Arabella Quartet & Boris Berman, piano
faculty artist series October 20, 2014 • Morse Recital Hall
Robert Blocker, Dean
Faculty Artist Series
Arabella Quartet & Boris Berman, piano Monday, October 20, 2014 • 7:30 pm • Morse Recital Hall Felix Mendelssohn 1809–1847
Four Pieces for String Quartet, Op. 81 (Selections) I. Tema con Variazioni. Andante Sostenuto II. Scherzo. Allegro leggiero III. Capriccio. Andante con moto
Anton Webern 1883–1945
Langsamer Satz
Joaquín Turina 1882–1949
La Oración del Torero
Dmitri Shostakovich 1906–1975
Two Pieces for String Quartet Elegy: Adagio Polka: Allegretto Arabella Quartet Julie Eskar & Sarita Kwok, violins Ettore Causa, viola Alexandre Lecarme, cello intermission
Shostakovich
Piano Quintet in G minor, Op. 57 I. Prelude: Lento II. Fugue: Adagio III. Scherzo: Allegretto IV. Intermezzo: Lento V. Finale: Allegretto
As a courtesy to the performers and audience, please silence all electronic devices. Please do not leave the hall during selections. Photography or recording of any kind is prohibited.
Artist Profiles
Boris Berman · piano Boris Berman is well known to the audiences of close to fifty countries on six continents. He regularly appears with leading orchestras, on major recital series, and in important festivals. He studied at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory with the distinguished pianist Lev Oborin. An active recording artist and a Grammy nominee, Mr. Berman was the first pianist to record the complete solo works by Prokofiev (Chandos). Other acclaimed releases include all piano sonatas by Alexander Scriabin (Music and Arts) and a recital of Shostakovich piano works (Ottavo), which received the Edison Classic Award in Holland, the Dutch equivalent of the Grammy. The recording of three Prokofiev concertos with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Neeme Järvi conducting (Chandos), was named the Compact Disc of the Month by CD Review. Other recordings include works by Mozart,
Beethoven, Franck, Weber, Debussy, Stravinsky, Schnittke, Shostakovich, Joplin, and Cage. In 1984, Mr. Berman joined the faculty of the Yale School of Music, where he is professor of piano, coordinator of the Piano department, and Music Director of the Horowitz Piano Series. He also conducts master classes throughout the world. In 2005, he was named an Honorary Professor of Shanghai Conservatory; and in 2013, an Honorary Professor of Royal Danish Conservatory in Copenhagen. In 2000, Yale University Press published Mr. Berman’s Notes from the Pianist’s Bench; since then, the book has been translated into several languages. In 2008, the same publisher released Mr. Berman’s new book Prokofiev’s Piano Sonatas: A Guide for the Listener and the Performer.
Artist Profiles
Ettore Causa · viola Italian-born violist Ettore Causa is praised for his exceptional artistry, passionate intelligence, and complete musicianship. He was awarded both the P. Schidlof Prize and the J. Barbirolli Prize for the most beautiful sound at the Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition. Causa has made solo and recital appearances in venues such as Carnegie Hall, Zurich Tonhalle, Madrid National Auditorium, Salle Cortot (Paris), Tokyo Symphony Hall, and Teatro Colon, and has performed at festivals such as the Menuhin (Gstaad), Salzburg, Tivoli (Copenhagen), Prussia Cove (England), Savonlinna (Finland), Launadire (Canada), and Norfolk (Conn.) Festivals. Mr. Causa is a former member of the Aria Quartet and a current member of the Poseidon Quartet, and has collaborated with such renowned musicians as the Tokyo, Artis, and Elias
String Quartets, Pascal Rogé, Boris Berman, Peter Frankl, Thomas Adès, Natalie Clein, Ana Chumachenco, Ani Kavafian, Alberto and Antonio Lysy, Liviu Prunaru, Thomas Demenga, Anthony Marwood, Ulf Wallin, William Bennett, and others. Ettore Causa studied at the International Menuhin Music Academy with Alberto Lysy and Johannes Eskar, and later at the Manhattan School of Music with Michael Tree. After teaching for many years at the International Menuhin Music Academy, Mr. Causa joined the faculty of the Yale School of Music in 2009. His recordings include two Claves CDs: one of the Brahms viola sonata and the other his transcription of Romantic pieces, which was awarded 5 Diapasons. Mr. Causa performs on a viola made for him by Frederic Chaudière in 2003.
Artist Profiles
Julie Eskar · violin Julie Eskar is currently first concertmaster of the Danish National Chamber Orchestra and has performed as a soloist with several orchestras in Denmark and abroad. An avid chamber musician, Ms. Eskar has played in many different major festivals around the world such as Prussia Cove (England), Horten (Norway), Incontri in Terra di Siena, BIMF (Italy), Tivoli (Denmark) and Norfolk, performing aside musicians such as Boris Berman, Jeremy Denk, Clive Greensmith, Thomas Demenga, Ralph Kirshbaum, Michael Kannen, Antonio Lysy, Alberto Lysy, Vilde Frang, Ani Kavafian and Ettore Causa. Julie is a founding member of the Eskar Trio, an international award-winning ensemble. The Trio has established a reputation for itself as one of the leading ensembles on the Danish chamber music stage and
has also enjoyed great success in Sweden, Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Portugal, Japan and the Netherlands. The Trio has released several critically acclaimed CDs including the complete Brahms piano trios and works by Ravel and Chausson. The Trio’s second CD featuring never-before recorded Danish Romantic piano trios was awarded ‘Best Chamber Music Recording’ and ‘Best Classical Recording of the Year’ by the Danish Radio Music Awards. Ms. Eskar studied under Professor Milan Vitek at the Danish Royal Academy of Music in Copenhagen and with Professor Gerhard Schultz at the University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna. She has also worked under the guidance of Alberto Lysy, Ana Chumachenco, Christian Tetzlaff and Ivry Gitlis.
Artist Profiles
Sarita Kwok · violin Sarita Kwok has distinguished herself as one of the most captivating and sophisticated performers to emerge from the ranks of Australia’s classical musicians. A popular and enthusiastically received performer, Sarita has appeared on chamber series and at festivals throughout the United States, including Mistral Music (of which she is an artist member), Temple Emanuel Chamber Series, Rockport Chamber Music Festival, Brooklyn Friends of Chamber Music, Redbank Chamber Music, and in performances at Weill and Zankel recital halls, Merken Concert Hall, Kitara Hall (Japan), Villa Medici (Italy), and the Theatre du Jeu de Paume (France). Sarita has appeared on the Concert des Lauréats de l’Académie de Lausanne as well as WGBH public radio, Radio Suisse Romande, and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. She has also performed as a guest violinist with the award-winning piano quartet Ensemble Made in Canada.
Sarita is a persuasive advocate of contemporary music and frequently seeks out challenging new works to champion. She has debuted works by composers Jerome Combier, Jean Giroud, and John B. Hedges, among others, and has collaborated with both Martin Bresnick and Michael Jarrell. With the Alianza Quartet she recorded the last three string quartets of Ezra Laderman for Albany Records. The former director of the undergraduate lessons program at Yale, Sarita served for eight years on the faculty of the Yale Department of Music. She currently serves as the chair of the music department at Gordon College in Wenham, Massachusetts, where she is also the college’s artist-inresidence. She has additionally taught master classes at Wellesley and Amherst colleges and at the New Zealand School of Music. Sarita holds both Doctor and Master of Musical Arts degrees from the Yale School of Music, where she was a student of Syoko Aki and the Tokyo String Quartet.
Artist Profiles
Alexandre Lecarme · cello A native of Grasse, France, Alexandre Lecarme joined the Boston Symphony Orchestra at the start of the 2008–09 season. Mr. Lecarme graduated with the Premier Prix de Violoncelle from the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris in 1997. He holds the Artist Diploma and Master of Music degrees from Boston University as a recipient of a Cohen Foundation grant and a Dean’s scholarship. His major teachers have included Jean-Marie Gamard in Paris, David Soyer, George Neikrug, and Andrés Díaz at Boston University. Mr. Lecarme is a founding member of the acclaimed Boston Cello Quartet, comprised of four cellists of the Boston Symphony. Their debut concert at Tanglewood in 2010 was described as the “best Prelude concert at Ozawa Hall since it was built” (Berkshire Eagle), and their recently released CD Pictures has garnered excellent reviews and feature pieces in the Boston Globe, Boston Magazine, and on WBUR-Boston.
An enthusiastic chamber musician, Mr. Lecarme has appeared on the Rockport Chamber Music Festival, Andover Chamber Series, Hammond Performing Arts Series, Copley Society Series, Temple Emmanuel Chamber Music Series, and the chamber music series of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. As a former member of the Tancrede Trio and the Alianza String Quartet, Mr. Lecarme has performed extensively in the United States and Europe. Highlights include concerts at Shermetiev Palace in St. Petersburg for the 300th anniversary of the city, Opera de Nice, and Salle Olivier Messiaen in Grenoble, France. Mr. Lecarme has released CDs for Hammond GMAC Performing Arts of works by Bach, Debussy, Schubert, Beethoven, Franck, and Rachmaninoff.
Upcoming Events
Peter Serkin, piano
Fall Opera Scenes
october 22 Morse Recital Hall | Wednesday | 7:30 pm Horowitz Piano Series Music from the Renaissance and by Nielsen, Schoenberg, and Mozart Tickets start at $21 • Students $11
november 1 & 2 Morse Recital Hall | Sat, 7:30 pm | Sun, 2 pm Yale Opera Doris Yarick Cross, artistic director Marc Verzatt, stage director; Douglas Dickson & Timothy Shaindlin, music directors Featuring a different program each night Tickets start at $10 • Students $5
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Hopkinson Smith, lute november 4 15 Hillhouse Ave. | Tuesday | 5:30 pm Yale Collection of Musical Instruments Music by J.S. Bach Tickets $25 • Seniors $20 • Students $10
Jacques Lee Wood, cello Art of the Fugue october 28 Morse Recital Hall | Tuesday | 7:30 pm Oneppo Chamber Music Series The Orion String Quartet and Windscape perform Bach’s Art of the Fugue as arranged by Samuel Baron Tickets start at $25 • Students $12
november 6 Morse Recital Hall | Thursday | 7:30 pm Doctor of Musical Arts Recital With Esther Park, piano Free Admission
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Robert Blocker, Dean