Friday, May 30th, 6pm
Violin Sonata in G major, Op. 134 (1968)
Written for Oistrakh on his 60th birthday, the sonata has three movements, the finale of which is a massive passacaglia with bold cadenzas for both piano and violin, culminating in a grand statement taking only a few bars, before dwindling away to a slow march, with a chilling conclusion.
and
Viola Sonata in C major, Op. 147 (1975)
A farewell work, the last work he wrote, completed just weeks before Shostakovich succumbed to lung cancer and heart failure in July 1975. The viola’s dark timbre lends itself to the sonata’s somber and elegiac character.
Here's a nice quote about the second movement:
"The second movement of Shostakovich’s Viola Sonata, Op. 147 is a sarcastic scherzo, marked Allegretto. It’s built on biting rhythmic figures and bitonality, where the viola and piano play in two separate keys simultaneously. This unsettling effect gives the movement a sense of disjointed irony, almost like a distorted folk dance.
Interestingly, much of the material comes from Shostakovich’s unfinished 1942 opera, The Gamblers. The movement carries a mocking, grotesque quality, with the viola’s angular phrasing clashing against the piano’s stumbling accompaniment. There’s a sense of forced joviality, as if the music is laughing through gritted teeth."
The final movement - Shostakovich's final movement - is a delicate lullaby building to an intense lament with a brilliant cadenza before fading away with the initial delicate lullaby, Shostakovich's farewell to the world.
These are two masterpieces from the greatest composer of the 20th century. If you appreciate Shostakovich, don't miss this performance.
Tasana Nagavajara is well known to us, having played more concerts at Eelswamp than I can count. He studied at the International Menuhin Music Academy in Switzerland and the Vorarlberg Conservatory in Austria, specializing in chamber music. He has performed extensively across Europe, North America, and South America, collaborating with renowned ensembles like Camerata Lysy Gstaad. Tasana served as Concertmaster of the Bangkok Symphony Orchestra for ten seasons and has performed major violin concerti with Thailand’s leading orchestras. He is a founding member of the Faculty of Music at Silpakorn University and has directed the Silpakorn Summer Music School (SSMS) since 2005. His work focuses on introducing chamber music repertoire to Thai audiences, expanding the country’s classical music scene.
Anna Takeda has played for us at Eelswamp on several occasions, both as a soloist and as part of the Pro Musica Quartet. She was educated in Japan and then at the Manhattan School of Music. She has played the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto at the Merkin Concert Hall, as well as the Tchaikovsky Concerto recently in Pattaya. She also played an all Bach program with Akkra and Kasina, last year at Eelswamp.
