Giuseppe Tartini
Sonata in G minor “Devil’s Trill” (arr. Kreisler)

Ludwig van Beethoven
(1770–1827)
Violin Sonata No. 7 in C minor, Op. 30, No. 2
Allegro con brio
Adagio cantabile
Scherzo. Allegro
Finale. Allegro-Presto

INTERMISSION

Johann Sebastian Bach
(1685–1750)
Partita No. 3 in E Major for Solo Violin, BMV 1006
Preludio
Loure
Gavotte en Rondeau
Menuet I & Menuet II
Bourrée
Gigue

Antonio Bazzini
(1818–1897)
La Ronde des Lutins, Op. 25

Antonín Dvořák
(1841–1904)
Slavonic Dance No. 2 in E minor, Op. 72 (arr. Kreisler)

Chick Corea
(1941–2021)
Spain (arr. Elizalde & Chen)

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The program will run 110 minutes including an intermission.

Media Partner: WKAR

Ray Chen

Ray Chen is a violinist who redefines what it is to be a classical musician in the 21st Century. With a media presence that enhances and inspires the classical audience, reaching out to millions through his unprecedented online following, Ray Chen's remarkable musicianship transmits to a global audience that is reflected in his engagements with the foremost orchestras and concert halls around the world.

Initially coming to attention via the Yehudi Menuhin (2008) and Queen Elizabeth (2009) Competitions, of which he was First Prize winner, he has built a profile in Europe, Asia, and the USA as well as his native Australia both live and on disc. Signed in 2017 to Decca Classics, the summer of 2017 has seen the recording of the first album of this partnership with the London Philharmonic as a succession to his previous three critically acclaimed albums on SONY, the first of which ("Virtuoso") received an ECHO Klassik Award. Profiled as "one to watch" by the Strad and Gramophone magazines, his profile has grown to encompass his featuring in the Forbes list of 30 most influential Asians under 30, appearing in major online TV series "Mozart in the Jungle," a multi-year partnership with Giorgio Armani (who designed the cover of his Mozart album with Christoph Eschenbach) and performing at major media events such as France's Bastille Day (live to 800,000 people), the Nobel Prize Concert in Stockholm (telecast across Europe), and the BBC Proms.

He has appeared with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra, Leipzig Gewandhausorchester, Munich Philharmonic, Filarmonica della Scala, Orchestra Nazionale della Santa Cecilia, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and upcoming debuts include the SWR Symphony, San Francisco Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony, Berlin Radio Symphony, and Bavarian Radio Chamber Orchestra. He works with conductors such as Riccardo Chailly, Vladimir Jurowski, Sakari Oramo, Manfred Honeck, Daniele Gatti, Kirill Petrenko, Krystof Urbanski,  Juraj Valcuha and many others. From 2012-2015 he was resident at the Dortmund Konzerthaus.

His presence on social media makes Ray Chen a pioneer in an artist's interaction with their audience, utilizing the new opportunities of modern technology. His appearances and interactions with music and musicians are instantly disseminated to a new public in a contemporary and relatable way. He is the first musician to be invited to write a lifestyle blog for argest Italian publishing house, RCS Rizzoli (Corriere della Sera, Gazzetta dello Sport, Max). He has been featured in Vogue magazine and is currently releasing his own design of violin case for the industry manufacturer GEWA. His commitment to music education is paramount and inspires the younger generation of music students with his series of self-produced videos combining comedy and music. Through his online promotions his appearances regularly sell out and draw an entirely new demographic to the concert hall.

Born in Taiwan and raised in Australia, Ray was accepted to the Curtis Institute of Music at age 15, where he studied with Aaron Rosand and was supported by Young Concert Artists. He plays the 1715 "Joachim" Stradivarius violin on loan from the Nippon Music Foundation. This instrument was once owned by the famed Hungarian violinist, Joseph Joachim (1831-1907).

Julio Elizalde

Praised as a musician of "compelling artistry and power" by The Seattle Times, the gifted American pianist Julio Elizalde is a multifaceted artist who enjoys a versatile career as soloist, chamber musician, artistic administrator, educator, and curator. He has performed in many of the major music centers throughout the United States, Europe, Asia, and Latin America to popular and critical acclaim. Since 2014, he has served as the artistic director of the Olympic Music Festival near Seattle, Washington.

Julio Elizalde has appeared with many of the leading artists of our time. He tours internationally with world-renowned violinists Sarah Chang and Ray Chen and has performed alongside conductors Itzhak Perlman, Teddy Abrams, and Anne Manson. He has collaborated with artists such as cellists Pablo Ferrández and Kian Soltani, violinist Pamela Frank, composers Osvaldo Golijov and Stephen Hough, baritone William Sharp, and members of the Juilliard, Cleveland, Takács, Kronos, and Brentano string quartets.

Julio is a founding member of the New Trio with violinist Andrew Wan, co-concertmaster of the Montréal Symphony and Patrick Jee, cellist of the New York Philharmonic. The New Trio was the winner of both the Fischoff and Coleman National Chamber Music Competitions and is the recipient of the Harvard Musical Association's prestigious Arthur W. Foote Prize. As part of the New Trio, Julio has performed for leading American politicians such as President Bill Clinton, Secretaries of State Condoleezza Rice and Henry Kissinger, and the late Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy. He was a featured performer on the soundtrack of the 2013 film Jimmy P, composed by Academy Award-winner Howard Shore.

Julio is a passionately active educator. In 2013, he served as a visiting professor of piano at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington and has given piano and chamber music masterclasses throughout the United States at major conservatories and universities. He has also appeared at various summer music festivals including Yellow Barn, Taos, Caramoor, Bowdoin, Kneisel Hall, and the Music Academy of the West. In 2012, Julio was the youngest juror ever selected at the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition held at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana.

Originally from the San Francisco Bay Area, Julio received a Bachelor of Music degree with honors from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where he studied with Paul Hersh. He holds master's and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees from The Juilliard School in New York City, where he studied with Jerome Lowenthal, Joseph Kalichstein, and Robert McDonald. He currently serves on the faculty at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.

Giuseppe Tartini (1692-1770) was a leading violinist and composer whose career took him throughout Europe. He was the author of numerous books on violin and bowing techniques, the founder of a very successful violin school in Padua, Italy, and an early researcher in the field of acoustics. The Sonata in G minor, nicknamed the "Devil's Trill," was inspired, he said, by a dream he had in 1713. In it, the Devil, who was one of Tartini's servants, offered him a special violin on which Tartini played a remarkably virtuosic but otherwise-unknown piece. Tartini then awoke and tried to capture everything he had played in his dream. The opening theme is slow, in 12/8 time, and features the rhythm and tempo of a "Siciliana." The energetic "Allegro" is followed by another slow section. The final movement, "Allegro," is the source of the nickname. It features multiple stops, often with a trill on one string while countermelodies are played on the other strings, a difficult technical feat. The movement includes slower interludes and ends with a virtuoso cadenza. It was published in December 1798. Friedrich "Fritz" Kreisler (1875-1962) edited a popular modern edition that altered some double stops in the first movement, replaced some dissonances with his own harmony, and added some even more spectacular measures to the cadenza. The Kreisler version will be performed by Mr. Chen.

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) dedicated his Opus 30 violin sonatas to Tsar Alexander I of Russia, who supported several social reforms of interest to Beethoven. The first and third sonatas are in major keys, in contrast to the more dramatic minor-key Sonata No. 2. The sonatas were published in 1803, when Beethoven was facing increased hearing loss and deeper soul-searching, as documented in numerous writings such as the "Heiligenstadt Testament." The first movement features many double stops for the violin and a constant growling in the piano, which introduces the first theme. The piano also opens the second movement, and the instruments then perform one of the most beautiful themes in all of Beethoven's slow movements. The Scherzo is lively and the succeeding Trio is a canon primarily between the violin and the bass line of the piano, followed by a repeat of the Scherzo. The Finale is driving and stormy, with a few calmer moments, and a forceful, energetic coda. Throughout the sonata, each instrument explores the extremes of pitches and dynamics in a stunning display of independence that would have been unknown a decade earlier. Technological advances in piano construction meant the bass line no longer required reinforcement by a cello or other solo instrument, giving greater rein to the imagination of the composer.

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) completed his Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin (BWV 1001-1006) by 1720. Little is known about their origin, but they were highly sought after in handwritten copies by an intimate circle of violinists, theorists and composers. No public performance is documented until Joseph Joachim (1831-1907) played them late in his career. His edition, the first to be published, was issued in 1908. The works have been a favorite of violinists ever since. Many transcriptions for other instruments have been made, including several by Bach himself for keyboard. These were not the first works for unaccompanied violin but have become the most famous. Partita Number 3, BWV 1006, is based on the French suite, a set of dance pieces common in French musical culture. The term "partita" is used to designate a work in multiple dance movements for a single instrument. Bach's sons saw the works as study materials, but other contemporaries saw them as the highest achievement in counterpoint. The single line implies its own harmony, with only an occasional double stop or other written harmonic feature. Although it might seem like a random arrangement of notes, the music follows strict rules of counterpoint to create beautiful soaring melodies.

Antonio Bazzini (1818-1897) was another of Italy's virtuoso violinists who had a remarkable career throughout Europe. As a youngster, he was mentored by Nicolò Paganini. As an adult, he was praised by critics such as Robert Schumann for his great technical skill and musicianship. Later, he taught composition and headed the Milan Conservatory. Among his most famous pupils were opera composers Pietro Mascagni and Giacomo Puccini. La Ronde des Lutins, (The Round of the Goblins), Op. 25, was composed in 1852 and debuted at the Paris Opera. It is a technical tour de force, in almost-perpetual motion, with an occasional slower tempo as if the goblins were catching their breath. The themes recur frequently, with variations. After a brief contrasting minor section and a slower middle section, a spectacular cadenza brings the work to an exciting conclusion. As with Tartini's "Devil's Trill" sonata, Bazzini's work is part of a long tradition of evoking otherworldly spirits in fantastically difficult music.

Antonín Dvořák (1841-1904) was catapulted to fame when he wrote his Slavonic Dances, Op. 46, for piano duet (two pianists at one piano.) Eight years later, his publisher Simrock requested another set, which he at first refused to compose, thinking it would be too difficult to revisit the concept of dances based on folk music. However, after some months of delay, he began on the second set and completed the eight movements in one month. The Op.72 set became just as successful as the first, and both sets became even more popular when he orchestrated them a few years later. Each individual dance is based on a rhythmic and stylistic folk dance, but none uses an actual existing melody. The Slavonic Dance, Op. 72, No. 2, in E Minor, is based on a Ukrainian "dumka," a dance form in 3/8 time featuring a contrast between a melancholy theme and a more upbeat one. In this piece, the themes are quite short. The first is legato and highly chromatic; the second is more sparkly and diatonic. The work ends quietly in unison. The arrangement for violin and piano is by Fritz Kreisler.

Armando Anthony "Chick" Corea (1941-2021) was one of the foremost jazz pianists of his day. Of southern Italian heritage, he combined a formal study of classical piano with his interest in jazz and other styles to create a uniquely wide-ranging career. He won 27 Grammy awards and received 70 nominations. Spain is one of his most popular works, originally written for jazz piano and small jazz ensemble in 1971. He made numerous arrangements of the work, including a piano concerto with full symphonic orchestra, premiered by the London Philharmonic in 1999. Corea loved all things Spanish, and incorporated many elements of the country's style and genres in this piece. The opening theme quotes one of the most iconic Spanish classical works, the Concierto de Aranjuez, by Joaquín Rodrigo (1901-1999.) Successive themes are exuberant and reflect his love for Spanish culture through melodic and rhythmic references and quotations, including flamenco and jazz elements. This arrangement is by Ray Chen and pianist Julio Elizalde.

—Mary Black Junttonen, MSU Music Librarian Emerita