\n| 5.<\/td>\n | Transfigured Night, string sextet, Op. 4 (1899), Arrangement for string orchestra by the Composer<\/td>\n | \n \n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \n \n \n\n\n\nSouvenir de Florence<\/strong><\/div>\n\u201cI started the sextet three days ago, and am now writing it with a tremendous effort. The drag is not in a lack of thought, but rather in the novelty of the form\u2026 What I want is not to compose just any music and to arrange it for six instruments afterwards, but a genuine sextet. Six individual voices, and homogeneous too, are needed. This is unbelievably hard, \u201d wrote Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky to his brother Modest<\/div>\n The composer superbly succeeded in the task he had set, achieving a nearly orchestra\u2013range amplitude and diversity. The Sextet is a fusion of the tragic anxiety of Tchaikovsky\u2019s last period and his longing for the aura of folk, primarily Italian, music. The first movement (Allegro con spirito) is full of tragic emotion, while its tunes originate from passionate Italian instrumental traditionals; the adorable serenade in the second movement (Adagio cantabile) is but occasionally interrupted by intrusions of gloomy images of a funeral liturgy; and the poetical melancholy and unity of beat in the third movement (Allegretto moderato) are akin to Beethoven\u2019s famous Allegretto from the Seventh Symphony<\/i>, while the finale (Allegro vivace) combines a springy tarantella rhythm, a hefty march\u2013like attitude, and a frenzied folk\u2013dance.<\/div>\nThe Souvenir de Florence<\/i> sextet for two violins, two violas, and two cellos was conceived by Tchaikovsky in the Florence winter and spring of 1890 that are so memorable for Russian music. It was developing at the same time as The Queen of Spades<\/i>, and became one of the most inspired and perfect creations of the great master.<\/div>\nTransfigured Night <\/strong>(Verklarte Nacht)
\nis the first mature opus of Arnold Schoenberg. This composer, conductor, theorist, and educator made a historic contribution in the development of the 20th century’s music, the head of the New Viennese school, originator and ideologist of the dodecaphonic method of composing.<\/div>\nThe Sextet, written in 1899 after Richard Demel\u2019s poem \u201cWoman and the World\u201d, owes much to the 19th century in its musical language and literary program. Moreover, Transfigured Night<\/i> is much deeper related to the Romanticism traditions than symphonic works by Richard Strauss written about that same time, or even earlier symphonies of Anton Bruckner. The Transfigured Night<\/i> indicates a strong influence of Wagner\u2019s philosophy, and the music themes of the opus and their polyphonic rendering remind of the style of Johannes Brahms.<\/div>\nIn the literary source of the Sextet we find typical attributes of the Romantic era: a woman and a man; a moonlit night; delight in the beauty of Nature. The composer followed the contents of the book in every detail, with all deviations from the general sonata allegro pattern attributable to the text. Richard Demel wrote to Schoenberg that he, when listening to Transfigured Night<\/i> in concert, was trying to track the motives of his text, but soon forgot it enchanted by the music.<\/div>\n\u0412 1917 Schoenberg re\u2013arranged the Sextet for a string orchestra, and in 1943 he completed its new version, which is presented on this disk.<\/div>\n \u2014 Northern Flowers<\/i><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n \n\n\n\nTHE DIVERTISSEMENT<\/strong><\/div>\nAmong the very large number of chamber orchestras, which have appeared lately, comparatively few are really good and enjoy constant popularity. Some of these can be found in St. Petersburg too. It is extremely difficult for \u0430 newcomer to gain the same standing. Yet the company of artists and friends called the Divertissement<\/i> managed to do it. The ensemble was created in 1990 by the violinist Yelena Komarova and its first members were mainly students and alumni of her Conservatory class.<\/div>\nSince the 1998\u20131999 season the ensemble has been headed by Ilia Ioff, a violinist and conductor with \u0430 reputation as \u0430 brilliant soloist, ensemble player and teacher. The winner of prestigious international competitions in Germany and Italy, he is well known to audiences in St. Petersburg and other cities in and outside Russia for his solo performances in symphonic programs conducted by such outstanding maestros as Yuri Temirkanov, Maris Yansons, and Saulyus Sondetzkis, and for his playing with violinist Sergey Stadler, Marta Argerich, and cellist Aleksandr Rudin.<\/div>\n After the new art director joined the Divertissement<\/i>, the ensemble grew and included several more promising musicians. One could say, judging by the average age of its members, that this is now the youngest ensemble of this kind in Russia. Among the successful performers of the ensemble are Lidia Kovalenko, an excellent violinist known also for her recitals; Mikhail Blekher, an expert in works of old masters, pianist, and harpsichord player; and Grigoriy Voskoboynik, a brilliant double\u2013bass player who can, by the way, interpret both classical and jazz music with equal ease. Talent and excellent education powered by young enthusiasm and impetuosity, and combined with \u0430 strict creative discipline of the musicians (the ensemble\u2019s director Mikhail Kreiz, \u0430 well\u2013known musician and manager, does much to impose it on them) deeply impress the audience. Usually there are no empty seats when the Divertissement<\/i> gives \u0430 concert, and an atmosphere of lofty joy pervades the hall, which makes the event \u0430 real festivity.<\/div>\nAs to its repertoire, maestro Ioff has no intention of limiting to any historical, stylistic or genre boundaries. Monographic programs dedicated to Bach, Vivaldi, Mendelssohn and Schnittke, rehearsed for \u0430 short time and then brilliantly performed, seem to affirm that the ensemble is open to very different kinds of music, from quite serious works to easier, though still good, pieces.<\/div>\n \u2014 Prof. Mikhail Bialik,
\nmusical critic<\/i><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n\nTHE DIVERTISSEMENT
\nString ensemble<\/strong><\/div>\nIlya IOFF<\/strong> \u2014 violin, artistic director<\/div>\n1st violins: \n Lidia Kovalenko<\/a>
\nNatalia Melenevskaya
\nAnna Vassilevskaia
\nAnna Iakimova<\/strong>
\n2nd violins:
\nAlexei Baev
\nNatalia Smirnova
\nViktoria Jolobova
\nNatalia Burdakova<\/strong>
\nViolas:
\nAlexei Burdakov
\nIrina Savelieva
\nAlexandre Senkevich
\nBoris Vainer<\/strong>
\nVioloncellos:
\nGueorgui Ildeikine
\nElena Iakovleva
\nFeodor Kalinin
\nEvgueni Lushnikov<\/strong>
\nDoublebass:
\nGrigori Voskoboinik<\/strong>
\nHarpsichord, piano:
\nMikhail Blekher<\/strong>
\nManager:
\nMikhail Kraitz<\/strong><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NF\/PMA 9911<\/h2>\nCatalogue Number: NF\/PMA911
\nNumber of Discs: 1
\nBarcode:\u00a04607053326680
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