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Since Beethoven’s death in 1827, musicians and academics have pored over his life, letters and documents with a fine-tooth comb; even his hair was the subject of an entire book. By now a new scholarly treatise analyzing his fingernails seems likelier than an evening of Beethoven premieres.
But three of his works received their New York premieres on Tuesday evening at Alice Tully Hall, courtesy of the Beethoven Project Trio, an ensemble founded in 2008, after the pianist George Lepauw learned about these obscure Beethoven scores. Mr. Lepauw, the violinist Sang Mee Lee and the cellist Wendy Warner performed the world premiere of the Piano Trio in E flat (Hess 47) and the American premieres of the Piano Trio in D (Kinsky/Halm Anhang 3) and the Piano Trio in E flat (Op. 63) last year in Chicago.
The three musicians gave committed performances throughout the evening. Mr. Lepauw played with sparkling clarity on the bright-toned Fazioli piano in elegant partnership with Ms. Lee and Ms. Warner, whose musicianship was particularly distinctive. Ms. Warner’s expressive playing and glowing tone were everywhere a pleasure, particularly in the Andante of the Opus 63 Trio.
Beethoven based that genial four-movement work — composed around 1805, with the piano in a central role — on his Opus 103 Wind Octet and Opus 4 String Quintet, itself an arrangement of the octet. Mr. Lepauw played with a singing tone in the lilting Andante and witty Menuetto. He did the same in the Andante of the Piano Trio in B flat ("Archduke"), which concluded the program in familiar Beethovenian territory.
Wendy Warner is a terrific cellist. Recipient of the Avery Fisher Career Grant, student and protegé of Mstislav Rostropovich, she has enjoyed a flourishing international career since winning his competition in 1990. The program recorded here—Popper’s Suite for Cello and Piano, Op. 69; Three Pieces, Op. 11; Im Walde (In the Forest), Op. 50; and Piatigorsky’s Variations on a Paganini T eme—is tailored to her strengths: her effortless and exuberant virtuosity, beautiful tone, and ardent, but restrained, romanticism.
Of the two great cellists whose works are featured on this disc, David Popper, born in Prague, but long active in Hungary, was the more renowned and prolific composer. His music abounds with lovely melodies, surprisingly daring, chromatic harmonies, felicitous modulations, and, of course, technical fireworks. Warner tosses all these off with relish and also brings out the contrasting character and moods of the pieces with simple expressiveness.
Ukranian-born Gregory Piatigorsky spent most of his life in Germany and America teaching and playing solo and chamber music with such partners as Schnabel and Heifetz. He was renowned for his charm and wit, both of which are on full display in his Variations on a Paganini Theme, the 24th caprice, which has inspired composers from Brahms to the present. Piatigorsky’s 15 variations, each shorter than two minutes, capture the styles and personalities of his famous friends and colleagues.
The piece is grand fun and Warner plays it to the hilt, negotiating its formidable technical obstacles with aplomb.
Pianist Eileen Buck’s empathetic support and remarkably singing tone contribute greatly to the performances. —E.E.
The chances of anyone turning up a forgotten Beethoven masterpiece at this late date, while tantalizing, are virtually nil. Even so, odd bits of Beethoveniana still are discovered from time to time, mostly forgotten or incomplete works, piquing the interest of novelty-seeking performers.
One such Beethoven rediscovery had its world premiere Sunday at John B. Murphy Auditorium by an ensemble of Chicago musicians performing as the Beethoven Project Trio, under the auspices of the International Beethoven Project. Making the sold-out event even more newsworthy were the North American premieres of two other Beethoven piano trios.
The world premiere piece, nicknamed "Hess 47" after the Swiss musical scholar Willy Hess, is the only movement Beethoven completed of a piano-trio arrangement of his String Trio in E-Flat, Opus 3, composed in 1794. Is the 12-minute Allegro con brio a major discovery? No. But even a relatively minor piece of forgotten Beethoven casts revealing light on the master's working methods.
Beethoven's style had evolved considerably by the time he made this arrangement, sometime between 1800 and 1805. The piano part abounds in forte and piano contrasts that lend surprise and color and strengthen what is basically an accompanying voice in this pleasant Haydnesque movement.
For musicians who had never worked together as a trio before, pianist George Lepauw, violinist Sang Mee Lee and cellist Wendy Warner made a splendid ensemble, playing with finely judged balance, evenness of sound and unanimity of style. Lee and Warner played Stradivari and Guarneri instruments on loan from Chicago's Stradivari Society.
Receiving its American premiere was the Piano Trio in E-Flat, Opus 63—Beethoven's reworking of his Wind Octet (Opus 103) and String Quintet (Opus 4). Although beholden to classical models, the four-movement work is fraught with passionate romantic drama, foreshadowing the composer's middle-period manner.
Also an American premiere was Beethoven's early Piano Trio in D Major (Kinsky/Halm Anhang 3), dating from 1799. Two missing pages of manuscript totaling 33 bars were skillfully reconstructed by Robert McConnell, a music student at Northwestern University. It's easy to hear why this slight but ingratiating music was long mistaken for a work of Mozart's: It's full of melodic grace and sunny classical charm.
Lepauw, Lee and Warner ended their program with Beethoven's familiar "Archduke" Trio, a masterpiece that drew fully on their individual and collective abilities. The slow movement emerged with particular eloquence here.
Johan Christian Bach Sinfonia Concertante for violin and cello in A Major
Barber Concerto
Beethoven Triple in C Major Opus 56
Bernstein Three Meditations from his Mass
Bloch Schelomo-Rhapsodie hebraique
Boccherini Concerto in B flat Major
Brahms Double Concerto in a minor Opus 102
Bruc Kol Nidrei Opus 47
Dutilleux Tout Un Monde Lointain
Dvorak Concerto in b minor Opus 104
Elgar Concerto Opus 85
Faure Elegie Opus 24
Glazunov Chant du Menestrel Opus 71
Haydn Concertos in C Hob. VII, n.1 and D Hob. VII b:2, Opus 101
Hindemith Concerto 1940
Lalo Concerto in d minor
Lutoslawski Concerto
Menotti Fantasia
Milhaud Concerto No. 2, Opus 255 (1945)
Popper Hungarian Rhapsody Opus 68
Prokoffief Sinfonia Concertante Opus 125
Saint-Saens Concerto in a minor No. 1
Saint-Saens Allegro Appassionato Opus 43
Schumann Concerto in a minor Opus 129
Shostakovich Concerto No. 1 Opus 107
Strauss Don Quixote
Tchaikovsky on a theme Rococo Opus 33
Tchaikovsky Pezzo Capriccioso Opus 62
Tchaikovsky Nocturne
Tchaikovsky Andante Cantabile from String Quartet Opus 11
Vivaldi Double Concerto for violin and cello in A, F. IV, n.6
Vivaldi Double Cello Concerto in g minor F.III, n.2, P.411
Wendy Warner has become one of the world's leading cellists. In May, 2010, The New York Times reported "Warner's expressive playing and glowing tone were everywhere a pleasure." The Chicago Tribune wrote, "If there was a truly prodigious performance during the evening, this was it," while Strings has hailed her "youthful, surging playing, natural stage presence and almost frightening technique." As jury member Frans Helmerson told The New York Times when Warner won first-prize
at the Fourth International Rostropovich Competition in Paris in 1990, "she's unbelievable."
Audiences have watched Warner perform on prestigious stages including New York's Carnegie Hall, Symphony Hall in Boston, Walt Disney Hall in Los Angeles, Paris' Salle Pleyel, and Berlin's Philharmonie. She has collaborated with such leading conductors as Mstislav Rostropovich, Vladimir Spivakov, Christoph Eschenbach, Andre Previn, Jesús López-Cobos, Carlos Miguel Prieto, Ignat Solzhenitsyn, Marin Alsop, Charles Dutoit, Eiji Oue, Neeme Järvi, and Michael Tilson Thomas.
Her 2010-2011 season begins with the August 31 release of her first duo recording with pianist Irina Nuzova. Titled Russian Music for Cello & Piano, the Cedille Records collection of romantic works features Sergei Rachmaninov's Sonata in
G minor, and the first time the rarely-performed Sonata in A minor by Nikolai Miaskovsky has been recorded by an American on American soil. Also included are works by Sergei Prokofiev, Alfred Schnittke, and Alexander Scriabin.
This season, Warner is the featured soloist for concerto engagements with the Fox Valley, Lake Forest, University of South Carolina, Millikin-Decatur, and Hartford Symphony Orchestras. She will also perform in chamber music series with Camerata Chicago at College Church in Wheaton, Illinois which will be broadcast on WFMT. Warner, Rachel Barton Pine, Soojin Ahn, and Michael Larco will take part in a chamber music concert presented by the Norton Concert Series in Chicago. She will also play with the Boston Artists Ensemble, The Schwob Chamber Music faculty concert, and the Jupiter Players in New York City.
Upcoming WarnerNuzova dates include the performance of the Beethoven Sonatas plus Variations with Irina Nuzova at the Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C. as well as performances at the Music in the Park series in Chicago, the Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber Music Society in Ontario, Canada and at the University of San Antonio as part of the Musical Bridges series.
Recently Warner made her debut at Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall performing unknown works by Beethoven which she recorded for the Beethoven Project trio. Warner's past North American engagements have included performances with the Chicago, Boston, Dallas, North Carolina, Jacksonville, Montreal, New Mexico, Omaha, Nashville, and San Francisco Symphonies, and the Minnesota and Philadelphia Orchestras. Around the world she has performed with the London Symphony (Barbican Center), Berlin Symphony, Hong Kong Philharmonic, French Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, Iceland Symphony, L'Orchestre du Capitole de Toulouse, and L'Orchestre de Paris, with which she performed the Brahms Double Concerto with violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter, Semyon Bychkov conducting. Warner has played with the European Soloists of Luxembourg at Frankfurt's Alter Oper, and the Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine. She has toured Japan as a soloist with NHK Symphony Orchestra and the Japan Philharmonic.
The child of professional musicians and the granddaughter of composer Philip Warner whose symphony premiered with the NBC Symphony, Leopold Stokowski conducting, Warner began studying piano at the age of four and began studying the cello at age six, under the tutelage of Nell Novak. At age 14 she made her debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra broadcast on WTTW-TV. She continued her studies with Rostropovich at the Curtis Institute from which she graduated. Her career took an auspicious turn in 1990 when she made her Washington D.C. debut with the National Symphony playing Shostakovich's First Cello Concerto. In 1991, she made her Carnegie Hall debut performing the Schumann Concerto conducted by Rostropovich. She was re-engaged to appear with the NSO on a North American tour in 1991. Under Rostropovich's baton, she performed with the Bamberg Symphony for a 1991 European tour, making her debuts in Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Köln, Düsseldorf and Berlin. "He made the Prokofiev Symphonia Concertante and Shostakovich No. 1 fit like a glove. He challenged me to new heights and made me feel that I had no limitations," recalls Warner.
Warner's discography includes the 2010 release of The Beethoven Project - featuring unknown Beethoven piano trios with pianist George Lepauw and violinist Sang Mee Lee; Wendy Warner Plays Popper and Piatigorsky; Double Play: Twentieth Century Duos for Violin and Cello with Rachel Barton Pine, (all on the Cedille label); Hindemith's Music for Cello & Piano for Bridge Records and the critically acclaimed Samuel Barber: Orchestral Works, Volume 2 , featuring Barber's Cello Concerto, with Marin Alsop and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, released by Naxos.
Warner performs on a Joseph Gagliano cello and a Carl Becker cello. Her bow is by Francoix Xavier Tourte of Paris, c. 1815, the "De Lamare," on extended loan through the generous efforts of a patron from the Stradivari Society of Chicago.
A recipient of the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant, Warner is on the faculty at Roosevelt University's Chicago College of Performing Arts, the Music Institute of Chicago and the Schwob School of Music at Columbus State University in Georgia. Passionate about cooking and Paris, Warner is the guardian of two cats, Antoine
and Carina.
 Wendy Warner Plays
Wendy Warner, cello |
"… This is sovereign music-making deserving of the highest accolades." Suite for Cello and Piano, Op. 69 (27:30)1. Allegro giojoso (10:37)2. II. Tempo di Menuetto (6:07) 3. III. Ballade (4:47) 4. IV. Finale (5:50) Three Pieces, Op. 11 (12:31) 5. Widmung (5:59) 6. Humoreske (2:42) 7. Mazurka (3:44) Im Walde, Op. 50 (23:02) 8. No. 1 Eintritt (6:05) 9. No. 2 Gnomentanz (3:30) 10. No. 3 Andacht (5:25) 11. No. 4 Reigen (2:36) 12. No. 5 Herbstblume (1:58) 13. No. 6 Heimkehr (3:13) Variations on a Paganini Theme (1946) (16:07)* 14. Theme (0:29) 15. Variation 1 (Pablo Casals) (1:09) 16. Variation 2 (Paul Hindemith) (0:46) 17. Variation 3 (Raya Garbousova) (0:32) 18. Variation 4 (Erica Morini) (0:46) 19. Variation 5 (Felix Salmond) (1:05) 20. Variation 6 (Joseph Szigeti) (1:26) 21. Variation 7 (Yehudi Menuhin) (0:52) 22. Variation 8 (Nathan Milstein) (0:35) 23. Variation 9 (Fritz Kreisler) (1:20) 24. Variation 10 (self-portrait) (0:33) 25. Variation 11 (Gaspar Cassado) (0:57) 26. Variation 12 (Mischa Elman) (1:37) 27. Variation 13 (Ennio Bolognini) (1:19) 28. Variation 14 (Jascha Heifetz) (0:59) 29. Tempo di Marcia (Vladimir Horowitz) (1:35) |
Double Play:Rachel Barton Pine, violin |
"[Rachel Barton and Wendy Warner] are major virtuosos who collaborate like best friends… The players' coordination and virtuosity are reminiscent of those of the best string quartets of today (think Emerson), and the generous program is vividly recorded. A superb disc in every respect. Encore!" — Editorial Review - Amazon.comBohuslav Martinu (1890-1959) Duo No. 2 (1958) I. Allegretto II. Adagio III. Poco Allegro Erwin Schulhoff (1894-1942) Duo (1925) I. Moderate II. Zingaresca: Allegro giocoso III. Andantino IV. Moderato Maurice Ravel (1875-1937) Sonata (1922) I. Allegro II. Tres vif III. Lent IV. Vif, avec entrain Zoltan Kodály (1882-1967) Duo Op. 7 (1914) I. Allegro serioso, non troppo II.Adagio III.Maestoso e largamente, ma non troppo lento |
Samuel Barber: Orchestral Works, Volume 2Cello Concerto, Op. 22Medea, Op. 23 Adagio for Strings, Op. 11 Wendy Warner, cello Royal Scottish National Orchestra Marin Alsop conducting Naxos |
"Wendy Warner's recording of the Barber Cello Concerto is a more satisfying account than the recordings by Yo-Yo Ma, Steven Isserlis or Raphael Wallfisch. Each of these other recordings commend themselves for various reasons, but Ms. Warner's account brings together a searching musicality, technical command, poignant lyricism, and a beautiful stereo acoustic." — Robert BerkovitxCello Concerto, Op. 22 1.Allegro moderato - 12:51 2.Andante sostenuto - 07:22 3.Molto allegro e appassionato - 09:14 Medea Ballet Suite Op. 23 (1947) 4.Parodos - 03:14 5.Choros. Medea and Jason - 05:01 6.The Young Princess. Jason - 03:28 7.Choros - 03:30 8.Medea - 07:46 9.Kantikos Agonias - 02:27 10.Exodos - 03:18 Adagio for Strings, Op. 11 11.Adagio for Strings, Op. 11 - 07:47 |
Paul Hindemith: Music for Cello & PianoWendy Warner, CelloEileen Buck, Piano Bridge Records |
"An excellent disc in every respect." — Classicstoday.comSonata for Solo Cello, Op. 25, No. 3 (9:53) With Eileen Buck, Piano: Variations on "A frog he went a-courting" (6:16) Sonata 1948 (22:42) Capriccio, Op. 8, No.1 (3:15) Sonata, Op. 11, No. 3 (19:35) |
