 C. Lorrain "Ideal View of Tivoli"The first weekend of the month, Miami will be shut down because of the Super Bowl. Traffic is bad on the best of days; now it requires meditation prior to entering the calvacades of black limos and black SUV's that add to our normal state of insanity.
The picture above relates to this craze: Indianapolis and New Orleans are so excited that their teams got to the Super Bowl that even the local art museums have big stakes riding on the big game.
The New Orleans Museum of Art and the Indianapolis Museum of Art each
have put up a gem from their own permanent collection, pending a Saints
or Colts win. The loser loans its masterpiece to the rival museum for
three months. Read full article
Imagine a world where this much money and excitement would be aroused by a performing arts festival. A sort of New Orleans Jazz Festival for classical arts and music..... The new chair of the National Endowment for the Arts, Rocco Landesman, has been travelling the United States on a fact finding mission. During a panel discussion at the Wolfsonian Museum on Monday, he said that he sees Miami as a sort of role model for other communities in terms of the kind of partnerships and the kind of vision for both the place and importance of the visual and the performing arts in the community. There is hope!
We are so delighted to have the Italian Duo Daniele and Davide Trivella come to Miami for a concert. The program is two-part: at first works by Sollima, Piazolla, Trovesi and Donizetti for duo piano, then they will perform together with the Bergonzi String Quartet the Dranoff's commissioned transcription for Giovanni Sgambati's Piano Quintet No. 2, op 5. This transcription was done by Dr. Valentin Bogdan, who is a graduate of the Frost School of Music. Below, he shares with us some thoughts on this work.
If you live in Miami, please make sure to join us. Tickets can be purchased online: Ticket sale
Gabriele Fiorentino |
CONTENT
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WHAT IS GOING ON IN MIAMI - Our concert on February 11 at the University of Miami Gusman Hall. Events of some of the groups and organizations we have a close relationship with....read more
ITALIAN MUSIC is the theme of the Dranoff February 11 concert: Gianluigi Troveni, Giovanni Sollima, Gaetano Donizetti, Daniele Trivella and Giovanni Sgambati. The latter's Piano Quintet No. 2 was transcribed for four hands for this concert ...read more
TWO PIANO MUSIC WORLDWIDE - This offers a list of performances by Dranoff laureates, solo and duo.....read more
REPERTOIRE FOR TWO PIANOS -Members of the Artistic Advisory Board of The Dranoff share their favorite selections. Andrew Raeburn reminisces .....read more
THE COMPETITION - The core of The Dranoff is the International Two Piano Competition. Our next competition takes place in May of 2011 in Miami....read more
NEWS - About "our" duos, of course...read more
REVIEW - A new recording of the works for 4 hands by Erik Satie....read more
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 WHAT IS GOING ON IN MIAMI
Street in Coral Gables
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Here we list Dranoff concerts and events offered by a group of organizations and presenters we at The Dranoff have shared performances with.
Bass Museum
10/3/09 - 2/21/10 - Dzine.
10/3/09 - 1/10/10 - Kent Henricksen: Wayward We Hunt.
12/3/09 - 3/14/10 - Where Do We Go From Here? La Coleccion Jumex
2121 Park Avenue, Miami Beach. Bass Museum
Alejandra Von Hartz Gallery
11/14/09 - 2/6/10 - Beloved Structure: The Argentine Legacy. Artists: Fabián Burgos, Martín Di Paola, Marcolina Dipierro, Verónica Di Toro, Lucio Dorr, Silvia Gurfein, Silvana Lacarra, Adriana Minoliti, Karina Peisajovich, Pablo Siquier, Andrés Sobrino.
2/13 - 4/3 - Monstrous Moonshine: Magdalena Atria
2630 NW 2ND. Avenue. Alejandra Von Hartz Gallery
FEBRUARY
2/11 - The Dranoff - An Italian Evening, Dranoff Competition Winners Piano Duo Trivella &
The Bergonzi String Quartet. Music by Donizetti, Sollima, Trovese, Piazolla, and a special transcription for 4 hands of music by Sgambati, University of Miami
Gusman Concert Hall, 1314 Miller Drive, Coral Gables.
2/17 - Friends of Chamber Music - The Paris Trio & Alexander Fiterstein (Clarinet). 8pm. University of Miami Gusman Concert Hall, 1314 Miller Drive, Coral Gables. Miamichambermusic
2/21 - St. Martha's Concert Series - Metropolitan Klezmer. 3pm. 9301 Biscayne Boulevard, Miami. St. Martha's
2/27 - 3/7 - Miami Bach Society- Tropical Baroque Music Festival XI. Miami Bach Society
MARCH
3/3 - Friends of Chamber Music- The Artemis Quartet.
3/23 - Friends of Chamber Music - Nareh Arghamanyan, piano.
8pm. University of Miami Gusman Concert Hall, 1314 Miller Drive, Coral Gables. Miamichambermusic
APRIL
4/17 - St. Martha's Concert Series - Chopin National Gold Medalist. 4pm. 9301 Biscayne Boulevard, Miami. St. Martha's
Our first collaboration with the Bergonzi String Quartet in the February 11 concert will hopefully lead to many more. Bergonzi String Quartet
Last season, we had a wonderful series of joined performances with the Atlantic Classic Orchestra, and Maestro Stewart Robertson. Please check their season at Atlantic Classical Orchestra
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TWO PIANO MUSIC WORLD WIDE
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Oberalteich
It is our mission to broaden interest in this ensemble music form, therefore we include in this calendar not only to Dranoff artists. Of course, we focus on the careers of Dranoff winners, even if they perform as soloists. 2010United States4/21 Avery Fisher Hall, New York Philharmonic, Maestro Gergiev. Stravinsky Festival. Maxim Mogilevsly and Svetlana Smolina. New York PhilharmonicRussia4/14 Orchestrion Concert Hall, Moscow. Organized by the Moscow Philharmonic Duo IM. Duo IM Italy2/25 Sala Verdi, Milan. Duo De Stefano. Sala VerdiGermany2/4&6 Pianosalon, Prenzlauer Berg, Berlin. Mozart, Brahms, Hindemith, Schultz, Stravinsky. Chipak Kushnir 2/6 Stadthalle, Tuttlingen.8pm. Duo d'Accord 2/12 Barbara Kuenklin Halle, Schorndorf. 7pm. Hertenstein and Saent Saens With the Wuertembergische Philharmonie Reutlingen, Maestro Siberski. Duo d'Accord3/6 Bensheim. Bartok, Debussy/Ravel and Stravinsky. With the eardrum percussion duo. Duo d'Accord4/20 Hagen. Detlev Glanert. Philharmonic Orchestra Hagen,Maestro Ludwig. Duo d'Accord4/24 Oberalteich. Saint Saenz and Hertenstein. Duo d'Accord |
REPERTOIRE FOR TWO PIANOS
by Andrew Raeburn
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I was working with Erich Leinsdorf and the Boston Symphony Orchestra when Vitya Vronsky and Victor Babin appeared with the Orchestra for the last time. It was in July 1965 at Tanglewood; they played the Mozart e-flat Concerto, Leinsdorf conducting. One of the leading piano duos of their generation, Vronsky and Babin were born nine months apart, almost exactly 100 years, in Russia. They met when they were both studying with Artur Schnabel in Berlin in 1933, decided to make a career as a piano duo, and married. They became one of the most distinguished and loved duos of their generation. When they came to the USA a few years later, Rachmaninov took them under his wing and they recorded all his two-piano works.
I remember the Mozart performance well. One can hear how warmly, dramatically, lyrically, lovingly and subtly they played from the reocding they made a few years later in London with Harry Blech and the London Mozart Players. Babin was a large man; Vronsky petitie. He had a deep bass resonating voice and athunderous laugh. She was quieter, but also had a lively sense of humor. He headed the tanglewood Institure in both 1965 and 1966, so I saw quite a lot of them both summers. Both were superb musicians.
Victor was Director of the Cleveland Institute for 11 years before his untimely death in 1972. Vitya continued performing and teaching until she died 20 years later.
Aside from their Mozart recording, there are Milhaud and Rachmaninov performances on YouTube.
As an aside, Victor Babin wrote a two piano concerto that was part of the repertoire of John and Richard Contiguglia, also members of the Artistic Advisory Board of the Dranoff.
Andrew Raeburn's varied professional life in the arts spans more than five decades, including the administrative and artistic leadership of the Honens International Piano Competition in Calgary, Canada. He has been a consultant to orchestras, festivals, music competitions and government funding agencies. We are honored to have had Andrew on our Artistic Advisory Board for the last decade.
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Giovanni Sgambati PIANO QUINTET No.2, op.5 transcription for four hands
by Valentin Bogdan
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A few words about Giovanni Sgambati's compositions: they are rather difficult to characterize, mingling Italianate, cantabile melodies with devices borrowed from Liszt, Chopin, Mendelssohn, and Schumann.
He met Franz Liszt in 1862 and become a pupil and close friend. Liszt, for his part, saw in
Sgambati an opportunity to groom a talented Italian musician for a
career in instrumental music rather than opera, which obsessed most
other Italians.
Sgambati made a name for himself on the
international piano circuit, taking opportunities while on the road to
hear new works by the period's most innovative composers, including
Richard Wagner, who was so
impressed that he helped Sgambati find a publisher for his piano quintets.
The arrangement process was an interesting test, not necessarily because of the difficulty of the work but rather due to challenges of transforming a virtuosic piano part into a four-hand version. Since this is not a well-known piece in the literature, I first contemplated changing some of the piano textures in order to make it better suited for the four hands medium, but after a while I realized that a great deal of alteration would make the piece sound too artificial.
In its original version, the Piano Quintet No.2 is in turn dramatic and lyrical. With its effortless flow of melody it is a glorious representation of Romantic writing, with the thematic material being passed on between each instrument. I decided to avoid anything that would disturb this flow, thus I adapted the original piano part for the two pianists rather than create a something new. While writing this version, I discovered that, the single piano part would still suit the four hands medium quite well. At times, the two pianists perform together, sounding as one person which is the ultimate goal of any duo. Other times, they exchange ideas, similar to various chamber music instruments that answer each other, in harmony with the core idea of dual pianism, to be soloists and chamber musicians at the same time.
Valentin is the coordinator of our Conservatory Outreach Program. He is a native of Romania who has lived in the United States since 1997. After graduating from the Brasov Institute of Music, he studied at Wayne State University, then accepted a full scholarship at Michigan State University and received his Doctorate of Musical Art from the University of Miami.
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THE COMPETITION
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Our next, the 12th, international competition takes place in May of 2011 in Miami.
It is our great pleasure to share with you the next step towards the 2011
Dranoff International Two Piano Competition.
The Competition
repertoire requirements are amongst the most rigorous and challenging. In 2011 the Competition's
compulsory composer will be Dr. Shelton "Shelly" Berg, Dean of the University
of Miami's Frost School of Music and renowned Jazz musician, with a special two
piano commission by St. Martha's Yamaha Concert Series.
We are also extraordinarily proud to announce a special $5,000 prize for the performance of
"The Last Judgement" by the great American Broadway and Film composer Jerome
Moross whose orchestral and opera works are esteemed as some of the 20th
century's finest American music.
Competitions accredited by
the World Federation of International Music Competitions -like the Dranoff- are
required to have finalists perform with
professional orchestras. To make the artists and music shine
requires great conductors: we are thrilled
and honored to announce the engagement of the illustrious British conductor,
James Judd, for the 2011 Dranoff Competition. Maestro Judd is the former conductor and
music director of the Florida Philharmonic and the New Zealand Symphony
Orchestra.
More wonderful New to come
as the Competition cycle progresses.
Named "Artists of the Year 2001", the Duo Genova & Dimitrov are the Artistic Directors to the 2011 Dranoff International Two Piano Competition. Genova & Dimitrov
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NEWS
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Duo IM has just finished their 5th CD. The French Carneval, with works by Saint Saens, Bizet and Ravel. Duo IMAnother note (I had to!) - Irina Silivanova, partner with Maxim Puryzhinskiy as Duo IM, is expecting a next generation musician. Congratulations and all our best wishes. (You can find Irina on Facebook) Duo De Stefano, Vincenze and Francesco, have a new CD with Suonare records. Suonare They also recently were winners in the International Grieg Competition in Oslo, Norway. Jeroen and Sandra Van Veen recorded the complete works for 4 hands by Erik Satie. Brilliant Records |
Review
10 artistic quality 10 sound quality
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This Satie four-hand collection actually is more than
complete. In addition to the composer's own original works and
transcriptions, the superb Dutch husband and wife duo Sandra and Jeroen
van Veen throw in Darius Milhaud's transcription of Cinéma (the
Entr'acte from the ballet Relache), along with Jeroen van Veen's duet
arrangement of the first and third Gymnopédies in Debussy's versions
(added arpeggios, percussive effects and all). Van Veen also restores
Parade's opening Choral from the orchestral version that Satie omitted
from his four-hand edition. Although the orchestral Parade's wacky
extra-musical implements (the siren, the typewriter) fall by the
wayside, the duo's spot-on tempos, perfectly judged characterizations,
and seamless transitions between pieces remind me why I fell in love
with this music. The Three Pieces in
the Shape of a Pear (seven pieces, in reality) also stand out for the
duo's airtight synchronicity and diverse palette of articulations. They
address the two Furniture Music pieces' brusque, angular qualities, and
hit upon the perfect dance tempo for La belle excentrique's Cancan
finale. Fine as the Duo Campion-Vachon's freer, more intimately
engineered interpretations may be, the nod now goes to the van Veens
for outstanding musicianship and for Brilliant Classics' attractively
resonant ambience and wide dynamic range. This is a disc worth far more
than its modest price, and a must for Satie fans.
--Jed Distler read online |
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Music by Giovanny Sollima & Astor Piazolla/Trivella transciption
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About The Dranoff
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The Dranoff was founded in 1987 with the mission to advance two piano music and its artists. Since then, we have contributed 11 new compositions to the literature, and have been a career stepping stone for dozens of piano duos worldwide.
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