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Contents of CD8 Booklet
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The three
sonatas were written between 1878 and 1886.
An early attempt in 1853 to publish a Sonata in A minor was suppressed
by his publisher and, as a result, Brahms ended up destroying that manuscript.
There were at least two other attempts made to publish further sonatas, however
they were also refused. Were it not for the collaboration of Brahms, Schumann,
and Albert Dietrich in 1853 writing the “F-A-E” Sonata and dedicating it to
their mutual friend Joseph Joachim, no example of Brahms’ youthful approach to
this compositional form would exist.
The first Sonata
in G major, (Op.78) was completed in 1879. It was composed for his friend
Joachim who was also at that time trying to help Brahms work through his Violin
Concerto (Op.77) written the previous year. The work is very lyrical in mood.
The violin begins with a simple line supported by chords in the piano. The
theme repeats itself often in the movement. The violin and piano share this
melodic material back and forth and the connective fabric is that of moving
eighth notes also equally shared between the two instruments. The dotted rhythm
which is heard in the opening phrase played by the violin carries itself
through the entire work. In the second movement it appears again in the theme
and continues through the middle section of the movement almost in the manner
of a funeral march. In the last movement again the violin states the opening
theme incorporating the dotted rhythm and the piano creates a gentle cushion of
repeated sixteenth notes resembling the sound of raindrops and thus tying it to
his earlier Lieder Regenlied (Rain Song, Op.59). This repeats in the form of a
Rondo and the work comes to an end with quotes from both the first and second
movements.
The Sonata in A
major sonata (Op.100) was written in 1886 and is also full of lyrical content.
It was composed on Lake Thun in Switzerland at a summer resort. Brahms had just
finished his Fourth Symphony and had decided to devote himself to writing
chamber music. The work is full of sunshine and optimism. Again we find quotes
from his Lieder in both the first and second themes of the opening movement.
The middle movement, andante tranquillo, opens with a long and beautiful
melodic line introduced by the violin and continued in the piano. The middle
section, vivace, is a gentle scherzo followed by the return of the theme and
the movement closes with yet another vivace. The last movement is a rondo with
the repeated theme in the violin and the sonata ends with quotes again looking
back to the first movement.
The Sonata in D
minor Sonata (Op.108) is very contrasting to the previous two sonatas. As
peaceful and lyrical as the G major and A major are, the D minor is turbulent,
emotional and passionate. The theme of the first movement as stated by the
violin in the opening is troubled and uneasy. The appassionato quality
continues throughout the movement in a very concise way and ends in a quiet
resignation with fragments from the opening theme. The Adagio is an endless
melodic line that peaks with surging intensity in the middle section and
returns to the material of the theme for its closing. The third movement gives
us just a momentary relief from the passionate and turbulent qualities of the
first two movements before we launch into the full-blooded explosiveness of the
Presto. The intensity of the last movement is only slightly interrupted by a
middle section where the theme in the violin and then the piano takes on a more
expressive and quiet atmosphere only to quickly develop into an extended
frenzy. The movement comes to a close with the same relentless driving energy
that it begins with.
Elmar Oliveira,
Violin
Elmar Oliveira
has taken his place as one of the most commanding violinists of our time, with
his unsurpassed combination of impeccable artistry and old-world elegance. Mr. Oliveira is one of the few major artists
committed to the entire spectrum of the violin world — constantly expanding
traditional repertoire boundaries as a champion of contemporary music and rarely-heard
works of the past, devoting energy to the development of the young artists of
tomorrow, and enthusiastically supporting the art of modern violin and bow
makers.
Among his
generation's most honored artists, Elmar Oliveira remains the first and only
American violinist to win the Gold Medal at Moscow's Tchaikovsky International
Competition. He is also the first violinist to receive the coveted Avery Fisher
Prize, in addition to capturing First Prizes at the Naumburg International
Competition and the G. B. Dealey Competition.
Mr. Oliveira has
become a familiar and much-admired figure at the world's foremost concert
venues. His rigorous international itinerary includes appearances in recital
and with many of the world's greatest orchestras, including the Zurich
Tonhalle, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestras; the New York,
Helsinki, Los Angeles and London Philharmonic Orchestras; and the San Francisco,
Baltimore, Saint Louis, Boston, Indianapolis, Oregon, Vancouver, Taiwan and Chicago Symphonies, and the Orpheus Chamber
Orchestra. He has also extensively toured the Far East, South America,
Australia, New Zealand, and regularly performs at the Mostly Mozart, Seattle,
Grant Park, Blossom, and Chautauqua summer music festivals. Engagements this
season include the Chicago, Atlanta, Vancouver, New World, San Francisco, New
Mexico, Winnipeg, and Nashville Symphonies, the New York Chamber Symphony, and
the Louisiana Philharmonic.
Mr. Oliveira's
repertoire is among the most diverse of any of today's preeminent artists. While he has been hailed for his
performances of the standard violin literature, he is also a much sought-after
interpreter of the music of our time. He has premiered works by such
distinguished composers as Morton Gould, Ezra Laderman, Charles Wuorinen, Joan
Tower, Andrzej Panufnik, Benjamin Lees, Nicholas Flagello, Leonard Rosenman,
Hugh Aitken, and Richard Yardumian. He has also performed seldom-heard concerti
by Alberto Ginastera, Einojuhani Rautavaara, Joseph Achron, Joseph Joachim, and
many others. In recent seasons, he gave the World Premiere of Leonard
Rosenman’s Violin Concerto No. 2 at Carnegie Hall with the American Composers
Orchestra, and the Spanish Premiere of Krzysztof Penderecki's Second Violin
Concerto, conducted by the celebrated composer.
A prodigious
recording artist, Elmar Oliveira is a two-time Grammy nominee for his CD of the
Barber Concerto with Leonard Slatkin and the Saint Louis Symphony. His
discography on Angel, SONY Masterworks, Artek, Vox, Delos, IMP, Ondine, and
Melodiya ranges widely from works by Bach and Vivaldi to the present. His
best-selling new recording of the Rautavaara Violin Concerto with the Helsinki Philharmonic
(Ondine) won a Cannes Classical Award and has appeared on Gramophone's
"Editor's Choice" and other Best Recordings lists around the world.
Other recent recordings include the Joachim Concerto "in the Hungarian
Manner" with the London Philharmonic (IMP) and the Tower Concerto (written
for him) with the Louisville Orchestra (d'Note). Also recently released is the
rarely heard Pizzetti and Respighi sonatas (Artek), the Chausson Concerto for
Violin, Piano, and String Quartet, and the Lekeu Sonata, and a recording of the
Brahms and Saint-Saens B minor Concerti with Gerard Schwarz and the Seattle
Symphony (Artek). Of great historical significance are two unique projects: a
major CD released by Bein & Fushi of Chicago, featuring Mr. Oliveira performing
on some of the world's greatest violins (fifteen Stradivaris and fifteen
Guarneri del Gesus), and a recording of short pieces highlighting the rare
violins from the collection of the Library of Congress.
The son of
Portuguese immigrants, Mr. Oliveira was nine when he began studying the violin
with his brother John. He later continued his studies with Ariana Bronne and
Raphael Bronstein at the Hartt College of Music and the Manhattan School of
Music, where Mr. Oliveira also received an honorary doctorate. He has served on
the juries of some of the most prestigious violin competitions, including the
Montreal, Indianapolis, Naumburg, and Vianna da Motta. He has appeared on
international TV including Good Morning America, CBS Sunday Morning, the Today
Show, and A&E’s Breakfast with the Arts among others. The Prime Minister of
Portugal recently awarded Mr. Oliveira the country’s highest civilian honor - The Order of Santiago. Elmar Oliveira
performs exclusively on an instrument known as the “Stretton”, made in 1729-30
by Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesu, and on an exact copy of that violin made by
Curtin and Alf in 1993.
Jorge Federico
Osorio, Piano
Jorge Federico
Osorio is recognized as one of the preeminent pianists of our time and has been
internationally acclaimed for his superb musicianship and absolute command of
the instrument. He has performed with many of the world’s leading orchestras,
including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Dallas Symphony, Detroit Symphony,
Seattle Symphony, Concertgebouw Orchestra, Israel Philharmonic, Orchestre
Nationale de France, Philharmonia Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra,
Moscow State Orchestra, Orquesta Sinfónica del Principado de Asturias and
Warsaw Philharmonic under the batons of such internationally acclaimed conductors
as Bernard Haitink, Lorin Maazel, Klaus Tennstedt, Jorge Mester, Maximiano
Valdés, Eduardo Mata, Lukas Foss, Enrique Batiz and Luis Herrera de la Fuente.
His concert tours have taken him to North America, Europe, Asia and Central and
South America, and American festival appearances have included the Hollywood
Bowl, Ravinia and Grant Park Festivals. In addition to his triumphant debut
with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and his critically acclaimed Lincoln Center
recital debut at Alice Tully Hall, Mr. Osorio recently performed the five
Beethoven Concerti with the Orchestra Sinfónica de Tenerife, one of Spain’s
leading orchestras. He has made radio recordings for Japan NHK and Belgian
Radio, and on several occasions, for the BBC.
Mr. Osorio’s
extensive discography includes a wide variety of repertoire. His debut
recording for Artek of Brahms Sonata No. 3, Opus 5; Fantasies, Opus 116; and
Piano Pieces, Opus 119 received high accolades from the American Record Guide
and the Chicago Tribune. His first solo Brahms recording on ASV was proclaimed
by Gramophone as “one of the most distinguished discs of Brahms’ piano music in
recent years.”
Mr. Osorio’s
recording of the Chavez Concerto with the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de México
was recently released and his recording of Brahms Concerto No. 2 with the
Orquesta Sinfónica del Principado de Asturias will be released on Artek early
next year. Other recordings include Beethoven’s Five Piano Concerti and Choral
Fantasy and concertos by Brahms, Mozart, Ponce (world premiere recording),
Rachmaninov, Schumann and Tchaikovsky. He has also recorded several Beethoven
Sonatas and “Balada Mexicana,” solo piano works of Ponce.
Born in Mexico,
Mr. Osorio begun his musical studies at the age of five. He studied at the
conservatories of Mexico, Paris and Moscow, and his teachers have included his
mother, Luz Maria Puente, Bernard Flavigny, Monique Haas, Jacob Milstein, Nadia
Reisenberg and Wilhelm Kempff. Performing chamber music is an integral part of
his artistic life and in addition to having served as artistic director of the
Brahms Music Festival in Mexico, he has performed with the Moscow Quartet, Tel
Aviv Quartet, violinist Mayumi Fujikawa and cellist Richard Markson as part of
a piano trio and with the late Henryk Szeryng. Mr. Osorio has recorded the
Brahms and Beethoven Sonatas for Cello and Piano with Mr. Markson and is the
recipient of several international prizes and awards, including the Rhode
Island International Master Piano Competition and the Dallas Symphony Orchestra’s
Gina Bachauer Award.
Three Sonatas
for Violin and Piano
Sonata
No. 1 in G Major Op. 78
[1] Vivace ma non troppo (10:43)
[2] Adagio (7:39)
[3] Allegro
molto moderato (8:59)
Sonata
No. 2 in A Major Op. 100
[4] Allegro amabile (7:43)
[5] Andante tranquillo (6:09)
[6] Allegretto
grazioso (quasi Andante) (4:57)
Sonata
No. 3 in D Minor Op. 108
[7]
Allegro
(Moderato) (8:16)
[8]
Adagio (4:30)
[9] Un poco presto e con sentimento (2:52)
[10]
Presto
agitato (5:41)
Total Time: 67:29
Producer:
Laura Harth
Rodriguez
Engineer:
Francisco X.
Rodriguez
Editing and
Mastering:
Digital Dynamics Audio Inc.
Graphic Design:
Jim Manly, Judd
Robbins
Cover Photo:
Elmar Oliveira:
Laura Lewis
Jorge Federico Osorio:
Arcos - Alcaraz
Special Thanks:
Jill Jaffe
Recorded on
August 8, 2000 at Loho Studios, NYC, NY
Piano courtesy
of Steinway, NY
