Collin: Do you compose music? If so can you describe your style?
Ralph: In fact I never had a big urge to compose music, as there are so many great composers out there, who have more to tell than I do in that respect. I have often thought what I would write if I would be a composer, but I had to conclude that it would be mostly a kind of mixture of all my favorite composers and pieces - some Messiaen, some Ives, some Debussy…However, as an instrumentalist, it is quite likely that one has some more pronounced ideas for a composition than for any other instrument; there are in fact quite a few pianists who do have composed for their own instrument, now and in the past, such as Glenn Gould, Arthur Rubinstein and Horowitz. However, also in these cases, in my opinion, the music sounds, in the first place, remarkably similar to the works by the composers they play as part of their concert repertoire.
That said - I have composed myself a few things, and during my conservatory studies, one work was actually performed at a concert of the composition department, after which I was encouraged to study composition. It strikes me that of the works I did compose (all were for piano solo), that without exception, they were in minor keys, and heavily influenced by the early and middle Scriabin especially, with some hints of Debussy and Chopin. Also I wrote a piece in memory of the great Japanese composer Toru Takemitsu, but thinking back of it, and although the pieces themselves are not bad I think, they are too much of an imitation.
I do realize that all great composers have started by imitating their great examples, and I think that as an instrumentalist, it is very useful to try composing - just to understand the process and the problems of composing to a greater extent (and ultimately, to perform other composer’s works better). However, I think that in order to seriously compose, one needs hard and serious work, and especially a lot of creativity and urge to add something really original of oneself to the enormous existing canon of great compositions.
Collin: What parts of the US would you like to visit? Do you have any venues that you dream about playing in?
Ralph: As a part of my studies in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, I studied with Ursula Oppens at Northwestern (Chicago) for almost a year. It was a wonderful period to which I think back very often. I was invited to be a fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center during two consecutive years at that time as well, and I would love to visit those places again, sniff the atmosphere (perhaps this is a Dutch expression) and see all my friends. During several holidays, I have been to California, Nevada, Arizona and New York, and also thsoe places grabbed me especially because of their natural beauty - the vastness of everything is unknown to us Dutchmen, and it would be something I would like to see and especially feel again. It seems to me that the works by someone as John Adams could only have been created in such environments; in a small, measured, rainy place such as The Netherlands, the mind simply seems not to have enough space to think of such a music style. But I have never been to Florida or Texas, for example, so there are still many places to discover.
Concerning my dream of a concert venue: of course there are many big halls in the US that any musician dreams of. I have attended a lot of concerts at Chicago’s Symphony Center during my studies, so this has a special place in my heart. But often, my mind has wandered to other thoughts. For example, wouldn’t it be great to perform Charles Ives’ legendary Concord Sonata at Walden Pond, in Henry David Thoreau’s cottage? The atmosphere, perhaps even the ‘vibes’ in such a place would certainly beat even the best concert hall in the world, even though the acoustics would probably not be the best ever. And when I let my thoughts go further, I could dream of playing Messiaen’s Des Canyons aux Étoiles (From the Canyons to the Stars), for piano and chamber orchestra, in the place where the composer found his inspiration: right inbetween the canyons of Bryce Canyon, at sunrise for example….A concert inbetween the half-constructed airplanes at Boeing Hall in Everett, Washington, is an even weirder phantasy, to which I would not say ‘no’…
Collin: What music do you buy? Do you have any current favorite recording right now?
Ralph: Sometimes I doubt whether I have a normal musical mind, as there are just so many types of music that I like. I have never understood why there is such a big ‘gap’ between what they call classical, contemporary, pop, world and jazz music. At the moment there is a CD of Coldplay in my car stereo - I must admit that I do not know pop music so well, but many contemporary composers mentioned it to me, and indeed it is good music. At the same time, I am again in a ‘minimal’ period. With me, my music interests go in recurring waves - few months ago I had one of those Scriabin periods, in which I listened to his music any time I was not practising myself. Now, there is Steve Reich in my CD-player in the living room. For some reason I always feel drawn to his music whenever I go travelling. My holidays are nearing quickly, and perhaps the pulse of his music sets my mind to the pulse of the many hours on the highway to come. Other music which is always close by is from Debussy and Keith Jarrett, to name a few. I have not so long ago discovered music by the German composer Hans Otte (1926-2007), who was a piano student of Walter Gieseking and a composition student of Paul Hindemith. He was absorbed by new music, but in his own music you always hear the sensuality of Gieseking’s hallmark: Debussy. In an original and haunting combination, you hear an almost perfect world of impressionism, minimalism, Eastern influences and even some hints of Romantic music.
On October 28, Naxos released The Christopher Nupen Films’ new documentary, Vladimir Ashkenazy: Master Musician. Nupen, dubbed “king of the music documentary” by Gramophone and a three-time winner at Midem in Cannes (2005, 2006, and 2008), has put together a revealing portrait of the Russian-born pianist and conductor. The film includes Vladimir Ashkenazy: The Vital Juices Are Russian (1968); a montage of Nupen’s composer films with Ashkenazy as conductor; and a performance segment featuring Rachmaninoff’s Corelli Variations, released for the first time on this disc. Additionally, the DVD features a short interview with Ashkenazy.
The Vital Juices Are Russian was shot in 1968 when Ashkenazy moved with his wife and son from London to Iceland. The title refers to a statement about the composer’s Russian-ness that he makes during the film. Mr. Nupen comments: “The portrait film was made at an important turning point in Vladimir Ashkenazy’s life and career, a time when everything was changing, much to do and much being done. Some piquancy was added by the fact that our young hero felt that he was struggling to come to terms with the great traditions of the West, because, as he says in the film, he felt inadequately prepared. At that time, the idea that he might, somewhere in the distant future, become an internationally-recognized conductor was not even on the horizon.”
Since the original film was made, Ashkenazy-possibly the most frequently-recorded pianist in history, with a discography of 56 pages-has also become an international conductor. The DVD includes a montage of sequences from Nupen’s composer films featuring Ashkenazy at the podium. Next is a short but revealing interview with the composer on music and musical gifts and, finally, a segment on Rachmaninoff’s Corelli Variations, which Ashkenazy discusses at length. The film concludes with a complete performance of the piece, filmed live at a public concert in Lugano.
Ashkenazy won the Queen Elizabeth of the Belgians Prize at age 18 and later won the Tchaikovsky competition. That was only the start, however; his career has continued to rise steadily from then until now. In 2007, he celebrated his 70th birthday, an event that inspired worldwide press celebrations and an eight-disc boxed set of CDs from Decca; the final disc is an 80-minute conversation between Ashkenazy and Christopher Nupen.
Christopher Nupen is the recent recipient of myriad awards, including DVD of the Month from both Classic FM and Gramophone; three German Record Critics’ Awards; the Diapason d’Or (France); and, most recently, the DVD of the Year Award (documentary category) from Midem at the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès in Cannes for Jacqueline du Pré - A Celebration. This is Nupen’s third Midem DVD of the Year Award in four years, an unprecedented achievement; it is the top international classical DVD prize awarded by the institution. Founded in 1968, Christopher Nupen’s company Allegro Films has produced significant documentaries on Vladimir Ashkenazy, Evgeny Kissin, Nathan Milstein, Franz Schubert, Andrés Segovia, Jean Sibelius, and Pinchas Zukerman. Through close relationships with these artists, Allegro Films has produced a series of intimate portraits recognized as classics, with a longevity rarely achieved in television programming.
David Oistrakh, Artist of the People? (Medici 3073178) is the latest film by acclaimed French filmmaker and violinist Bruno Monsaingeon (Glenn Gould Hereafter; Nadia Boulanger: Mademoiselle). One of the greatest violinists of the 20th century, David Oistrakh (1908-1974) was largely self-taught, yet he became the true founder and undisputed master of the Soviet school of violin-playing, the most prestigious school of our times. The film includes rare archival footage (on and offstage) gathered over many years by Monsaingeon, whose fascination with Oistrakh dates back to his childhood. In addition to performances by David Oistrakh, Yehudi Menuhin, Mstislav Rostropovich, Sviatoslav Richter, Igor Oistrakh and Gennadi Rozhdestvensky (among others), the filmmaker spoke at length with Menuhin, Rostropovich, and the violinist’s son Igor.
Some of the stories related by Rostropovich and Menuhin chillingly reveal the exceptionally troubled circumstances in which Oistrakh lived. Despite being Jewish, Oistrakh refused to leave Soviet Russia even when emigration may have been possible. The interviews shed light on a man who, like his contemporary Dimitri Shostakovich, found ways to survive during the dark years of Stalin.
Because of the political climate of the time-Stalinism and the Second World War-Oistrakh’s career in Western Europe, America, and Japan blossomed relatively late. It was not until 1953 that he began to make regular appearances in the West, by which time he was already 45 years old-though his legendary reputation had already made him the subject of endless speculation throughout the Western musical world. His first proper international tours instantly confirmed the legend, and from then until his death in Amsterdam in 1974, he pursued a varied career in the concert hall, as a soloist and conductor, and as a teacher. Oistrakh’s genius inspired numerous composers to write for him. He premiered sonatas and concertos by Prokofiev, Khachaturian and Shostakovich, among others, and performed these works all over the world.
Tony Palmer writes: “There are always dates which resonate forever in our lives … for me that date is May 30, 1962. By chance, I had been taken to Coventry Cathedral by a friend, John Culshaw, to hear a ‘big new choral piece’ by Benjamin Britten, whose entire works Culshaw was in the process of committing to disc by Decca.” The work to which Palmer refers, of course, is Britten’s War Requiem, one of the most important works to come out of the later half of the 20th century. Palmer went on to make a film in 1967 about the opening of the original Snape Concert Hall called Britten & His Festival. Britten was so taken with that film that after his death, his longtime partner Sir Peter Pears asked Palmer to make another, more substantive film in his memory.
Benjamin Britten: A Time There Was (1979) is as much a love story as it is a biography. Pears’ commentary and conversation provide the central focus for the film, which also includes numerous musical excerpts from Britten’s operas and other works and features artists who include Leonard Bernstein, Kathleen Ferrier, Dame Janet Baker, Sviatoslav Richter (another Russian champion of Britten’s music), Julian Bream, Peter Glossop, John Shirley-Quirk, and others. The film also highlights the more personal side of the composer, with commentary from Britten’s housekeeper Miss Hudson, Rita Thompson (who nursed him through his final illness), his copyist and musical confidants Imogen Holst and Rosamund Strode, and the Mayer family who housed Britten and Peter Pears when the two left England in 1938 in objection to the war.
Palmer says, “I could never repay my debt to him, but I hoped (and hope) the film would enable others to share something of this strange, haunted man, and his enduring power for us. Humphrey Carpenter once played the Young Person’s Guide on his program In Tune on Radio3. Following the tumultuous fugue at the end, there was a long pause, and eventually Humphrey said: ‘That, ladies and gentlemen, is pure genius.’ Yes, it is.”‘
On June 24th, Naxos will release a 2-disc recording of Rossini’s one-act semiseria opera L’inganno felice. Filmed in Germany at the Rossini in Wildbad Festival in the Königliches Kurtheater, the opera is judiciously cast, featuring performances by Kenneth Tarver (Bertrando), Corinna Mologni (Isabella), Lorenzo Regazzo (Tarabotto), Marco Vinco (Batone), and Simon Bailey (Ormondo), and the Czech Chamber Soloists conducted by Alberto Zedda.L’inganno felice, Rossini’s 4th opera, premiered to rave reviews in 1812 in Venice when the composer was only 20 years old. Sometimes classified as a farsa, the opera tells the story of a faithful wife wrongly accused of infidelity. She is subsequently disowned only to be taken back by her husband when she is found to be innocent. Although it is rarely performed today, L’inganno felice was the third most performed of Rossini’s operas during his lifetime. Giuseppe Foppa, Venice’s most well-known librettist and specialist in semiseria and farsa, partnered with Rossini for L’inganno felice. The pair went on to write two additional operas during Rossini’s early career (La scala di seta and Il Signor Bruschino).
Born in 1928 in Milan, Alberto Zedda has been called the foremost Rossini conductor of our time. He has led performances at La Scala, San Carlo, La Fenice, Teatro Massimo, Covent Garden, the Mariinsky, the Vienna State Opera as well as in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Paris, Berlin, Munich, Hamburg, Amsterdam, Prague, Warsaw, Tel Aviv, Lisbon, Barcelona, and Madrid. Maestro Zedda is a professor, musicologist, has served as director of Italian repertoire for the New York City Opera, and has been a member of the Editorial Committee of the Rossini Foundation since its establishment. At his early début with the NY Philharmonic, Zedda encountered some unplayable passages in the published edition of the Overture to Il barbiere di Siviglia. In the 1960s he revised the score from the autograph, thus marking the beginning of modern, physiologically exact Rossini scholarship and the new Rossini revival.
The Czech Chamber Soloists, Brno, a chamber ensemble of the Brno State Philharmonic, has enjoyed great artistic successes for over thirty years. The ensemble specializes Baroque repertoire, with emphasis on composers from the Vienna classical school and in the lesser known and often outstanding works of the Czech masters of the eighteenth centuries. The Czech Chamber Soloists have toured through Europe, Canada and the United States and their performances are well documented in recording and filmed as the opera orchestra for Rossini in Wildbad. Also in June, Naxos presents for the first time on DVD, Wolf-Ferrari’s La vedova scaltra (The Cunning Widow). Conducted by Karl Martin and filmed in February 2007 at Teatro La Fenice, this performance marked the celebration of the 300th anniversary of the birth of playwright and librettist Carlo Goldoni, whose play was adapted into a libretto for La vedova scaltra. The cast includes Anna-Lise Sollied (Rosauro), Maurizio Muraro (Milord Runebif), Emanuele D’Anguanno (Monsieur Le Bleau), Mark Milhofer (Il Conte di Bosco Nero) and Riccardo Zanellato (Don Alvaro di Castiglia).
Born of an Italian mother and German father, Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari’s life began and ended in Venice, but he spent most of his life in German speaking countries. His first opera, La Cenerentola, was a huge failure in Venice which prompted the humiliated young composer to flee to Munich. There he composed a string of melodious and eclectic operas from the adapted plays of the witty and wild farces of Renaissance playwright Carlo Goldoni, including Le donne curiose (1903), I quattro rusteghi 1906), Il campiello (1936) and La vedova scaltra (1931). La vedova scaltra is a true 18th century opera buffa in that it takes a humorous yet cynical look at the interplay in the many different types of human relationships. The opera follows the amusing antics of four suitors, English, French, Italian and Spanish, who long for the hand of the widow Rosaura. Rosaura disguises herself to meet each man to eventually choose the one that can truly prove his sincerity.
Conductor Karl Martin was born in Zurich and studied at the Geneva Conservatoire in Paris and with Hans Swarowksy at Vienna Musikhochschule. His repertoire ranges from the contemporary to Handel, Beethoven, Debussy, Wagner and Ravel, from the eighteenth century to the Second Viennese School. He has presented Brahms and Rachmaninoff on tour with the Tokyo NHK Symphony Orchestra, the music of Hindemith at the Paul Hindemith Festival in São Paulo, and more varied programs with major, Swiss, Italian, German, and Scandinavian Orchestras. He teaches at Showa University in Tokyo.
The history of the Orchestra and Chorus of the Teatro La Fenice is mostly associated with the theatre that it calls home. Teatro la Fenice held an important place in nineteenth century music with premieres of many operas, including Semiramide, I Capuleti e I Montecchi, Rigoletto and La traviata. In the course of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the Orchestra of the Teatro La Fenice was directed by leading conductors and composers such as Richard Strauss, Petro Mascagni, Leopold Stokowski, Lorenzo Perosi, Giuseppe Martucci, Antonio Guarnieri, and many others. The Chorus of the Teatro la Fenice is a permanent body of singers selected by international audition. Engaged in the operatic performances of the Teatro La Fenice and abroad, the chorus has a growing involvement with sacred, symphonic and chamber repertoire.
Following a series of fascinating new choreographies filmed at the Ballet de l’Opéra national de Paris, Naxos of America releases Giselle (TDK DVWW-BLGISP) on June 24. Commonly regarded as the apotheosis of the Romantic ballet, the music for Giselle was scored by French composer Adolphe Adam, who wrote more than 80 stage works, some of which, like Giselle and Le corsaire, obtained considerable and lasting success. This production is marked by an all-star cast including Laëtitia Pujol, who dances her first title role after producing surprise successes when she stepped in for the two prima ballerinas Aurélie Dupont and Clairemarie Osta at very short notice. Nicolas Le Riche, one of international ballet’s most respected stars, creates her male counterpart, Albrecht, whose faithlessness drives her insane. Le Riche has been a member of the company since 1988 and is famous all over the world for his elegant strength, the beauty of his expression and the musicality of his movements. Marie-Agnès Gillot creates Myrtha, the Queen of the Wilis and Wilfried Romoli is the young man Hilarion who truly loves Giselle.
The work premiered in the Salle de la rue Le Peletier at the Paris Opéra in 1841 and is considered the first major plot-based ballet to have survived to the modern day with its original choreography almost intact. In the course of the past century and a half, Giselle has undergone only a few changes, most notably by Marius Petipa, who revised the work for his 1887 production at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg. This 2006 performance is adapted from the version performed at the Paris Opéra in 1991 (which was based on the Petipa version) and is choreographed by Patrice Bart and Eugène Polyakov, two out-and-out Petipa specialists. The scenery is the work of Alexandre Benois from 1924; originally designed for Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes, it heralded the re-emergence on Western programs of the long absent Giselle and to this day it remains the benchmark for traditionalist stagings of this ballet.
Ballet de l’Opéra national de Paris was begun in 1681 as an all-male ballet troupe that provided entertainment during the interludes of opera performances. Little by little, starting in the early nineteenth century, ballet was freed from the opera and created its own repertoire with the advent of the romantic ballet. It was then that the traditional philosopher’s stones were created, such as La Sylphide (1832), Giselle (1841), Paquita (1846), the Corsair (1865) or Coppélia (1870). Today, Ballet de l’Opéra national de Paris is regarded as one of the best companies in the world. The average age of its dancers is 25 years, making it also one of the youngest dance troups existing today. The repertory of the Ballet de l’Opéra national de Paris is vast, ranging from great romantic and traditional ballets to creations of contemporary choreographers. The Ballet gives 180 performances per season in Paris and abroad.
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Collin: Do you compose music? If so can you describe your style?
tten’s music), Julian Bream, Peter Glossop, John Shirley-Quirk, and others. The film also highlights the more personal side of the composer, with commentary from Britten’s housekeeper Miss Hudson, Rita Thompson (who nursed him through his final illness), his copyist and musical confidants Imogen Holst and Rosamund Strode, and the Mayer family who housed Britten and Peter Pears when the two left England in 1938 in objection to the war.
On June 24th, Naxos will release a 2-disc recording of
Also in June, Naxos presents for the first time on DVD, 
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