ESPRESSIVO

Classical and Modern Music

Format: Digitalno + CD

Code: 117473

EAN: 3838898117473

The present trio of renowned and award-winning musicians of different generations is distinguished by subtle musicianship and expressive performance of a diverse repertoire. Flutist Eva-Nina Kozmus, cellist Karmen Pečar Koritnik and harpist Mojca Zlobko Vajgl present chamber compositions from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. A large part of the programme is devoted to sonically colourful compositions by French composers Claude Debussy, Jacques Ibert and Maurice Ravel, which are complemented by atmospheric miniatures from the Russian, Czech and Austrian musical spheres of Mikhail Glinka, Alfred Oelschlegel and Nikolaus Moritz Mostler.

The Three Russian Songs were written between 1825 and 1840 by Mikhail Glinka, the first widely recognised Russia composer, who contributed to the development of a new direction in Russian music. Glinka wrote three romances and lieder: Elegy in A minor with the text Do Not Tempt Me Needlessly by poet Yevgeny Baratynsky, from 1825, Lullaby in A minor from the cycle A Farewell to St Petersburg, from 1840, and Doubt in D minor, both based on verses by Nestor Kukolnik, from 1838. The romance Doubt was composed for low alto, violin and harp, but it was adapted for violin, viola or cello and piano by German arranger and violinist Eduard Herrmann. The piano part is suitable for the harp, while the violin is replaced by the flute.

The works by the French composers, who developed a musical language with sophisticated elements of Impressionism in the second half of the nineteenth century and the first decades of the twentieth century, are presented in all their picturesque tone colours and musical sensibility. Claude Debussy was one of the most characteristic tone painters. Among his best-known compositions is Deux arabesques, L. 66, which was composed for piano between 1888 and 1891. The two pieces are designed as mood paintings with melodic lines that sonically depict features from nature. The Premiere arabesque in E major begins with a sequence of triads, which develops into an extensive section with arpeggios. The second, quieter section is in A major and then C major, and in the reprise the musical flow rises and falls on a pentatonic scale, leading to a sensitive conclusion in E major. Debussy’s Premiere arabesque in E major was arranged for the trio of flute, cello and harp by American harpist, teacher and music publisher Faith Carman. The atmospheric miniatures by Jacques Ibert reveal a musical language that remains faithful to the traditional cadential model, while the play of tone colour and expression presents a variety of moods: from festive joy to tone painting, often accompanied by witty humour. Ibert wrote his Deux Interludes in 1946 for flute, violin and harpsichord (or harp), although the violin is often replaced by a viola or cello. The two interludes are markedly contrasting pieces: the first reflects gentle Impressionistic colouring and lyricism, while the latter is characterised by the more pronounced impulses of Spanish folklore. Maurice Ravel created in a clear and sonically colourful language marked by an affable fluency, sensitivity to tone colour, elegance and sophistication. He composed the Sonatina for piano while still a student at the Paris Conservatory. The first movement was written in 1903 for a composition competition organised by a Parisian literary magazine, in which the “contestants” contributed the first movement of a sonatina that should not exceed 75 bars. Two years later, Ravel added two more movements and published the composition. The three movements of the Sonatina are linked by a constant rhythmic pulsation, with the motor rhythms in thirty-second notes even being reminiscent of Bach’s preludes, at least in the first movement, while all of the movements are marked by the interval of a fourth. The second movement, Minuet, presents a simple melody enlivened by modal elements and varied articulation in the accompaniment, while the finale movement is conceived as a longer toccata. Sonatina for Trio by Maurice Ravel was arranged for flute, cello and harp by French harpist, pianist, composer and conductor Carlos Salzedo.

The last two compositions on the album Espressivo are the work of two Austrian composers who were also active harpists. Nikolaus Moritz Mostler was born in 1879 in Graz, where he lived and worked. It is not known where he studied music, but the Austrian Music Lexicon states that between 1895 and 1908 he served as a harpist in the Ljubljana Opera Orchestra. He composed a concerto for harp and several chamber works with harp, and in 1937 he wrote a book dedicated to his instrument, entitled The Harp. Mostler’s Harfenständchen, Op. 20, is dedicated to Austrian conductor Josef Hermann Schneider. Composer, conductor, organist and harpist Alfred Oelschlegel was born in Uštêk in the Czech lands in 1847. After attending the Prague Organ School and the Teacher Training College in Litoměřice, he studied the harp in Vienna. His varied career led him to many European cities, where he practised a range of musical professions. Most of Oelschlegel’s works have a salon character. His extant compositions include three trios for violin, cello and harp, among which we find the two Serenades for Harp, Op. 107. Published in 1896, Serenade No. 1 is distinguished by its melodic richness, virtuoso passages and expressive depth, qualities that come to life fully in the interpretation of the present three artists.

- Tjaša Krajnc

About musicians

(foto: Andrej Grilc)

Eva-Nina Kozmus started attending the Risto Savín Music School in Žalec at the age of five. She then studied the flute at the Celje Music School with Milena Lipovšek, with whom she also studied at the Ljubljana Conservatory of Music and Ballet, graduating in 2010 at the age of sixteen. In 2010, she won the Eurovision Young Musicians Competition in Vienna, receiving the first prize. The same year, she began studying at the National High Conservatory of Music and Dance in Lyon with Philippe Bernold, Julien Beaudiment, Claude Lefebvre and Gilles Cottin. She completed her master’s degree in 2015 with a dissertation on the Alexander technique. Eva-Nina Kozmus has performed six concertos with Slovenian orchestras, including the Flute Concerto in D minor by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach and the premiere performance of Phoenix for flute and orchestra by Anže Rozman. In 2012, a collection of works dedicated to her by Slovenian composers was published under the title Razpoloženja (Moods). As a soloist, she collaborates with numerous notable orchestras throughout Europe and the United States, and she is a regular guest at European music festivals and in concert halls throughout Europe, Asia and the United States. In 2019, she served as the artistic director of the Alpenarte Festival in Schwarzenberg, Austria, for the first time. Eva-Nina Kozmus is currently the principal flutist of the orchestra of the Opéra de Limoges in France.

Karmen Pečar Koritnik was born in Ljubljana, but grew up in Maribor. She started learning the cello at the age of five. In 2003, she completed her final exams at the Maribor Music and Ballet Secondary School and at the same time graduated from the Zagreb Academy of Music, where she had been studying with Valter Dešpalj. She went on to complete her master’s degree at the Zagreb Academy in 2005, and then furthered her studies with Reinhard Latzko at the Vienna University of Music and Performing Arts. In 2001, she won the “Dr Luis Sigall” Competition in Chile. Among her other awards are the third prize at the Eurovision Young Musicians Competition in Berlin in 2002 and the second prize at the Antonio Janigro International Competition in Zagreb in 2004. Karmen Pečar Koritnik has performed as a soloist with Slovenian and foreign symphony and chamber orchestras, and has collaborated with renowned artists in the ensemble Cellomania as well as in other chamber ensembles. Her compact disc featuring cello concertos by Dvořak and Shostakovich was released by ZKP RTV Slovenia in 2006, and in March 2015 her second compact disc was released, on which she performs the works by Beethoven, Poulenc and Lipovšek with pianist Gottlieb Wallisch. In May 2016, she was the artistic director of the first Cellofest Ljubljana festival and she serves as the leader of the 12-member Cellofest ensemble. Karmen Pečar Koritnik has been teaching the cello for many years at the Ljubljana Conservatory of Music and Ballet and as an assistant professor at the Ljubljana Academy of Music.

Mojca Zlobko Vajgl was born in Ljubljana, where she studied the harp at the Academy of Music with Ruda Ravnik Kosi, graduating with honours in 1991. She undertook her postgraduate studies with Maria Graf at the Hamburg University of Music and Theatre. She is the recipient of many first prizes in Slovenian music competitions and in Yugoslav competitions for music students. Mojca Zlobko Vajgl often performs as a soloist with renowned symphony and chamber orchestras throughout Europe, and has appeared on many occasions with the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra and the RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra, as well as giving solo recitals and performing in chamber ensembles. She has performed at international festivals with the Leipzig String Quartet, the Orpheus String Quartet and the Tartini String Quartet, as well as with the Slowind Wind Quintet and in various duos and trios with renowned Slovenian and foreign musicians. Her discography includes nine compact discs of music for solo harp and for harp with various chamber ensembles, seven of which have been released by ZKP RTV Slovenia. In collaboration with Slovenian composers, she has given the premiere performance of a number of original works for harp, including compositions by Primož Ramovš, Ivo Petrić, Uroš Krek, Jani Golob, Aleš Strajnar, Milko Lazar and her father Niko Zlobko. Mojca Zlobko Vajgl has been one of the leading Slovenian performers for many years and is a full professor at the Ljubljana Academy of Music.