Trey Lee and HKU Musicians House Programme

同 台 作 樂

SHARED STAGE 李 垂 誼

與

港 大 學 生 演 奏 會

TREY LEE & HKU MUSICIANS

14

MAY

2016｜SAT｜7:30PM

Bruno Canino, piano

Gian Paolo Peloso, violin

Grand Hall, Lee Shau Kee Lecture Centre The University of Hong Kong 香港大學李兆基會議中心大會堂

Welcome to the Grand Hall.

Thank you for coming to the concert. To ensure that everyone enjoys the music, please switch off your mobile phones and any other sound and light emitting devices before the performance. Unauthorised photography, audio and video recordings in the Hall are prohibited. Enjoy the concert and come again.

Presented by

Email: Tel: Website: Address:

museinfo@hku.hk +852 3917 8165 www.muse.hku.hk Cultural Management Office, LG. 45, Lee Shau Kee Lecture Centre Centennial Campus, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong

HKU MUSE

In collaboration with the University Artists Scheme.

The Scheme is supported by Dr Alice Lam and hosted by the Faculty of Arts:

Supported by

D｜ S h a r e d S t a g e : T r e y L e e a n d H K U M u s i c i a n s

PROGRAMME

BEETHOVEN

Twelve Variations for Cello and Piano in G major Trey Lee, cello Bruno Canino, piano

KWAN Sheng-yau 關聖佑

The Worship 祭神 Grammy Yeung, guzheng Trey Lee, cello

PIAZZOLLA

Café 1930 Patrick Yeung, harmonica Trey Lee, cello

SCHUMANN

Adagio and Allegro for Cello and Piano, Op. 70 Trey Lee, cello Bruno Canino, piano

RESPIGHI

Violin Sonata in B minor, Op. 110, 1st movement Gian Paolo Peloso, violin Bruno Canino, piano

VILLA-LOBOS

Aria from Bachianas brasileiras No. 5 Rosanne Lee, soprano Cheryl Hui, marimba Trey Lee, cello Jeffrey Lui, piano

Dic-lun FUNG 馮廸倫

Vernal Fragments – Passacaglia on Lament Bass (World Premiere) Oliver Kwong, soprano Gian Paolo Peloso, violin Trey Lee, cello Golda Chan, piano

PIAZZOLLA

Le Grand Tango Trey Lee, cello Bruno Canino, piano

A R T I S T S

Trey Lee, cello ｜University Artist “A marvelous protagonist... a superb cellist.”

– the late Lorin Maazel Hailed a “Miracle” by Gramophone , Trey Lee’s concerto debut at Carnegie Hall won him a rousing standing ovation, with The New York Times declaring him “the excellent cellist... with enveloping richness and lyrical sensitivity.”

Lee has worked with esteemed conductors, composers, and orchestras worldwide, such as the late Lorin Maazel, Vassily Sinaisky, Yuri Bashmet, Juanjo Mena, Hannu Lintu, Osmo Va n s k a , B r i g ht S h e n g, Ta n D u n , M o s cow Soloists, Philharmonia Orchestra of London, BBC Philharmonic, Netherlands Philharmonic, Beethoven Orchestra Bonn, Tapiola Sinfonietta, Munich and Romanian Radio chamber orchestras, amongst others. He is often featured at major venues around the world, including the launch of the IMAGINE Project with Yoko Ono, Hugh Jackman, and ABBA’s Bjorn Ulvaeus to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child at the UN General Assembly Hall in New York.

Since being the first Asian to win First Prize at the prestigious International Antonio Janigro Cello Competition, Trey has released several albums under EMI which topped the charts. His most recent albums include Bright Sheng’s The Blazing Mirage dedicated to Lee, and The Dream of the Red Chamber Suite with the National Chinese Orchestra Taiwan.

A co-founder and Artistic Director of Musicus Society, Lee established the groundbreaking Musicus Fest. Since 2012, Lee has been an ambassador of UNICEF HK. 2｜S h a r e d S t a g e : T r e y L e e a n d H K U M u s i c i a n s

Gian Paolo Peloso, violin

Eighty-year-old esteemed pianist Bruno Canino has had numerous works dedicated to him by major composers of the last 50 years such as Berio, Anzaghi, Donatoni, Bussotti, K agel, R ihm, Xenak is, and Liebermann. He has toured four continents as a soloist and chamber musician and has collaborated with many of the world’s prominent string players, including Itzhak Perlman, Lynn Harrell, Salvatore Accardo, Viktoria Mullova, and Uto Ughi. In addition, he has performed in a piano duo with Antonio Ballista since 1953 and is part of the Trio di Milano with violinist Saschko Gawriloff and cellist Siegfried Palm.

Gian Paolo Peloso is regarded as one of the finest Italian violinists. He has studied with some of the greatest pedagogues of the 20th century, including the legendary Ruggiero Ricci, Ivry Gitlis, Igor Ozim, Gérard Poulet, and Viktor Pikaisen. He made his debut at age ten under the direction of composer Luciano Berio, and has performed as a soloist with orchestras, in recitals and chamber music concerts extensively throughout Europe, most notably at Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival in Finland, Martha Argerich Festival in Switzerland, Music Concert Society of Milano, House of Music in Moscow, Sun Festival in Singapore, Archipel Festival in Geneva, and Festival of Cannes in France.

Canino’s extensive discography includes Bach's Goldberg Variations , Mendelssohn’s compositions for cello and piano (with Lynn Harrell), works by Prokofiev, Ravel and Stravinsky (with Viktoria Mullova for a disc that was awarded the Edison Prize), the complete works of Alfredo Casella, Bartók’s Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion (with Andras Schiff and the Amadinda Ensemble) and the first compact disc of the complete piano works

by Debussy.

Canino has taught at the conservatories of Milan and Berne. From 1999 to 2002, he was the Music Director of the Biennale di Venezia. He has been presenting a triennial course for advanced piano studies in Seveso, Italy, and has given masterclasses throughout Europe. As a versatile musician, Canino was the author of Vademecum for a Chamber Pianist (Passigli Editions, 1997) and also composes for piano and ensemble.

Peloso has recorded sonatas by SaintSaëns and Poulenc for the National Suisse Radio, toured extensively with the Camerata de Lausanne, and performed chamber music with Sofia Gubaidulina, Mark Lubotsky, Pierre Amoyal, and Bruno Canino. He was appointed Violin Professor at the Conservatory of Music (University) of Neuchâtel, Switzerland, and has given masterclasses in Italy and Hong Kong.

Peloso plays a prestigious Landolfi violin of 1755. The legendary violinist Ivry Gitlis says of him, “... I respect and love (Peloso): a true musician, of the highest quality as a soloist and chamber music performer, and a top class violin teacher, honor of our profession and its future.”

同 台 作 樂 ： 李 垂 誼 與 港 大 學 生 演 奏 會 ｜3

A R T I S T S

Bruno Canino, piano

M U S I C I A N S H K U

1

2

3

4

5

6

1. Golda Chan, piano Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Education - Year 4

2. Cheryl Hui, percussion / marimba Bachelor of Arts - Year 4

3. Oliver Kwong, soprano Bachelor of Arts - Year 3

4. Rosanne Lee, soprano Bachelor of Arts - Year 1

5. Jeffrey Lui, piano Bachelor of Science - Year 3

6. Grammy Yeung, guzheng Bachelor of Arts - Year 1

7. Patrick Yeung, harmonica Bachelor of Science - Year 3

’Shared Stage: Trey Lee & HKU Musicians’ features students who are admitted to HKU Music Department’s Advanced Music Performance course through audition. The course this semester is coordinated by Prof. Chan Hing-yan.

4｜S h a r e d S t a g e : T r e y L e e a n d H K U M u s i c i a n s

7

(Cheryl Hui )

The Worship Kwan Sheng-yau (1943-2011) The Worship , written for zheng and cello in 1974 by Kwan “the Whimsical” Sheng-yau, captures a mystical scene of worship in China’s rural areas. It is an occasion when people make offerings to deities to invoke blessings. The work also exists in a version for modern Chinese orchestra, which has been one of the most frequently used pieces to accompany fireworks on festive occasions in Hong Kong.

(Grammy Yeung )

Café 1930 Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992) arr. Dic-lun Fung Histoire du Tango (The History of the Tango) is one of the most famous compositions by Astor Piazzolla. It was composed for flute and guitar in 1985, and Piazzolla dedicated it to the Belgian flute player, Marc Grauwels. Histoire du Tango attempts to convey the history and evolution of the tango in four movements: Bordello 1900, Café 1930, Nightclub 1960, and Concert d’Aujourd'hui .

Piazzolla was one of the major classical composers in Argentina. He became so besotted with the music of the South American dance, the tango, that he destroyed his early works

同 台 作 樂 ： 李 垂 誼 與 港 大 學 生 演 奏 會 ｜5

N O T E S

Beethoven’s Twelve Variations for Cello and Piano on “See, the conqu’ring hero comes” was an early work that he composed as a tribute to King Friedrich Wilhelm in 1796. Beethoven was a great admirer of Handel, and he paid homage to the baroque composer by using the famous chorus “See, the conqu’ring hero comes” from his oratorio Judas Maccabeus as the theme of these twelve variations. In this work, Beethoven makes use of a great variety of dramatic ideas. The theme sets the light and transparent tone that characterizes the entire work. Variation I is entirely for solo piano in contrast to the stately theme. Variation II allows the cello to play the theme in broken, sweeping arpeggios, while the piano provides the accompaniment with bubbling staccato triplets. Variation III displays the virtuosity of the pianist’s right hand. In Variation IV the tone darkens due to the change of key to G minor, although the middle section modulates to a glowing E-flat major. Variation V is a conversation. The piano is optimistic and brilliant while the cello is solemn and simple.

Variation VI is reminiscent of Bach’s music, featuring broken scales in a highly contrapuntal setting. In Variation VII , the cello runs in a brilliant virtuosic display. Variation VIII shows Beethoven’s famous stormy personality through a shocking G minor fortissimo , with the piano playing crashing chords against wild scales. Variation IX is childlike and innocent, breezing over the anger of the previous variation. Variation X captures the glory and heroism evoked by Handel’s title. The theme is first played by the cello. Variation XI , marked Adagio , is the most extended slow movement. Finally in Variation XII , Beethoven transforms the theme into a lively dance in triple meter and the work ends on a triumphant tone.

P R O G R A M M E

Twelve Variations for Cello and Piano in G major Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)

N O T E S P R O G R A M M E

and devoted his life to writing music with that rhythm as its basis. Piazzolla developed this art to the point where it is difficult to detect the dance in his complex and strict classical music. He composed most of his music for small chamber groups and solo instruments.

Most of his music is written in a very contemporary twentieth-century style, usually requiring a virtuosic performance.

In today’s concert, Café 1930 , the second movement of Histoire du Tango , is arranged for harmonica and cello by Dic-lun Fung. According to Piazzolla, this piece depicts a new era of the tango. People stopped dancing to it as they did in the 1900s, preferring instead simply to listen to it. It became more musical, and more romantic. This tango has undergone total transformation: the movements are slower, with new and often melancholy harmonies.

(Patrick Yeung )

Adagio and Allegro for Cello and Piano, Op. 70 Robert Schumann (1810-1856) Robert Schumann wrote more than twenty works in 1849, his most productive year. He created a series of compositions for clarinet, French horn, and oboe, instruments whose solo literature was not very extensive. One of those compositions was the Adagio and Allegro for Horn and Piano, which took Schumann merely one day to complete. Although Schumann originally scored the piece for the relatively new valve French horn and piano, he indicated that a cello or a violin could replace the horn, an instrumental combination that would become very popular in his chamber music. It was a prelude to even more unusual instrumentations employed by future composers, such as Hindemith in his Kammermusik series.

The Adagio and Allegro , originally called Romance and Allegro , represents Schumann in love-song mode. This piece reflects Schumann’s own two-sided emotional nature: the Adagio is melodic yet tender, while the Allegro shows ecstatic happiness, with alternating poetic passages that evoke the Adagio . This piece shows Schumann at his most romantic.

(Grammy Yeung )

Violin Sonata in B minor, Op. 110, 1st Movement Ottorino Respighi (1879-1936) Ottorino Respighi was an accomplished Italian violinist, violist, and pianist. He began his violin lessons at age eight, and later he studied composition at Liceo Musicale in Rome. He combined his great influence from the German musical style, his enjoyment in arranging the works of Italian composers, and the orchestration techniques he learned from Rimsky-Korsakov during his time in Russia. As a result, Respighi’s work is a blend of rich melodies with full and rich harmonies, showing inclination towards impressionism while rooted in the Romantic manner.

Respighi’s Violin Sonata in B minor was written shortly after the premiere of his Fontane di Roma (Fountains of Rome), a piece which brought him to the international stage. The Violin Sonata was premiered on March 3, 1918, with Federico Sarti on the violin and Respighi himself on the piano. The first movement, Moderato , is remarked by constantly changing meters, and a soaring, rhythmically supple melodic line, which leads to the gentler second

6｜S h a r e d S t a g e : T r e y L e e a n d H K U M u s i c i a n s

(Jeffrey Lui )

Aria from Bachianas brasileiras No. 5 Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887–1959) Heitor Villa-Lobos was a Brazilian composer who wrote a series of tributes to Bach and Brazil named Bachianas brasileiras between the years 1938 and 1945. The series Bachianas brasileiras consist of nine suites that were written for various vocal and instrumental combinations. Each suite explores the affinities between Bach’s baroque compositional style and Brazilian folk music.

Bachianas brasileiras No. 5, originally written for soprano solo and eight cellos, is marked Aria-Cantilena . It was first performed on March 25, 1939, in Rio de Janeiro. No. 5 is the best-known suite of the series and is a setting of a poem in Portuguese by Ruth Valadares Corrêa entitled Lo , at Midnight .

The poem is about scenes of the night. It describes the moon which arises wondrously from the boundless depth. The moonlight softly wakes the soul and constrains the heart to cruel tears and bitter dejection. This aria requires the soprano to vocalise, sing a Portuguese poem and bocca chiusa , or humming. The soprano starts humming the haunting melody of the first movement accompanied by the cello, giving a timeless, folkloric feel for which the piece is known. The lyrics of the middle section are highly dramatic, and they require a spontaneous and highly charged delivery that conveys what the poem already implies, namely that all is not well. In the final section, expansiveness returns, this time with the soprano humming her lines as if it were a lullaby. In 1945, he decided to add a movement to the Aria, Dança (Martelo).

(Rosanne Lee ) Tarde, uma nuvem rosea lenta e transparente, Sobre o espaço sonhadora e bela!

As evening falls, a rosy, translucent cloud Covers the sky, dreamlike, and beautiful.

Surge no infinito a lua docemente, Enfeitando a tarde, qual meiga donzela Que se apresta e alinda sonhadoramente, Em anseios d’alma para ficar bela, Grita ao céo e a terra, toda a Natureza!

Cala a passarada aos seus tristes queixumes E reflete o mar toda a sua riqueza...

Suave a luz da lua desperta agora A cruel saudade que ri e chora!

Tarde uma nuvem rósea lenta e transparente, Sobre o espaço sonhadora e bela!

From the horizon the moon gently rises, Adorning the evening, as a young girl Decks herself out in a dreamy longing To make her very soul beautiful, Calling to heaven and earth and all nature!

The birds leave off their melancholy song, The sea reflects its treasure.

Moonlight coolly awakens a cruel yearning That both laughs and cries.

As evening falls, a rosy, translucent cloud Covers the sky, dreamlike, and beautiful. 同 台 作 樂 ： 李 垂 誼 與 港 大 學 生 演 奏 會 ｜7

N O T E S P R O G R A M M E

movement, Andante expressivo . This second movement is very passionate, expressive, and lyrical, and it is dominated by constantly fluctuating harmonies. The third movement of the Violin Sonata, Allegro moderato, ma energico (Allegro moderato but energetic), was inspired by the musical theme of the last movement of Brahms’ Fourth Symphony.

Respighi weaves the whole piece with a passacaglia ostinato. There are a total of eighteen appearances in the violin and the piano. Mid-way through showing up in E major, and as the tempo accelerates, the theme returns to B minor. It works its way back to a Lento , then Adagio , modulating to B major. This dramatic piece, rich in counterpoint and lyricism, closes off with a coda right after the final appearance of the ostinato theme on the piano.

N O T E S P R O G R A M M E

Vernal Fragments – Passacaglia on Lament Bass Dic-lun Fung This composition draws influences from neo-Baroque and post-minimalistic idioms.

Melodic fragments from the first movement of Vivaldi’s La primavera, Op. 8, RV 269 are the basis of this work. The fragments are then manipulated and juxtaposed on a lament bassline (la, sol, fa, mi) that continues until the end.

The lightly articulated opening passage features dialogues between the violin and cello, where the harmonic passage leads into a quicker cross-string section. The ensemble tutti section features a gradual build-up to the climax, which then leads back into tranquility.

(Dic-lun Fung )

Le Grand Tango Astor Piazzolla (1921–1992) Astor Piazzolla grew up with his father’s enthusiasm for the tango. Later on, the music of this dance became his way of expressing his longing for his homeland Argentina. Piazzolla was also enthusiastic for jazz and Bach’s music. When his family returned to Argentina in 1937, he started performing in the tango ensemble of Elvino Vardaro, where he initiated a new way of playing and composing tango music. Piazzolla was not satisfied with his intuitive novel approach to musical performance and composition, however. He wanted to have a more solid academic education in composition, and the opportunity to start his studies came when he received a scholarship for his composition Sinfonietta for Chamber Orchestra Op. 19, in 1953. The following year, he went to Paris to study composition with Nadia Boulanger, the famous French composer and teacher. Boulanger encouraged him to continue with the tango instead of focusing only on classical composition. When Piazzolla returned to Argentina, he began writing what he called the ‘nuevo tango’, which included expanded instrumentation, dissonance, and counterpoint. This new tango style was easily accepted elsewhere, but it received a cold reception in Argentina. By the 1980s, Argentines had come to embrace the new style, and Piazzolla’s contribution to the genre was widely recognised.

Le Grand Tango is a piece for cello and piano that perfectly encapsulates the idea of the ‘nuevo tango’. It was composed for Mstislav Rostropovich, a legendary cellist who premiered the piece in 1990. The piece is in one movement that can be divided into three sections. The first section opens with a Tempo di tango (tempo of tango), and it is dominated by strongly accented tango rhythms. In the second section, performers are directed to play more freely, with a libero e cantabile spirit (free, lyrical spirit). This part contains a dialogue between the cello and the piano. For the final section, Piazzolla provided the tempo indication l Giocoso (playful), following the thrilling energy and even humorous tone that pervades this concluding part. Then, the music drives to its brilliant conclusion.

(Patrick Yeung and Rosanne Lee)

8｜S h a r e d S t a g e : T r e y L e e a n d H K U M u s i c i a n s

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同

台

作

樂

SHARED STAGE TREY LEE 李 垂 誼

與

&

HKU MUSICIANS

港 大 學 生 演 奏 會