composing for
string instruments. The music glows and is of
the highest quality; it unfolds both an intellectual and emotional style which can only evince
a laudatory response. The second movement,
andante, has a beauty and yearning. It is music
that humanity can identify with and proves
that superlative music such as this is a universal language and can, in the hands of a great
composer, express what words and actions
never can. The finale, allegro giocoso, is a real
allegro and hints at the style Bacewicz was to
develop later. It has a mystery about it and a
piquant sense of humour and an exuberant joy
that should not be missed … and watch out
for the end.
Her middle-period works, such as the
Fourth String Quartet and Piano Quintet
recorded here, intersect marginally with late
Szymanowski and Bartók in their mix of folk
elements and tough-minded linearity. What
appeals most (or, to some, may perhaps seem
a limitation) is their restless darting from one
idea to another, avoiding possible charges of
opportunism but also arguably placing limits
on potential breadth and depth of communication. Most striking to me are the rhythmic
playfulness of the Quartet’s scherzo-like finale
—a charming offshoot of the Russian tradition
—and the unexpected inwardness of the slow
movement of the Quintet.
not long after its premiere. Fifteen years later,
he reconsidered and retrieved a copy of the
score from a friend and started making revisions. However, he decided that rather than
submitting the revised work for publication,
he would compose an entirely new work. The
new quintet is a mixture of Dvořák’s personal
form of expressive lyricism as well as a utilization of elements from Czech folk music.
Characteristically those elements include styles
and forms of song and dance, but not actual
folk tunes; Dvořák created original melodies in
the authentic folk style.
ANTONÍN DVOŘÁK
Born: September 8, 1841, Nelahozeves (near Prague)
Died: May 1, 1904, Prague
Piano Quintet No. 2 in A major,
Op. 81
Piano Quintet No. 2 in A major, Op. 81,
is a quintet for piano, 2 violins, viola, and
cello. It was composed between August 18
and October 8 of 1887, and was premiered
in Prague on January 6, 1888. The quintet
is acknowledged as one of the masterpieces
of the form, along with those of Schubert,
Schumann, Brahms and Shostakovich. It was
actually composed as the result of the composer’s attempt to revise an earlier work, Piano
Quintet Op.5. Dvořák was dissatisfied with the
Op. 5 quintet and destroyed the manuscript
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Photo by Irène Zandel
About the Artists
Szymanowski Quartet
Agata Szymczewska, violin
Grzegorz Kotow, violin
Vladimir Mykytka, viola
Marcin Sieniawski, cello
“It was hard not to fall in love with the
Szymanowski Quartet at the Frick Collection
on Sunday afternoon. All professionals perform
with intensity, but playing from the heart
is another matter. The sound was unusually
warm, filling this small space to capacity.”
– Bernard Holland, The New York Times
Founded in Warsaw in 1995, the
Szymanowski Quartet has developed into one
of the most exceptional international string
quartets of its generation. Their sophisticated
programs present a perfect balance between
intellect and passion, characteristics with which
the Szymanowski Quartet captivates its audiences at prestigious festivals and concert halls in
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Europe, the United States, Asia, Australia and
South America.
The Quartet’s extraordinarily high standard has been confirmed by numerous awards
and distinctions. They took first prizes at
the “Premio Vittorio Gui” Competition in
Florence and the “In Memoriam Dimitri
Schostakowitsch” in Hanover. They were prizewinners at the Osaka International Chamber
Music Competition and at the Melbourne
International Chamber Music Competition.
From 2001 to 2003, the Szymanowski Quartet
participated in the “New Generation Artists
Scheme” of BBC Radio 3 in London. In 2005
they were honored with the “Szymanowski
Award” of the Karol Szymanowski Foundation
in Warsaw, the only time ever given to a string
quartet. In 2007 they were awarded the Medal
of Honor by the Polish government for their
service to Polish culture.
The ensemble is a regular guest at internationally renowned festivals such as SchleswigHolstein and Rheingau, Mozartfest Würzburg,
Bregenz and Schwetzingen, Niedersächsische
Musiktage as well Lockenhaus, Luxemburg,
London, Cheltenham, Bath and Perth. In 2008
the Quartet founded the Lviv Chamber Music
Festival, at the UNESCO World Heritage site
on the border between the Ukraine and Poland.
The Quartet’s concerts take them throughout the world with performances in at major
concert halls such as New York’s Carnegie
Hall, London’s Wigmore Hall, Amsterdam’s
Concertgebouw, Vienna’s Musikverein, the
Konzerthaus in Berlin, Leipzig’s Gewandhaus
and Grünewald Hall in Stockholm. Regular
tours to North America have brought appearances in New York, Washington DC, Los
Angeles, San Diego, Vancouver and Montreal.
Along with standard classical-romantic repertoire, the Quartet has a strong commitment to
contemporary music. They perform the music
of Magnus Lindberg, Elena Kats-Chernin,
Philip Cashian, Thomas Larcher and Andrew
Toowey; some of whom have dedicated their
works to the Szymanowski Quartet.
Recordings from several seasons of BBC
concerts document the artistic versatility of
the ensemble. More recently its recording of
Haydn, Bacewicz and Dvořák was released
on the Avie label as well as a classical/jazz
crossover recording, Pure Desmond. In spring
2009 the Quartet launched the record label
CAvi-music, which focuses on their namesake,
composer Karol Szymanowski, in the context of
three music capitals: Paris, Vienna and Moscow.
Recent recordings include the Shostakovich
and Weinberg quintets for Hänssler Classic
and music of Zelenski and Zarebski released
on Hyperion in December 2012. They were the
cover feature for the February/March 2012 issue
of Ensemble magazine.
The Szymanowski Quartet studied at
the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in
Hanover with their teacher and mentor Hatto
Beyerle. They continued to refine their performances working with Isaac Stern, Walter
Levin and the following quartets: Amadeus,
Emerson, Juilliard and Guarneri. They have
been Quartet in Residence Musikhochschule
Hanover since 2000.
Agata Szymczewska
Agata Szymczewska was born in 1985 in
Kaszalin, Poland. She was the winner of the
2006 Henryk Wieniawski International Violin
Competition, which launched an impressive
international solo career. As winner of the
first London Music Masters Award she made
her debut at Wigmore Hall in 2009 and with
the London Philharmonic Orchestra under
Osmo Vänskä in 2010. She has performed
throughout the world as a soloist, appearing
under such conductors as Seiji Ozawa, Sir
Neville Marriner and Krzystof Penderecki. As
a chamber musician she has performed with
many of the leading artists of our time including Martha Agerich, Maxim Vengerov, Gidon
Kremer and Anne-Sophie Mutter with whom
she toured in the United States in November
2014, including a performance at Carnegie
Hall debut. She plays an Antonio Stradivarius
violin (Cremona, ca. 1680) on loan from
Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben.
Grzegorz Kotów
Gzregorz Kotów was born in 1972 in
Walbrzych, Poland. After studies in his home
country he transferred to the University of
Music and Drama in Hanover, working with
Krzysztof Wegrzyn and Hatto Beyerle on scholarships from the DAAD and the Polish Ministry
of Education and Cultural Affairs. He is laureate
of numerous national and international competitions. His performances both as soloist and in
chamber music have taken him throughout the
world. He currently teaches chamber music at
the University of Music and Drama in Hanover.
Kotów plays a violin made by Hans Schicker
(Freiburg im Breisgau) in 1999.
Vladimir Mykytka
Vladimir Mykyta was born into a family
of musicians in 1972 in Lviv, Ukraine and
started taking violin lessons at the age of 5.
He later attended the school of music for
exceptionally gifted children and youth at the
Conservatory in Lviv, where he studied with
Artur Mykytka and Alexander Weissfeld. He
studied at the Academy of Music F. Chopin
in Warsaw with Janusz Kucharski, and later
with Hatto Beyerle at the University of Music
and Drama in Hanover.
Mykytka is a laureate of many international competitions and teaches chamber
music at the University of Music and Drama
in Hanover. In addition to the Szymanowski
Quartet, he works closely with other worldclass musicians, playing regularly as a duo with
pianist Claudia Rinaldi. Mr. Mykytka plays
a viola made by Hans Schicker (Freiburg im
Breisgau) in 1983.
Marcin Sieniawski
Marcin Sieniawski was born in 1970 in Warsaw,
Poland. He started cello lessons at the age of 8.
Following his early studies in Poland, he trained
at the National Conservatory P. I. Tschaikowsky
in Moscow and then at the University of Music
and Drama in Hanover with Hatto Beyerle. As
a youth, he was the winner of several national
competitions. His chamber music concerts have
taken him throughout the world. He currently
teaches chamber music at the University of
Music and Drama in Hanover. Sieniawski plays
a cello made by Hans Schicker (Freiburg im
Breisgau) in 1996.
Joseph Kalichstein
Joseph Kalichstein
Acclaimed for the heartfelt intensity
and technical mastery of his playing, pianist Joseph Kalichstein enthralls audiences
all over the globe, winning equal praise as
orchestral soloist, recitalist and chamber
musician. As an Australian critic exclaimed:
“To hear Kalichstein play is to fall in love
with music all over again!”
With his diverse repertoire of works ranging from Bach, Mozart, Beethoven and Brahms
to 20th-century works by Bartok, Prokofiev
and others, Mr. Kalichstein has collaborated
with such celebrated conductors as Daniel
Barenboim, Pierre Boulez, James Conlon,
Christoph von Dohnányi, Charles Dutoit,
Lawrence Foster, Zubin Mehta, Andre Previn,
Leonard Slatkin, Edo de Waart, David Zinman
and the late George Szell and Erich Leinsdorf.
He has performed with the world’s greatest
orchestras, from the Boston and Chicago symphony orchestras to the Berlin Philharmonic
and the London Symphony, from the NHK
and New York Philharmonic to the Cleveland
Orchestra. Mr. Kalichstein has also been
a frequent guest pianist with the world’s
most beloved string quartets, including the
Guarneri and Emerson Quartets, with whom
he played the Shostakovich Piano Quintet
in their Shostakovich Cycles in London and
Washington.
Mr. Kalichstein’s 2014–15 season includes
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performances with the Chamber Music Society
of Fort Worth, the Segerstrom Center for the
Arts, the Corpus Christi Symphony, and summer festivals in Lake Tahoe and La Jolla.
A favorite of New York concertgoers, Mr.
Kalichstein has appeared in several recitals on
Carnegie Hall’s “Keyboard Virtuosi” series. His
latest CD releases include music of Schumann
and Brahms (on Koch International) and of
Brahms, Mendelssohn and Schubert (The
Romantic Piano on Audiofon). He serves as the
chamber music advisor to the Kennedy Center
and is the artistic director of the Center’s Fortas
Chamber Music Concerts. He continues to
hold the inaugural Chamber Music Chair at the
Juilliard School, where he also teaches a limited
number of advanced piano students.
Born in Tel Aviv, he came to the United
States in 1962. His principal teachers included
Joshua Shor in Israel and Edward Steuermann
and Ilona Kabos at The Juilliard School. Prior
to winning the 1969 Leventritt Award, he had
won the Young Concert Artists Auditions,
and as a result he gave a heralded New York
recital debut, followed by an invitation from
Leonard Bernstein to perform Beethoven’s Piano
Concerto No. 4 with the New York Philharmonic
in a nationally televised concert on CBS.
Joseph Kalichstein is a founding member of
the famed Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio.
The Trio continues to play in major music capitals as well as on all the great university concert
series. Its most recent recording project is a CD
devoted to works that the eminent American
composer Ellen Zwilich had written for the
Trio, just released on the Azica label. Bridge
records has recently released their critically
acclaimed 2-CD Schubert Cycle.
The Szymanowski Quartet is represented exclusively in North America by California Artists
Management: www.calartists.com
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