The Chopin Festival, May 14-16, 2010

Programme
F. Chopin (1810-1849)
Songs Op. 74
Życzenie [The Wish] G major, 1829 (S.Witwicki);
Smutna rzeka [The Sad River] F sharp minor, 1831 (S.Witwicki);
Gdzie lubi [What She Likes] A major, 1829, (S.Witwicki);
Hulanka [Merrymaking] C major, 1830 (S.Witwicki);
Wiosna [The Spring Song] G minor, 1838 (S.Witwicki);
Śliczny chłopiec [Handsome Lad] D major, 1841, (B.Zaleski);
Precz z moich oczu [Out of My Sight] F minor, 1827, (A.Mickiewicz);
Wojak [The Warrior] A flat major, 1831, (S.Witwicki);
Narzeczony [The Bridegroom] C minor, 1831, (S.Witwicki);
Leci liście z drzewa [Leaves are falling] E flat minor, 1836, (W.Pol)
Song without opus number:
Dumka [ Reverie] A minor, (B.Zaleski)
Songs Op. 74
Melodia [Melody] G major, 1847, (Z.Krasinski);
Pierścień [The Ring] E flat major, 1836, (S.Witwicki);
Piosnka litewska [Lithuanian Song] E flat major, 1831, (L.Osinski);
Moja pieszczotka [My Darling] G flat major, 1837, (A.Mickiewicz);
F. Chopin
Trio in G minor, Op. 8
1. Allegro con Fuoco
2. Scherzo
3. Adagio Sostenuto
4. Finale: Allegretto
Sonata in G minor, Op. 65
1. Allegro moderato
2. Scherzo (Allegro con brio)
5. Largo
6. Finale (Allegro)
The Chopin Festival, May 14-16, 2010
commemorating 200th anniversary of Chopin’s birth
An Evening of Songs and Chamber Music
- Intermission –
Concert Sponsors:
Urszula Kryger
Mezzo-soprano
Zbigniew Raubo
Piano
The Vancouver Chopin Society
2009/2010 Concert Season
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Sun-Wook Kim
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Dina Yoffe
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Dmitri Alexeev
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Zbigniew Raubo
The 200th Anniversary of the Chopin birth
May 14 - 16, 2010
Chopin Festival
Saturday, May 15
“Weeping Muse, Broken Lyre” by Don Mowatt
Joseph Elworthy
Cello
Joan Blackman
Violin
Friday, May 14, 2010 8 PM,
Magee Theatre, Vancouver
Libby Yu
Piano
Artists Biographies
Urszula Kryger is the graduate of two faculties of the Lodz Music Academy: instrumental (piano)
and vocal and acting under J. Pietraszkiewicz. She continued vocal studies under André Orlowitz
in Copenhagen, which led to many successes in various international vocal competitions. Between
years 1992-1994 she was awarded the 1st prize in the Moniuszko Competition in Warsaw, the
Brahms Competition in Hamburg, and the ARD Music Competition in Munich.
Urszula Kryger’s repertory extends from baroque oratories through German and Italian opera to
romantic and modern songs. She has performed concerts and song recitals in the biggest music
venues of Europe such as Munich, Paris, Frankfurt (Alte Oper), Berlin (Schauspielhaus), Milano
(La Scala), Stuttgart, Madrid. She has co-operated with famous conductors: Jerzy Semkow, Jan
Krenz, Rafael Frübeck de Burgos, Sir Colin Davis.
She performs regularly at well known music festivals such as the Menuhin Festival in Gstaad, the
Berliner Festwochen, the Kissinger Sommer, the Warsaw Autumn.
Urszula Kryger is particularly keen on chamber music and has been accompanied by such great
musicians as Hartmut Höll, Charles Spencer, Melvyn Tan, Pascal Rogé, the clarinetist Paul Meyer
as well as string quartets: the Tokyo String Quartet, the Petersen Quartet and the Sine Nomine
Quartet.
Her international opera debut took place in 1996 in the SemperOper in Dresden as Angelina in
Rossini`s “Cinderella”.
She has recorded for radio stations in Poland, France, Germany and Switzerland. Her CD recordings
include Poulenc`s “Polish Songs” with P. Rogé (Decca 1999), Chopin Songs with Ch. Spencer
(Hyperion 1999), Russian Duets with J. Rappé and T. Herbut (Dux 2001), Moniuszko Songs (Dux
2002), Szymanowski Songs (Dux 2002).
In 2003 a recording of Beethoven’s arias was released (BNL) followed in 2004 by a complete
recording of Szymanowski’s songs for Channel Classics. The latter won the Fryderyk Prize for the
Most Outstanding Polish Music Recording in the same year. In January 2006 Urszula Kryger received
The Szymanowski Foundation Prize for her masterly interpretations of Szymanowki’s songs.
Zbigniew Raubo’s biography is printed in Sunday’s program.
Pianist Libby Yu has graced international audiences on stages such as the Amsterdam
Concertgebouw, La Chatre in France, Warsaw Philharmonic Hall, New York’s Weill Hall at Carnegie
Hall, Jordan Hall in Boston, Ambassador Auditorium in Pasadena, and throughout Canada. Ms. Yu
has also performed as soloist with the Netherlands Philharmonic, I Palpiti Chamber Orchestra and
major Canadian symphony orchestras including Montreal, Toronto, Winnipeg, Manitoba Chamber,
Vancouver, Edmonton and Victoria. One of Canada’s leading young pianists, she captured the First-Prize in the 27th CBC Radio National
Competition for Young Performers and a Diploma of Honour at the prestigious 13th International
Frederic Chopin Piano Competition held in Warsaw, Poland. Ms. Yu has studied with Professor Lee Kum-Sing at both the Vancouver Academy of Music and the
University of British Columbia. She has recently released two solo albums of Chopin’s piano works.
Joan Blackman, Associate Concertmaster of the VSO, enjoys a vibrant musical life in our
community. Besides playing in the orchestra, she is sought after as a first class chamber musician
in Canada. She is also an active teacher, giving master classes throughout B.C. Joan has performed
and recorded as soloist with Vancouver Symphony, Victoria Symphony, CBC Radio Orchestra,
and the Banff Festival Orchestra. “Shapelier phrases and sweeter tone would be hard to imagine”,
“a ravishing tone”, “first rate soloist”, “exchanged lines meltingly in a flawless performance”
“playing with lyricism, precision, and evident joy”; are accolades that have graced Joan’s reviews.
As Artistic Director of the Vetta Chamber Music and Recital Society, she programs and performs
in a first class concert series which features the best of BC talent along with invited guests from
afar. Joan has also performed chamber music with premier groups such as the Pendereski String
Quartet, Purcell String Quartet, Curio, Music in the Morning, Vancouver New Music, Turning Point
Ensemble, and in recital broadcasts on CBC radio .She is a member of the acclaimed American
String Project, which brings together concertmasters and soloists throughout North America, and
has participated several times in the Pender Harbour Chamber Music Festival.
Joseph Elworthy has received critical acclaim for his interpretive insight and technical prowess.
Mr. Elworthy began his musical studies with Audrey Nodwell at the Vancouver Academy of Music;
following six years in private instruction with Eric Wilson (UBC), he continued his education at
Yale University and the Julliard School studying with esteemed padagague, Aldo Parisot. Upon
graduation from Yale, Elworthy received the “Aldo Parisot Prize” - the highest honour issued by
Yale to a graduating cellist “showing most promise for an international career.”
Elworthy has been a featured soloist, recitalist, and chambar musician throughout Canada, the
United States, Asia and Europe, performing on such stages as Alice Tully Hall, Suntory Hall,
Carnegie Hall, the Library of Congress, and Seojong Hall. He has appeared on numerous television
and radio broadcasts around the globe including CBC, Arts & Entertainment, BRAVO, PBS, Radio
Europe, and NHK. His recordings can be heard on EMI, Sony, Achtype, and Bose record labels.
He is Head of the Cello Department at the Vancouver Academy of Music, where he also serves as
Director of Chamber Music and Conductor of the Academy Chamber Strings.
Joseph plays on a rare 1760 Ferdinando Gagliano that once belonged to the legendary German
cellist, Hugo Becker.
Programme Notes
Message From The President
Chopin, Songs
Welcome to the first Chopin Festival in Vancouver’s history, as we join the world in celebrating the bicentennial
year of Frederic Chopin’s birth.
Chopin wrote and improvised Polish songs throughout his career, but none were published
in his lifetime. His family asked Fontana, a Polish friend of his, to collect them after he died, and
eventually these became his Op. 74 (1859). Of the nineteen songs that survive, five were written
when he was still in Warsaw, five were probably composed in Vienna when he was on his first tour
in 1831, four are from the later 1830s in Paris, and the last five are from the 1840s. The poems
were written by people he knew, either in Warsaw, or among his circle of acquaintances in Paris. In
style, they are mostly typical for their time, based on texts with romantic, supernatural or patriotic
themes. They range in tone from folk-like and charming to poignant expressions of deepest sorrow. Many are strophic and have the rhythm of the mazurka, a dance that was close to his heart. Some
of the later ones are particularly beautiful, with complex harmonies, evocative piano parts and
evolving form. Six of the songs were transcribed by Liszt as piano solos. Preparing a three-day festival in the midst of a regular season is a major undertaking for any organization,
particularly for a small society run entirely by volunteers.
Chopin, Trio in G minor, Op. 8
This evening’s program presents an opportunity to compare two large-scale chamber music
pieces by Chopin, the first from early in his career and the other from the year before he died. This
is his only trio, written when he was just 19 years old, in his last year at the High School for Music
in Warsaw. His inspiration for the piece may have come from meeting Prince Antoni Radziwill,
the Prussian governor of Poznan province, who was an enthusiastic composer and cellist with two
musical daughters. The trio was performed with Radziwill and his daughter in October 1829, when
Chopin was staying with them at their summer hunting lodge. He also composed a Polonaise
brillante for father and daughter in the course of that stay.
The trio follows the basic plan of a classical chamber piece with four contrasting movements. It has been described as a piano concerto in disguise, because the cello and violin parts are not
fully integrated, but it has many original and felicitous ideas making it a worthy addition to trio
repertoire.
The long sonata-form first movement, Allegro con fuoco, shows tonal experimentation that
foreshadows some of Chopin’s later thinking: instead of the usual two keys areas in the first
section, it remains in the tonic key. In the recapitulation, which traditionally stays in the tonic,
two contrasting keys are used. The dramatic gesture of the opening returns to signal the beginning
of both the development and the recapitulation. A virtuosic coda for the piano concludes the
movement.
The Scherzo is charming and lyrical, with the main theme appearing as a string duet. The
Adagio is elegant and decorative. A swinging, folk-like theme is the basis of the Finale. It is
announced by the piano, and then passes to the strings as the pianist plays flamboyant figurations.
Chopin, Sonata in G minor, Op. 65
Chopin dedicated this sonata to his close friend Auguste Franchomme, a fine cellist who taught
at the Paris Conservatory. This is the only large duo sonata he wrote, although there are a couple
of earlier cello showpieces, the one for Radziwill and a Grand Duo he wrote with Franchomme in
1831. It is the last work Chopin published in his lifetime, and its first performance in 1848 was
his last public appearance in Paris. Many sketches exist for this work, spread over a period of two
years; the composer worked long and hard to get it right. He wrote to his family, “Sometimes I am
happy with it, sometimes not. I throw it in a corner and then pick it up again.”
Chopin scholar Jim Samson described the sonata as “meditative, introspective, and profoundly
original.” A unifying element is the motive we hear as the first three notes the cello plays, a
rising and falling semitone with a dotted rhythm. This tiny motive occurs in all four movements,
incorporated into themes and developments in many transformations. Leikin noticed the motive
may have been borrowed from Schubert’s song cycle Winterreise, which describes the feelings of a
man who has been disappointed in love. Perhaps in part we see Chopin processing the disintegration
of his relationship with Aurore Dudevant (a.k.a. novelist George Sand).
The first movement has an ever-changing flow of melody arranged in a long sonata form. Cello and piano are equal partners, together developing thematic material. The Scherzo shows the
influence of the mazurka in its dance-like rhythms; in its trio, the cello plays a soaring tune over
a propulsive accompaniment of broken chords. The Largo is an intimate conversation in B-flat
major, with cello and piano often exchanging parts. The passionate Finale is in sonata-rondo form,
concluding with an optimistic G major coda. This magnificent sonata suggests that Chopin would
have kept evolving as an artist had he been granted a longer life.
Ruth Enns
May 2010
When we were severely challenged by sudden and unexpected cuts from government funding, we hoped we
would be supportded by the individuals and organizations we have served over the years, and we were not
disappointed.
As a founding member and the current president, I would like to thank my predecessors in this position: Tadeusz
van Wollen (founding member), Mateusz van Wollen and Bill Steen, as well as the esteemed Artistic Directors
of the past twelve years: Erik Sitkowiecki (founding member), Grzegorz Nowak and our dear Lee Kum-Sing.
I would also like to acknowledge the contribution of all founding members, who helped to form this organization: Dr. Maria Bleszynski, Malgorzata Burczycka, Teresa Bobrowska, Tadeusz Dukszta and Ewa Wadolna.
I am deeply grateful to all past and present board members and those who gave such generous financial support
over the years, to make this festive occasion possible.
VCS Board of Directors
Lee Kum-Sing - Artistic Director
Iko Bylicki - President
Niels Andersen - Vice-President
Teresa Bobrowska - Secretary
Jason Ng - Treasurer
Malgorzata Burczycka - Director
Vince Cardella - Director
Don Mowatt - Director
Ori Kowarsky - Director
Dawn Short - Honorary Board Member
The VCS would like to thank the following donors for their
generosity and support of our 2009-2010 Season
Partner ($5000 +)
Sponsors ($1,000 - $4,999)
Benefactors ($500 - $999)
Anonymous Donor
LOHN Foundation
Peter Chan
Consulate General of the
Republic of Poland
Dr. Zenon Cieslak
Marla Ignaszewski
Dr. Andrew Jakubowski
Niels Andersen
Ronald Hagler
Dr. Robin Garvin
Dr. Marianna Klimek
Jack Li
Paul Osmanski
Friends ($100 - $499)
Victor Bastow
Asaf Benny
Teresa & Jan Bobrowski
Margo Budyta
Malgorzata & Krzysztof
Burczycki
Iko Bylicki
Vincent Cardella
Dr. Maria Daszkiewicz
Anna Domanska
Alex Drennan
Colette Elbl
Henry Ewert
John Graham
Ken Hong
Ken Hsieh (VMO)
Ewa & Jerzy Jakobs
Danuta & Janusz Jaworski
in memory of Zbigniew Jan
Niwinski
Ori Kowarsky
Matthew Kurnicki
Lee Kum-Sing
Frances Lam
Michael Lam
Ernest Lang
Horng Dih Lee
Dr. Samuel Lichtenstein
Jacek Lipowski
Lois Liu
Gwen Lowe
Dr. Andrzej Major
Adam Marc
Masanao Morimura
Jason Ng
Walter & Mila Orlowski
Nina Popovska
Krystyna RadwanPytlewska
Conscious Living Radio
Brigitte Sakuler
Dawn Short
Victoria Smus
Iza Sobieski
William Steen
Tom Stefanski
Maxine Stoneman
Ruth Tubbesing
Margaret Xu
Xuhong Xu
Edward Weinstein
Eric Wilson
Gloria Wong
Si Yi Wu
Bernice Wylie
Other Contributors ($20 - $99)
In-kind Sponsors Corporate
Janusz Budzynski,
L W Camp
Hugh Cotton
Susan E. Fife
Sylvia Girard
Anne Kaplan
Man-Kim Li
Kathleen Lok
Clark, Wilson LLP
Consulate General of the
Republic of Poland
Daniel Chocolates
West Van Florists
Sikora’s Classical Records
Tom Lee Music
Hanna Niwinski in memory
of Zbigniew Jan Niwinski
Hanna McGee,
Katsuko Ochiai
Jadwiga Prenosil
The VCS would also like to thank the many volunteers
who have made tonight’s event possible.
#400 - 601 West Broadway, Vancouver, B.C. V5Z 4C2 Canada
Tel. 604-871-4450 Email: [email protected]
www.chopinsociety.org