6th MUSICAL AUTUMN IN KRAKOW

Sonata for violin and piano JW 7 No. 7 is the only preserved work composed by Leoš Janáček for that set of instruments. Being his late work, it has all the features of the Czech composer’s mature and individual style. The combination of modal scale elements with strong chromaticism and atypical harmonic progressions imparts an interesting and unique colour to Janáček’s music.
Antonín Dvořák is also one of the leading representatives of the Czech national school of music. During his three-year-long stay in America, in 1892–1895, fascinated with the music of local communities, he would derive new ideas from Amerindian and African melodies. It was at that time that he composed his Sonatina in G major, Op. 100, whose primary source of inspiration was American folk music. Dvořák dedicated the jubilee 100^th composition to his children, with a view to it being performed by his 15-year-old daughter and 10-year-old son. Interestingly enough, the melody of the second movement came to existence during the composer’s stroll through the Minnehaha Park in Minneapolis. Admiring the beauty of the waterfall, in a sudden rush of inspiration, the composer hastily scribbled the musical motif on his shirt sleeve.
The second part of the concert will begin with a work authored by the contemporary American composer Aaron Alter. His works have been influenced by jazz and rock music as well as by the traditions of European classical music. For Fred is a piece wrote in remembrance of Fred Anderson, an outstanding Chicago-based jazz saxophonist. When he was 16, Alter played the piano in Anderson’s ensemble, and following the artist’s death in 2010, he wished to commemorate him in his music. Thus, a deeply moving and dramatic elegy was composed. Its optimistic accent is the middle movement entitled “His Legacy Lives On,” reflecting Fred Anderson’s saxophone improvisations against the backdrop of the recurring figure of the bassist.
Ludomir Różycki, a Polish composer, conductor and teacher, was one of the representatives of the Young Poland movement in music. Różycki’s style remained under the influence of Romanticism, but it also had elements of Impressionism and Polish folk music in it. Two Melodies, Op. 5, contains aphoristic miniatures whose texture is lucid and whose style is Neoromantic.
Johannes Brahms’s Sonata in D minor No. 3, Op. 108, is the composer’s final violin sonata. The author dedicated the piece to his friend and outstanding pianist and conductor Hans von Bülow. Its dynamic narrative is enclosed within a four-movement Romantic form.
 

Aleksandra Biśta
transl. Katarzyna Franek-Sokołowska

VOLODJA BALZALORSKY  - is an multiple award winning violinist. He was recently awarded with The Hollywood Music in Media Award – Best Classical. Numerous highly praised concerts, broadcasts, CDs and TV recordings in various countries have established his reputation as an artist with a sensitive, intelligent, and intuitive gift of interpretation, a polished technique, and a rich, full tone. Recently he was awarded with several International Music Awards, such as: The Hollywood Music in Media Award 2009 – Best Classical, The Inland Empire Music Award Music Award 2008 – Best International Artist – The Ontario Independent Music Award 2007 – Best International Artist, The Canary Island Music Award 2007 – Best Interpretation, Julij Betetto Music Award 2006, Nominations for The Los Angeles Music Award 2007 and 2008 and Nomination for The Hollywood Music Award 2008 – classical. Volodja Balzalorsky has been a guest artist at international festivals and concert series in various countries such as Italy, France, Austria, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Germany, Serbia, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, the Czech Republic, Portugal, Norway, Denmark and USA. As a soloist, he performs with a variety of orchestras, including the Slovenian Philharmonic, the Slovenian Symphony Orchestra, the Moravian-Silesian Chamber Orchestra, the Gaudeamus Orchestra of Zagreb, the Dubrovnik Chamber Orchestra, the Freiburger barocksolisten etc. Volodja Balzalorsky is particularly active in the field of chamber music. He works with many international groups and ensembles, and for several years has successfully performed in DUO with pianists Christoph Theiler and Hinko Haas. He is a member of Amael Piano Trio, Trio Ritratto dell’ amore and a member and artistic director of Ensemble Ouverture. He performs also in duo with renowned American-Russian pianist Vladislav Kovalsky. They performed very successfully together at Carnegie Hall in New York in September 2005. One of his specialties is the development of a repertoire for violin solo and percussion. His recent collaboration with renowned American percussionist Amy Lynn Barber, with whom he performed in the Percussion Plus Project at the Interlochen Arts Centre, Indianapolis, Greencastle, DePauw University, in the United States, and repeated in Prague and in Venice, Italy, with much acclaim. Balzalorsky’s special interests include the promotion of contemporary music. Several known composers have written music especially for him. Volodja Balzalorsky has made extensive live and archival radio and TV recordings throughout Europe and the United States. Recently four CDs were released as part of his LIVE Collection, with 5 more planned for release by the CANTABEL label, supported by the Slovenian Ministry for Culture and the City of Ljubljana, with added releases by EROICA. The live collection of Volodja Balzalorsky, is a unique presentation featuring the violinist with his chamber music partners, from 1985 to the present. The performances are taken from live national broadcasts, international festivals and concert series around the world. Volodja studied music with Igor Ozim, at the Musik Hoschschule in Cologne, Germany, at the P.I. Tchaikovsky Conservatory, in Moscow, with Galina Barinova, and with the famous Czech violinist, Josef Suk at the University of Vienna, Austria; completing his studies with Josef Klima, at the University of Zagreb, Croatia, where he received his post graduate degree. Additionaly he studied chamber music with Amadeus quartet and with Franco Gulli, Grigorij Zhislin and Andre Del Courte (Master Classes). Volodja Balzalorsky is presently Professor of Violin at the Music Academy at Ljubljana University. His teaching represents an important complement to his artistic career. His pupils have won many national and international first prizes and awards. 

PETER CAELEN - studied at the Conservatories of Maastricht and Amsterdam with Frans van Beveren, Joop Celis and Willem Brons. He continued his studies with Peter Feuchtwanger in London and Thomas Duis in Saarbrücken. Furthermore he has taken part in masterclasses with musicians such as Peter Donohoe, Lazar Berman, Eugen Indjic, Piotr Paleczny and Jan Michiels. Peter Caelen plays concerts throughout Europe and China at major venues and series such as the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, De Doelen in Rotterdam, Beijing Concert Hall, the Shandong Grand Theatre Concert Hall in Jinan, Holywell Music Room in Oxford, Brussels Royal Conservatory Main Hall and Concerts de Midi, the Saarbrücker Kammerkonzerte, the Rhein Mosel Halle in Koblenz and Sellosali in Espoo. Furthermore he is also to be heard at festivals such as the the Klevischer Klaviersommer, the Mendelssohn-Tage, the Kamarihelmi Festival, the International Festival Summer in Old Ljubljana Town, the Alba Music Festival and the Euro Chamber Music Festival Gdansk. As a soloist he performed with several orchestras and as a chamber musician he works with numerous musicians such as violinists Simone Lamsma, Esther Yoo, Lisanne Soeterbroek and Hans van Kerckhoven, cellist Olsi Leka, the Carducci and Atrium String Quartets, members of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and the Symphonieorchester des Bayrischen Rundfunks and the wind soloists of the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen. In 2017 he toured China performing the complete works for violin and piano by Brahms with violinist Volodja Balzalorsky in thirteen concerts. Caelen won a first prize in the Princess Christina Competition in Den Bosch (The Netherlands). and was a finalist in the International Johannes Brahms Competition in Pörtschach (Austria). He was awarded a diploma during the World Music Competition Ibla Grand Prize in Italy. The Frits Philips Music Hall in Eindhoven presented him as ‘Zuiderlicht’ in 2005 and he was given the opportunity to compose his own concert series. Peter Caelen was to be heard on several occasions on both Dutch and foreign broadcasting networks like Radio 4, Musiq’3 and SWR. Several solo cd’s appeared as well as a cd with cellist Olsi Leka. Peter Caelen was invited to give masterclasses in the United Kingdom, Finland and Belgium. Besides he is a frequent jury member in competitions both in the Netherlands and abroad (a.o. Belfius Classics). Peter Caelen is Director of the Excellent Concerts near Maastricht (The Netherlands). From 2014 he has as well been appointed artistic leader of the foundation Muziek Klassiek Gulpen (The Netherlands).