Faculty Artist Series: Ettore Causa and Boris Berman

FACULTY ARTIST SERIES

ETTORE CAUSA VIOLA + BORIS BERMAN PIANO FEB 15, 2011 Sprague Memorial Hall Tuesday at 8 pm

MUSIC BY Brahms Schumann

Robert Blocker, Dean

PROGRAM

ettore causa, viola boris berman, piano

ROBERT SCHUMANN 1810-1856

JOHANNES BRAHMS 1833-1897

Drei Romanzen, Op. 94 Nicht schnell Einfach, inning Nicht schnell

Sonata in F minor, Op. 120, No.1 Allegro appassionato Andante un poco adagio Allegretto grazioso Vivace

Intermission

SCHUMANN

Drei Phantasiestücke, Op. 73 Zart und mit Ausdruck Lebhaft, leicht Rasch und mit Feuer

BRAHMS

Sonata in E-flat major, Op. 120, No. 2 Allegro amabile Allegro appassionato – Sostenuto – Tempo I Andante con moto – Allegro

As a courtesy to others, please silence all phones and devices.

Photography of any kind is strictly prohibited. Please do not leave the hall during musical selections. Thank you.

ARTIST PROFILES

Photo by Bob Handelman

Italian-born violist Ettore Causa was awarded both the P. Schidlof Prize and the J. Barbirolli Prize for the most beautiful sound at the prestigious Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition in England in 2000. He has since made solo and recital appearances in major venues such as Victoria Hall (Geneva), Zürich Tonhalle, Madrid National Auditorium, Barcelona Auditorium, Salle Cortot (Paris), Tokyo and Osaka Symphony Halls, and Teatro Colón (Buenos Aires). He has performed at numerous international festivals such as the Menuhin (Gstaad), Salzburg, Prussia Cove (England), Tivoli (Copenhagen), Perth (Australia), Savonlinna (Finland), Norfolk (Connecticut), and Lanaudière (Canada).

A devoted chamber musician, Mr. Causa was a member of the Aria Quartet from 2004 to 2009 and currently plays in the Poseidon Quartet.

He is frequently invited to prestigious chamber

music festivals, where he has performed with such musicians as the Tokyo String Quartet, Pascal Rogé, Thomas Adès, and many others.

Mr. Causa studied at the International Menuhin Music Academy with Alberto Lysy, Sir Yehudi Menuhin, and Johannes Eskar, and later at the Manhattan School of Music with Michael Tree.

He has been the first solo viola of the Carl Nielsen Philharmonic (Odense, Denmark) and the leader of the Copenhagen Chamber Soloists. His first recording, featuring transcriptions of Romantic music, was released in 2006 on Claves and was crowned with the 5 Diapasons. His new recording of the Brahms viola sonatas has been highly praised by critics worldwide. Mr. Causa taught both viola and chamber music for many years at the International Menuhin Music Academy, and was appointed to the Yale School of Music faculty in 2009. He performs on a viola made for him

by Frédéric Chaudière in 2003.

The artistry of Boris Berman is well known to the audiences of close to fifty countries on six continents. His highly acclaimed performances have included appearances with the Royal Concertgebouw, Gewandhaus, Minnesota, and Royal Scottish orchestras; Philharmonia Orchestra (London); Israel and St. Petersburg Philharmonic; and the Toronto, Detroit, Houston, and Atlanta symphonies. A frequent performer on major recital series, he has also appeared in important festivals, including Marlboro, Waterloo, Bergen, Ravinia, and the Israel Festival. Born in Moscow, Boris Berman studied at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory with Lev Oborin. In 1973, Berman

ARTIST PROFILES (continued) Yale School of Music 203 432-4158 concerts@yale.edu music.yale.edu/media concerts & media Dana Astmann Monica Ong Reed Danielle Heller Richard Henebry operations Tara Deming Christopher Melillo piano curators Brian Daley William Harold recording studio Eugene Kimball Jason Robins

COMING UP Emanuel Ax, piano February 23 | 8 pm | Wed Schubert: Impromptus, Op. 142; Sonata in A major, Op. 120; Sonata in B-flat major, D. 960.

Tickets $18-$28, Students $10 Kavafian-Schub-Shifrin Trio March 1 | 8 pm | Tue Ani Kavafian, violin; David Shifrin, clarinet; Andre-Michel Schub, piano. Mozart, Milhaud, Schumann, and Stravinsky.

Tickets $20-30, Sudents $10.

Photo by Bob Handelman

left a flourishing career in the Soviet Union to immigrate to Israel. He quickly established himself as a sought-after keyboard performer and an influential musical personality. A dedicated teacher of international stature, Boris Berman has served on the faculties of Indiana (Bloomington), Boston, Brandeis, and Tel Aviv universities. A professor at the Yale School of Music since 1984, he is the coordinator of the piano department and the director of the Horowitz Piano Series. He conducts master classes throughout the world and is a frequent juror of national and international competitions. In 2005, he was named an honorary professor of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. Mr. Berman’s acclaimed releases on Philips, Deutsche Grammophon, and Melodia were followed by two CDs of all the Scriabin piano sonatas (Music and Arts) and a recital of Shostakovich piano works (Ottavo), which received the Edison Classic Award in Holland.

He was the first pianist to record the complete solo piano works of Prokofiev, released on nine Chandos CDs to great critical acclaim.

In 2000, Yale University Press published Boris Berman’s Notes from the Pianist’s Bench, which has been translated into several languages.

Yale Press has also published Prokofiev’s Piano Sonatas: A Guide for the Listener and the Performer.