A Tribute to George Enescu

a tribute to

George Enescu { 1881-1955 }

faculty artist series

february 6 2010

with Ilya Poletaev piano James Taylor tenor Jennifer Curtis violin Mihai Marica cello

Robert Blocker, Dean

february 6, 2010 8 pm Morse Recital Hall in Sprague Memorial Hall

a tribute to

George Enescu { 1881-1955 }

jennifer curtis violin

Airs in Romanian Style for solo violin (1926)

james taylor* tenor

Sept Chansons de Clément Marot, Op. 15 (1908) I. Estreines à Anne II. Languir me fais III. Aux damoyselles paresseuses d’escrire a leurs amys IV. Estrene de la rose V. Present de couleur blanche VI. Changeons propos, c’est trop chanté d’amours VII. Du confict en douleur

ilya poletaev* piano

mihai marica cello ilya poletaev piano

Cello Sonata in C major, Op. 26, No. 2 (1935) Allegro moderato ed amabile Allegro agitato, non troppo mosso Andantino cantabile, senza lentezza Final à la roumaine intermission

As a courtesy to the performers and audience members, turn off cell phones and pagers. Please do not leave the theater during selections. Photography or recording of any kind is not permitted.

ilya poletaev piano

Piano Sonata in F-sharp minor, Op. 24, Nº 1 (1924) Allegro molto moderato e grave Presto vivace Andante molto espressivo

jennifer curtis violin

Impressions d’enfance, Op. 28 (1940) I. Menetrier II. Vieux mendiant III. Ruisselet au fond du jardin IV. L’oiseau au cage et le coucou au mur V. Chanson pour bercer VI. Grillon VII. Lune a travers les vitres VIII. Vent dans la cheminee IX. Tempete au dehors, dans la nuit X. Lever de soleil

ilya poletaev piano

* faculty performer

This program is gratefully dedicated to Prof. Marietta Orlov of University of Toronto

texts & translations Sept Chansons de Clément Marot (1496-1544)

Translated by Peter Low

.

Estrienes à Anne

A Gift for Anne

Ce nouvel an pour Estreines vous donne Mon cueur blessé d’une novelle playe.

Contrainct y suis; Amour ainsi l’ordonne, En qui ung cas bien contraire j’essaye;

I give you as a New Year’s present my heart which is newly wounded.

I’m forced to – this is commanded by Love in whose service I’m attempting a paradoxical thing: for my heart is my true wealth (the rest of my goods are nothing to build on), yet I have to give away my best possession if I wish to be rich in this world.

Car ce Cueur là, c’est ma richesse vraye; Le demeurant n’est rien où je me fonde; Et fault donner le meilleur bien que j’aye Si j’ay vouloir d’estre riche en ce monde.

Languir me fais sans t’avoir offensée:

You make me pine away, though I havn’t offended you.

Plus ne m’escriptz, plus de moy ne t’enquiers; Mais non obstant, aultre Dame ne quiers: Plus tost mourir que changer ma pensée.

You’ve stopped writing to me, or asking after me.

But despite this I do not desire any other lady: I’d rather die than change my mind.

Je ne dy pas t’amour estre effacée, Mais je me plains de l’ennuy que j’acquiers, Et loing de toy humblement te requiers Que loing de moy, de moy ne sois faschée.

I don’t say that your love has vanished, but I do complain of the anguish I receive.

And far from you I humbly beg you not to be angry at me.

Aux damoyselles paresseuses d’escrire

a leurs amys

To the Damsels Too Lazy to Write Their Suitors

Bon jour, et puis, quelles nouvelles?

N’en sçauroit on de vous avoir?

S’en brief ne m’en faictes sçavoir, J’en feray de toutes nouvelles.

Good day! And may I add, What’s new?

Is there no way of hearing from you?

If you don’t inform me soon I’ll make up news of you all.

Puis que vous estes si rebelles, Bon vespre, bonn nuict, bon soir, Bon jour!

Since you are so recalcitrant, I bid you good afternoon, good night, good day!

Mais si vous cueillez des groyselles, Envoyez m’en; car, pour tout voir, Je suis gros: mais c’est de vous veoir Quelcque matin, mes damoyselles; Bon jour!

But if you’re picking berries, do send me some, because I’m desperate to see things – and “berry keen” to see you, my ladies, some morning soon.

Good day!

Estrene de la rose

The Gift of the Rose

La belle Rose à Venus consacrée L’oeil & le Sens de grand plaisir pourvoit; Si vous diray Dame qui tant m’agrée Raison pourquoy de rouges on en voit.

Ung jour Venus son Adonis suyvoit Parmy Jardins pleins d’Espines & Branches, Les Piedz tous nudz & les deux Bras sans manches, Dont d’ung Rosier l’Espine luy mesfeit.

Or estoient lors toutes les Roses blanches, Mais de son sang de vermeilles en feit.

The fair rose, the flower of Venus, is a pleasure to see and to smell.

And I will tell you, lady, the reason why roses are red.

Venus one day was following Adonis with bare feet and uncovered arms through gardens full of thorns and branches,

De ceste Rose ay ja faict mon proffit Vous estrenant, car plus qu’à aultre chose Vostre Visage en doulceur tout confict Semble à la fresche & vermeillete Rose.

Now I’ve made good use of this rose as a gift to you, because your face, which is utterly gentle and sweet, resembles more than anything a fresh red rose.

Present de couleur blanche

White-Colored Present

Present, present de couleur de Colombe, Va où mon Cueur s’est le plus adonné!

Va doulcement, & doulcement y tombe!

Mais au parler ne te monstre estonné!

Gift, oh dove-coloured gift, go where my heart’s chief devotion lies!

Gently go and settle there gently, but don’t be too dumb-struck to speak!

Dy que tu es pour Foy bien ordonné!

Dy oultreplus (car je te l’abandonne) Que le Seigneur à qui tu es donné N’a foy semblable à celle qui te donne.

Say that you are destined for True Love!

Say also (since I commit you to him) that the lord to whom you are given is less true than the lady who gives you.

Changeons propos, c’est trop chanté d’amours, Ce sont clamours, chantons de la serpette: Tous vignerons ont à elle recours, C’est leur secours pour tailler la vignette; Ô serpillette, ô la serpillonnette, La vignollette est par toy mise sus, Dont les bons vins tous les ans sont yssus!

when the thorn of a rose-bush scratched her.

At that time all roses were white, but her blood made some of them crimson.

Let’s change the subject, that’s enough singing of love.

It’s empty noise, let’s sing of the pruning-knife.

All wine-growers make use of it; they need it for cutting their vines.

Oh tiny knife, oh cute little cutter, with your help they trim and train the young plants which produce good wines every year.

texts & translations Sept Chansons de Clément Marot (1496-1544) Le dieu Vulcain, forgeron des haultz dieux, Forgea aux cieulx la serpe bien taillante, De fin acier trempé en bon vin vieulx, Pour tailler mieulx et estre plus vaillante.

Bacchus la vante, et dit qu’elle est seante Et convenante à Noé le bon hom Pour en tailler la vigne en la saison.

The god Vulcan, the blacksmith of Olympus, wrought in heaven that good keen blade out of fine steel soaked in good old wine to make it sharper and more valiant.

Bacchus praised it, declaring it a fit and ideal tool for good father Noah to use in the vine-pruning season.

Bacchus alors chappeau de treille avoit, Et arrivoit pour benistre la vigne; Avec flascons Silenus le suyvoit, Lequel beuvoit aussi droict qu’une ligne; Puis il trepigne, et se faict une bigne; Comme une guigne estoit rouge son nez; Beaucoup de gens de sa race sont nez.

At that time Bacchus wore a vine-leaf hat and used to come to bless the vines.

Bearing flagons Silenus followed he used to drink standing straight as a die, and then stagger about and bump his head.

He had a nose as red as a cherry and many folk are his descendants.

Du confict de douleur

The Man Full of Sufferings

Si j’ay du mal, maulgré moy je le porte; Et s’ainsi est qu’aulcun me reconforte, Son reconfort ma douleur point n’appaise; Voylà comment je languis en mal aise, Sans nul espoir de lyesse plus forte.

If I suffer, I cannot help it, and if someone tries to comfort me, his comfort fails to appease my pain.

So it is that I pine away in misery with no hope of an increase in joy.

Et fault qu’ennuy jamais de moy ne sorte, Car mon estat fut faict de telle sorte, Dès que fuz né; pourtant ne vous desplaise Si j’ay du mal.

It’s decreed that anguish can never leave me for thus my lot was cast since birth; yet don’t be offended if I suffer.

Quand je mourray ma douleur sera morte; Mais ce pendant mon povre cueur supporte Mes tristes jours en fortune maulvaise, Dont force m’est que mon ennuy me plaise, Et ne fault plus que je me desconforte Si j’ay du mal.

When I die my pain will be dead; but meanwhile my poor heart endures a sad life lived in ill-fortune, which compels me to love my own anguish and forbids me to feel depressed if I suffer.

program notes

by Ilya Poletaev Called by Pablo Casals “the greatest musical phenomenon since Mozart,” George Enescu (1881-1955) is one of the towering musical figures of the twentieth century. A virtuoso violinist, brilliant conductor, sensitive pianist, master teacher, and – above all, an original composer whose works are only now beginning to be appreciated for their depth, beauty, and astonishing compositional skill – Enescu was truly a universal musician. His musical language was formed by a multitude of diverse influences: the polyphony of Bach, the skillful development and rhythmic variety of Brahms (under whose baton he performed as a boy), the harmonic language of the French school (most immediately one of Fauré, who was Enescu’s composition teacher at the Paris Conservatoire), the music of Wagner, and the folk music of his native Romania, with its unusual scales and fluid rhythms.

Enescu was born in Liveni, Romania (a town that now bears his name), in what was then known as Bessarabia, to landowner parents of moderate wealth. His extraordinary gifts having been recognized early on, he was sent away to study, first to the Vienna Conservatory, from which he graduated at age 13. He then went to Paris, where he studied violin with Marsick and composition with André Gedalge and Fauré, and where he won a Premier Prix for his violin playing. Upon graduation, he embarked on a brilliant career as a virtuoso violinist and chamber musician, performing alongside such luminaries as Alfred Cortot, Pablo Casals, Jacques Thibaud, and many others. He also often appeared in concerts as a pianist (earning Cortot’s envy for his effortless piano technique) and increasingly as a conductor of some of the world’s best orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic and the Philadelphia Orchestra.

playing concerts, presiding over competitions for young talents, and promoting the music of younger compatriots. He was also a mentor to some of the most remarkable young violinists, including Christian Ferras, Arthur Grumiaux, Ivry Gitlis, Ida Haendel, and Yehudi Menuhin, who left many accounts of Enescu’s influential teaching. This, and numerous concert tours all over Europe and, following the First World War, to the United States, certainly detracted him from what he considered his main task – composing. A busy life, combined with perfectionism of a rare order, meant that works flowed from his pen slowly, often taking years or even decades to reach their final shape.

Despite his prodigious gifts – he was said to have by memory practically every work in the standard repertoire, including the majority of works by Bach, Beethoven, and Mozart – Enescu was not a facile composer. The number of compositions he released for publication is quite small: 33 opuses in total. Among these are several large-scale works: his only opera, Oedipe; three symphonies; three suites for orchestra; some weighty chamber works (sonatas for violin and cello; two string quartets; a piano quintet and a piano quartet); a chamber symphony; and other works of smaller dimensions. Behind this published output lies an enormous mass of unfinished manuscripts presently kept in the Enescu Museum in Bucharest. The content and true significance of these is only now beginning to be fully assessed and recognized.

Enescu’s style evolved very gradually, and the earlier stages of his compositional career betray a wealth of diverse influences, all of which came to be absorbed organically into his mature musical language. He was not given to repeating himself, always trying something new. Generally speaking, his mature music is extraordinarily rich in both color and its treatment of material, A true patriot, Enescu gave much time and often making it difficult to follow at first hearing. energy to Romania’s musical life, organizing and The most characteristic feature of his music is

program notes

by Ilya Poletaev the avoidance of symmetry and literal repetition.

As soon as a musical idea appears, it is subjected to development, variation, distortion – in short, some modifying process. No single moment in Enescu’s later music is ever replicated exactly.

Enescu’s music is highly contrapuntal, intertwining layer upon layer of individual lines into what one of his contemporaries called “a magic jungle.” Paradoxically, the “jungle” is often based on very simple building blocks. A small motive, an interval, a little folk-like melody may become the basis for a lengthy, complex composition.

first-hand knowledge of techniques and styles of traditional fiddling. Paradoxically, it has made its presence in his music at once less immediately noticeable and more pervasive.

For Enescu, who did not actively engage himself in folk music collecting, folk music was more of a gateway to his own private world of feeling and memory. His free and imaginative use of features of Romanian folklore ranges from ingeniously imitative (third Violin Sonata; Concert Overture on Romanian Themes) to barely perceptible (Piano Quintet).

Despite the formidable intellectual power with which he crafted his music, Enescu is a true Romantic composer. For him, music was a mystical vocation, a language with which to communicate the inexpressible. “I live in a perpetual dream,” he wrote once. “Something trembles in me day and night.” One immediately senses the transcendent nature of the music.

The mysterious vibrations, the half-conscious self-referencing, the sudden few moments of complete bliss that give way to a surge of terror – all this betrays a restless, burning temperament, far removed from either the tonguein-cheek informality of Les Six, or the cool neo-Classicism of Stravinsky, or the rarefied primitivism of Bartók.

It is hard to believe that in the middle of the twentieth century a musician of such stature and fame could end his days in such abject poverty. It was these final years in which Enescu completed the majority of his masterworks.

Enescu left Romania after the Communists came to power, first for the US and then for Paris. Having invested most of his substantial fortune in Romanian banks, he now had to resort to concertizing in order to earn his living.

However, advanced age and the gradual loss of his health – first to a painful spine condition which prevented him from playing the violin, then to a series of debilitating strokes – quickly curtailed his activity. He died penniless in a dimly lit basement apartment in Paris. His last works, some of which were published posthumously, have remained virtually outside the current concert repertoire (with a few exceptions, particularly within Romania itself ). It is only in recent years that Enescu’s later output is beginning to be heard again in the major concert halls of the world. This concert is but a small contribution towards creating a new public for the appreciation of Enescu’s unique and precious musical legacy.

His scores, often notated with excruciating precision, betray an extraordinary awareness of the capacities and characteristics of each instrument. No matter how complicated the counterpoint, the sonorities and the instrumental effects remain transparent. In fact, the clever exploitation of instrumental resources is a source of deep pleasure for performers who tackle one of these demanding scores. Enescu’s practical experience is evident in every bar, and one can hardly find an unidiomatic or an awkwardly set passage.

Unlike Bartók, who turned to folk music only in his twenties, Enescu from boyhood had

ilya poletaev piano

Ilya Poletaev leads a multifaceted career as both a classically trained pianist as well as a performer on early keyboards. As a solo pianist, Mr. Poletaev has appeared with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Toronto and Hartford symphony orchestras as well as with Romania’s Filarmonica “Mihail Jora” din Bacau. He was the First Prize winner of the XX Concorso Sala Gallo Piano Competition in Monza, Italy, where he also received the Audience Prize, the Bach Prize, and the Orchestra Prize. He also captured First Prize at the 2009 Grieg International Competition, and was a laureate of the 2008 National Stepping Stone Competition in Canada. He is also the winner of Astral Artists 2009 National Auditions.

Mr. Poletaev has performed alongside such distinguished artists as Susan Graham, Robert Mann, Donald Weilerstein, Gary Hoffmann, Boris Berman, Paul Hersh, Susan Narucki, Miah Perssons, and Ellen Hargis. He has also appeared at the Moab, Caramoor, Sarasota, Norfolk, Yellow Barn, Banff, the Orford Arts Center, and Stratford Summer Music festivals.

Mr. Poletaev began studying in Moscow at the age of 6 and continued his studies in Israel until he moved to Canada at the age of 14. He holds a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Toronto, where he studied with pianist Marietta Orlov and harpsichordist Colin Tilney. Currently a doctoral candidate at the Yale School of Music, As a harpsichordist, Mr. Poletaev was the top he also holds Master’s degrees from Yale, where prizewinner of the 2007 Southeastern Historical he studied with Boris Berman. Between 2005 Keyboard Society harpsichord competition, and and 2007, he served on the faculty of the Yale has been heard in such venues as Carnegie’s Institute of Sacred Music, and currently serves Weill Recital Hall, New York City’s Pierpont on the faculty of Yale’s Department of Music as Morgan Library, the Aston Magna Early Music a lecturer in early music.

Festival, the Amherst Early Music Festival, and Yale’s Collection of Musical Instruments. As a continuo player, he has performed under Andrew Lawrence-King, Steven Stubbs, Nicholas McGegan, Simon Carrington, Graham O’Reilly, and Helmuth Rilling. As a chamber musician,

james taylor tenor

With a repertoire ranging from the Renaissance to the 21st century, tenor James Taylor devotes much of his career to the oratorio and concert literature. One of the most sought-after Bach Evangelists, Mr. Taylor has performed the role for his debut with the New York Philharmonic, throughout the U.S. and Europe, and in South America, Japan, and Israel. He has appeared with such conductors as René Jacob, Ivan Fisher, Christoph Eschenbach, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Christoph von Dohnányi, Herbert Blomstedt, Ton Koopman, and Helmuth Rilling. Guest appearances include concerts with the Vienna, Berlin, Los Angeles, and Israel Philharmonics; Toronto, Houston, and San Francisco Symphonies; Cleveland and Minnesota Orchestras; Concentus Musicus, Tafelmusik, Gewandhaus Orchestra Leipzig, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, and Academy of St. Martin in the Fields. His numerous recordings include Dvorák’s Stabat Mater, Mendelssohn’s Paulus and Elijah, Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis, Händel’s Messiah, Bach’s Mass in B Minor, and the songs of John Duke. He is a founder of the male vocal quartet Liedertafel. A native of Houston, he attended Texas Christian University, then studied at the Hochschule für Musik as a Fulbright Scholar.

He joined the Yale faculty in 2005.

jennifer curtis violin

mihai marica cello

A winner of Astral’s 2006 National Auditions, violinist Jennifer Curtis is also the recipient of the inaugural Milka/Astral Violin Prize, designated for a violinist invited to join the Astral Artists roster. Astral presented her Philadelphia recital debut, and her solo debut with Symphony in C on Astral’s series was praised by The Philadelphia Inquirer as “a startlingly authoritative performance.” The recipient of Artists International Presentations’ 2009 Outstanding Alumni Award, Ms. Curtis was recently presented in a critically acclaimed recital at Merkin Concert Hall, where she gave the New York première of Enescu’s Airs in Romanian Folk Style. Possessing a colorful back-ground of wide musical interests, Ms. Curtis has studied West African, Haitian, and Afro-Cuban percussion, and plays the mandolin professionally. Also an accomplished composer, her works have been performed in New York City and at the Spoleto Festival, the Verbier Festival de Musique, and throughout Latin America. Founder of the Tres Americas Project, she was recently featured with the ensemble in the Brooklyn Philharmonic’s Nuevo Latino Festival. Jennifer Curtis holds a B.M. degree from Mills College and an M.M. degree from Juilliard, where she studied with Robert Mann.

Mihai Marica, cello, began his training at the age of seven in his native Romania. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Southern Connecticut State University, and his master’s degree and artist diploma from the Yale School of Music under the guidance of Aldo Parisot. Mihai has won first prize in numerous competitions, including the J.F. Dotzauer International Cello Competition (Dresden), First Prize and the award for the best performance of a commissioned work in the 2005 Irving M. Klein International String Competition; First Prize and Audience Choice Award at the 2006 Dr. Luis Sigall International Competition (Viña del Mar, Chile); and the 2006 Charlotte White’s Salon de Virtuosi Fellowship Grant. Mihai has performed as a soloist with the orche-stras of Louisville, Santa Cruz, New Haven, Chile, Xalapa (Mexico), and Daejeon (Korea), as well as the Hermitage State Orchestra of St. Petersburg, the Stuttgart Youth Orchestra, and the major orchestras of Romania. He has appeared in recital in Austria, Hungary, Germany, Spain, Holland, Korea, Japan, Chile, the U.S., and Canada. Festival appearances include Banff, Great Mountains, San Miguel de Allende, Gerhart, and Laguna Beach. In 2008 Mihai played debuts in Weill Hall and Zankel Hall.

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February 12-14 the marriage of figaro Fri & Sat 8 pm | Sun 2 pm | Shubert Theater Tickets $19-41 | Students $13 at shubert.com Mozart’s masterpiece Le Nozze di Figaro. Doris Yarick-Cross, artistic director. Vera Lúcia Calábria, stage director. Christoph Campestrini conducts the Yale Philharmonia.

February 17 horowitz piano series 8 pm | Morse Recital Hall Tickets $11-20, Students $5 Peter Frankl performs music by Chopin and Schumann in honor of the bicentennial of both composers.

February 20 yale percussion group 8 pm | Morse Recital Hall | Free admission The ensemble called “something truly extraordinary” by composer Steve Reich performs music by Cage, Kagel, de Mey, and Wood. Robert van Sice, director.

February 23 chamber music society at yale 8 pm | Morse Recital Hall Tickets $27-$34, Students $14 The Orion Quartet performs string quartets

by Bach, Beethoven, and Kirchner, plus the Brahms Piano Quintet featuring Peter Serkin.

Robert Blocker, Dean