Disparate Duos
| 1. | Introduction | 00:00:50 |
| 2. | Kodály: Duo for Violin and Cello, Op. 7 | 00:27:59 |
| 3. | Beethoven: Sonata in G minor for Cello and Piano, Op. 5, No. 2 | 00:29:40 |
| 4. | Closing | 00:00:30 |
Two players is all you need to make great chamber music. On today’s program, we have two duos by Zoltán Kodály and Beethoven, showcasing how extraordinary a small ensemble can be. By the time Zoltán Kodály composed this duo on the eve of WWI, he had spent more than a decade researching the folk music of his native Hungary, which produced works of unique color and flavor. This music doesn’t require intellectual rigor of its listeners, only a willingness to be swept up by its passionate harmonies and infectious rhythms. Beethoven’s five Sonatas for Cello and Piano revolutionized the role of the cello in music — they are the first works in which the cello is an equal partner to the keyboard. His first two cello sonatas were written for King Frederick William the Second, an amateur cellist, and patron to Mozart and Haydn. After the pleasing and delightful first Sonata in F major, the second Sonata, dark and brooding, in the serious key of G minor, foretold Beethoven’s transformative journey into the full-blown Romantic age to come.
PROGRAM
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Zoltán Kodály (1882–1967) |
Duo for Violin and Cello, Op. 7 (1914) Bella Hristova, violin; Nicholas Canellakis, cello |
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Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827) |
Sonata in G minor for Cello and Piano, Op. 5, No. 2 (1796) Arnaud Sussmann, Chad Hoopes, Danbi Um, James Thompson, Francisco Fullana, Kristin Lee, violin; Matthew Lipman, Paul Neubauer, Jeremy Berry, viola; Sihao He, Mihai Marica, Dmitri Atapine, cello; Blake Hinson, double bass |
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Bella Hristova
Nicholas Canellakis
Paul Watkins
Alessio Bax
Bulgarian-American violinist Bella Hristova has won international acclaim for her “expressive nuance and rich tone” (New York Times) and “impressive power and control” (Washington Post). A recipient of the Avery Fisher Career Grant, she is known for a diverse repertoire, bold programming, and a warmly beguiling stage presence. Hristova has performed as a soloist with orchestras across the United States, Asia, Europe, Latin America, and New Zealand, and has given recitals at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, and Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. A devoted champion of living composers, she has premiered new concertos by Anthony Ritchie and her husband, David Serkin Ludwig. Her commissioning project, Lineage, features six new solo violin works and will be released as an album on Azica Records in 2027. She plays a 1655 Nicolò Amati violin once owned by Louis Krasner.
Nicholas Canellakis has become one of the most sought-after and innovative cellists of his generation, praised in the New Yorker as a “superb young soloist.” Recent highlights include solo debuts with the Virginia, Albany, Bangor, and Delaware symphony orchestras; concerto appearances with the Erie Philharmonic, the New Haven Symphony, and the American Symphony Orchestra; Europe and Asia tours with CMS; and recitals throughout the US with his longtime duo collaborator, pianist-composer Michael Stephen Brown. An alum of CMS’s Bowers Program, he is a regular guest artist at many of the world’s leading music festivals. Canellakis is the Artistic Director of Chamber Music Sedona in Arizona and is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music (where he was recently appointed to the cello faculty) and New England Conservatory.
Paul Watkins enjoys a varied and distinguished career as soloist, chamber musician, and conductor. The cellist of the Emerson String Quartet from 2013 until its disbanding in 2023, he is also the Artistic Director of the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival, and in 2019 he was appointed Professor of Cello at the Yale School of Music. He has performed as concerto soloist with prestigious orchestras throughout the world. A dedicated chamber musician, he was a member of the Nash Ensemble from 1997 until 2013 and is a regular guest artist at CMS. Watkins has held the positions of Music Director of the English Chamber Orchestra and Principal Guest Conductor of the Ulster Orchestra. His extensive discography as a cellist includes more than 70 recordings, and his first recording as a conductor, of the Britten and Berg violin concertos with Daniel Hope, received a Grammy nomination.
Alessio Bax catapulted to prominence with First Prize wins at both the Leeds and Hamamatsu International Piano Competitions. He has appeared with more than 150 orchestras, including the London, Royal, and St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestras, the Boston, Dallas, and Sydney Symphonies, and the NHK Symphony in Japan, collaborating with such eminent conductors as Marin Alsop, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Sir Andrew Davis, Sir Simon Rattle, Yuri Temirkanov, and Jaap van Zweden. He released his 11th Signum Classics album, Italian Inspirations, whose program was also the vehicle for his solo recital debut at New York’s 92nd Street Y as well as on tour. He and his regular piano duo partner, Lucille Chung, have given recitals at Lincoln Center and were featured with the St. Louis Symphony and Stéphane Denève. This season he makes his debut with the Milwaukee Symphony, and will return for the fourth time for two recitals at the historic Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires. Last summer he made return appearances at the Seattle Chamber Music Festival and at the Bravo! Vail Music Festival with the Dallas Symphony and Fabio Luisi conducting. At age 14, Bax graduated with top honors from the conservatory of Bari, his hometown in Italy, and after further studies in Europe, he moved to the United States in 1994. A Steinway artist, he lives in New York City with pianist Lucille Chung and their daughter, Mila. He is a former member of CMS’s Bowers Program and on the faculty at the New England Conservatory.