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The disc you are holding in your hands is a part of "Three centuries of
piano" series; its aim is not to cover the vast piano repertoire; it is rather
an attempt of revealing certain important and valuable trends in piano music
development.
In our opinion, one of the major driving forces behind art as a whole is
creative improvisational and fantasy source, or idea, innovation, which is
naturally connected with tradition, and realization based on precise fixing of
those fleeting processes especially peculiar to music. One may also mention that
accents in the idea-to-realization ratio change in historical retrospective.
This selection features works that, in our opinion, are of novel and fantasy, as
well as aphoristic and precise nature.
W.A. Mozart's Fantasia in D minor was composed in Vienna in 1782. Continuing
fantasy traditions so vivid and diverse in C.P.E. Bach's (J.S. Bach's son)
oeuvre, Mozart managed to discover special expressive means in his fantasies
which open up new possibilities of interpreting the piano style which was still
so young at that time. The fantasia form undoubtedly has an improvisatory and
spontaneous origin, and its style is pronouncedly aphoristic. Music themes stop
abruptly as though intentionally. That is why the pauses placed so thoroughly
and generously illuminate the composition with unearthly light...
D. Shostakovich's Aphorisms, op. 13 were composed between February 25th and
April 7th of 1927. The composer described the style of his works of the period
in the following way: "I had a goal of finding a new style of piano narration in
chamber instrumental compositions. I partly managed to do this in Aphorisms
which feature exceptionally polyphonic and multi-voice style." It is worth
mentioning that the cycle was written immediately after Shostakovich's
appearance as a pianist at F. Chopin First International Competition in Warsaw.
That is probably why four of the pieces were given such Chopin-like names as
nocturne, funeral march, etude, and lullaby.
F. Chopin's Lullaby (Berceuse), op.57 was named at the moment of its publication
in May 1845. The original title was "Les variantes". Apparently this composition
was first performed as an impromptu and sketches twice in February 1844. "First
he played a beautiful Prelude, then Lullaby ("Les variantes" - artist's note),
then Mazurka, then again Lullaby, which, as m-me Gofmanova presumed, must have
been the way angels used to sing in Bethlehem" (from Bogdan Zalessky's diary).
It is, in a way, a lullaby fantasy, based on alternation of variations resting
on a single consistent bass, and taking us further and further away to a
dreamland.
R. Schumann's "Toccata" is still considered to be one of the most challenging
piano works. Composed in 1830, it was re-composed in 1833 and dedicated to a
friend of Schumann's, Ludwig Schunke, a composer and pianist himself, whose
talent may be assessed through Schumann's opinion of him. Describing a
foreigner's visit to him and Ludwig, Schumann says, "Imagine my surprise when he
(Schunke) played him a toccata with perfection, and confessed to me that he had
overheard it at my house several times and had learned it secretly without an
instrument, in his head." One may only guess what impression this composition
left on contemporaries. However, the undoubtedly striking thing about it is the
steel power with which toccata's musical imagery flashes by at a breakneck speed
smashing the habitual world of sounds into a thousand pieces. It was a new
musical manifesto of speed. Whether a mere coincidence or not, beginning in
1829-1830 triumphant and, at the same time, horrifying locomotive races swept
England and the rest of Europe. "In the train's window, through the glass, one
could see shatters of the world flying by, a world smashed to pieces. It was an
endless flow broken up into thousands of instant images. It was a world torn
apart from the inside by some invisible force" (Alessandro Baricco, "Castelli Di
Rabbia", 1991).
"Pictures at an Exhibition", M. Mussorgsky's only large-scale piano work, was
finished in the summer of 1874 and dedicated to the memory of his friend V.
Hartmann, a painter and architect. It is a sort of a 'piano opera' combining
most unusual plots and opposite characters. In his letter to V. Stasov the
composer described this work, "Hartmann is boiling with emotions, just like
"Boris" used to. Sounds and ideas are floating in the air, I swallow it and eat
to excess, hardly having time to scratch the paper... my true face is seen in
interludes."
A. Marcello and J. S. Bach's "Adagio" is a transcription of the second part of a
concerto for oboe and orchestra composed by Alessandro Marcello around 1717. The
divine 'oboe d'amore' (instrument of love) improvisation, as oboe transcription
for piano was called at the time, becomes more laid-back and ephemeral.
Vasily Shcherbakov.
Kirill Mozhukhin, English translation
Vasily Shcherbakov is a talented versatile Moscow pianist and composer. He
graduated from the Tchaikovsky Moscow Conservatoire with honours (in the class
of Elena Richter) in 1994. He is a prize-winner of international festivals and
contests.
Russian, German and American media point out the best traditions of Russian
piano school in Mr. Scherbakov's creative activities, among them - the singing
quality of piano sound, architectonic performance, possession of time, and the
combination of “the passionate heart and cool head”. The pianist's performance
is noted for a specially delicate contact with the keyboard, thus creating a
unique poetic sound atmosphere. The pianist's repertoire ranges from early
clavier music to most recent pieces. The pianist is constantly involved in
successful and most interesting solo performances, and has also proved to be a
subtle ensemble performer. Vasily Shcherbakov plays in ensemble with the Mikail
Glinka and Dmitri Shostakovich State quartets, as well as such well-known
soloists as Alexander Trostyansky (violin), Alexander Buzlov (cello), Kirill
Rybakov (clarinet), Alexander Galkovsky (viola), Cologne youth philharmonic
society's soloist S. Genschaft (violin), and world-renowned theremin performer
Lidya Kavina. He also successfully performs with the leading soloists and
orchestras of the Bolshoi Theatre, the Novaya Opera Theatre, the Helicon Opera
Theatre et al. Mr. Shcherbakov has organized and taken part in a number of
prestigious international festivals in Russia, Germany, Lithuania, Latvia, and
other countries. Since 2000 he has been acting as the head of chamber ensemble
department at the Ippolitov-Ivanov State Musical and Pedagogical Institute. Many
of his students are prize-winners of international chamber ensembles' contests
and continue their post-graduate studies at the Tchaikovsky Moscow State
Conservatoire and the Gnessins' Russian Music Academy.
Vasily Shcherbakov tours in Russia, Europe, and holds master classes in Russia
and abroad. He was a jury member at numerous international chamber music
contests. He has released recordings of solo and ensemble music. Vasily
Shcherbakov is a brilliant representative of the young generation of the 21st
century musicians.
© Classical
Records
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