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"A fervent wish that the Foundation is doing well in its good works. I possess a copy of the Berkofsky-Liszt CD that was sent as a gift for nothing more than a nice E-Mail I sent...This artist truly shows that the secret of Liszt's music lies not only in embracing the great spirit that lives behind the notes, but extending it outward to how you address the world and treat your fellow man."
CRISTOFORI-CF-889, BERKOFSKY-HOVHANESS HISTORIC MOSCOW RECORDINGS: "A MUST-HAVE", FANFARE MAGAZINE:
FANFARE MAGAZINE: A "MUST HAVE"
Martin Berkofsky: HOVHANESS HISTORIC MOSCOW RECORDINGS:
Friday, 19 April 2013
HOVHANESS The Prayer of St. Gregory. 1 Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra. 2 Mihr. 3 Ko-olo-u. 4 Vijag. 4 Lousadzak 5 2,3,4,5 Martin Berkofsky, 2,3 Atakan Sari, 4 Sergei Podobedov (pn); 1 Andrei Ikov (tpt); 1,2,5 Konstantin Krimets, cond; 1,2,5 Globalis SO - CRISTOFORI 889 (63:27) Live: Tchaikovsky Hall, Moscow 3/24/2004
The spoken introduction to the one live performance ( The Prayer of St. Gregory ) certainly sets the scene for this event. Even for the non-Russian speaker such as myself, the sense of occasion is palpable. Hovhaness's music can split critical opinion, and his vast output can be variable. As a sampler of his music, it has to be said, this disc would be hard to beat. Although billed as "The Historic Moscow Recordings," there is precious little historic about the sound for The Prayer of St. Gregory (1966): this is a gorgeously deep recording, tremendously consonant, with a pre-Vasks/Part aura. The sound of the entire disc is good, for that matter. The profundity of the inspiration (the Armenian Church) shoots through the piece. The trumpeter, Andrei Ikov, is very forthright in both balance and approach. This piece is in fact an intermezzo from a 1940s opera which lends itself to arrangements (search the Fanfare Archive and you will find versions for trumpet and organ, and for wind band). And yet the purity of the strings seems perfect (why meddle?), especially in a performance as committed as this one. It is difficult to imagine a more auspicious opening to either a concert or a disc.
There is the added bonus of a world premiere recording here, the Concerto for Two pianos and Orchestra of 1954. It was composed for a two piano team who went their separate ways and so the performance failed to come to fruition, hence the long gap between composition and recording. A chance meeting of the present soloists and conductor in Turkey has led to the present recording. The first movement, an Andante , holds some of the radiance of The Prayer of St. Gregory , yet the pianos' comments take the music to a significantly more acerbic place, and the underpinning of timpani rolls adds power to the close of the movement. The low clouds of the central Largo find ascending piano gestures pitted against outcries from a selection of soloists. The effect is relentless (note all three tempo directions are slow to slowish: Andante, Largo then Moderato ), with the pianists’ filigree in the finale intensifying rather than lightening the ongoing load. The pianists seem perfectly suited.
The three short pieces that follow all feature Berkofsky, the first with Sari. Mihr (1945) can also be performed as a solo piano piece (as the composer sometimes did). It is tremendously atmospheric, its Armenian influences never in doubt. The recording here is bright, resulting in the piece's conclusion sounding like a beautiful, high-frequency carillon, cruelly curtailed. The 1962 piece Ko-olo-u was composed while Hovhaness was composer-in-residence at the University of Hawaii and explores the contrast between the city and the stiller mountains. Here, as in the next piece, Berkofsky is joined by Sergei Podobedov. Minimalism informs the brief Vijag (an Armenian Ascension ceremony), composed in 1946. It is delightful, hypnotic, and blissfully short. The performance here, by Berkofsky and Podobedov, is perfect; glistening and alive.
Finally, Lousadzak (Coming of Light), a Concerto for Piano and Strings from 1944. It embodies Hovhaness's idea of "musical cloudwork," or uncoordinated repetitions of phrases, inspired by the mystical painter (and Hovhaness's mentor) Hermon di Giovanno. The actual harmonic palette is determinedly modal. The performance, again, is excellent, with Berkofsky in top form (Berkofsky's superb attunement throughout is hardly surprisingly, as he helps coordinate the Alan Hovhaness International Research Center). The violinist Nikolai Zherenikov provides the long, atmospheric violin solo lines which are essentially interior monologs.
The documentation accompanying this release is a dream. Lavishly illustrated, with booklet notes not only on the pieces themselves but also a selection of essays, it completes a disc that is effectively a must-have for anyone remotely interested or curious about this composer. This appears to be a near-identical release to Black Box 1103, reviewed by Walter Simmons in Fanfare 29:3 (2006). Colin Clarke
CRISTOFORI BENEFIT CONCERT AIDS YOUNG BURN VICTIM
On 24 April, 2010, pianist Martin Berkofsky was joined by his students Beth Anne Hoffman, Kristine Mapili, and Clarissa Foxley at the Spriggs Road Presbyterian Church in Manassas, Virginia, in a programme of Schubert, Schumann, Beethoven, Liszt, Rachmaninoff, Bach, and Brahms. Over $3,500.00 was raised for four-year-old Desary Moore who had been severely injured in a house fire and faces extensive reconstructive surgery.
SPECIAL NEW YEAR'S BROADCAST, VATICAN RADIO:
VATICAN RADIO STUDIO A, THE MUSIC OF FRANZ LISZT
ALESSANDRA POMPILI, PRODUCER AND MODERATOR
MARTIN BERKOFSKY, PIANO
TWO BROADCASTS:
New Year's Day: 1, January, 2010:
Sonata in B minor, Hungarian Rhapsody No. 12.
8 January, 2010:
Legende: St. Francois d'Assise - la Predication aux Oiseaux.
All broadcasts at 1:50 PM and (repeat broadcast,) 9:30 PM, Eastern Standard Time.
NEW: MARTIN BERKOFSKY SPEAKS WITH CLAVIER MAGAZINE
WATCH HOVHANESS ARMENIAN PREMIERE ON YOUTUBE
COMPACT DISCS
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT THE CRISTOFORI FOUNDATION
president@cristofori.org
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CRISTOFORI BENEFIT RAISES OVER $2,700.00 FOR RUSSIAN ORPHANS ORGANISATION
On 18 March, 2008, clarinetist Einar Johannesson and pianist Martin Berkofsky performed at the Washington Residence of His Excellency Albert Jonsson, Ambassador of Iceland. The concert raised over
$2,700.00 for Kitezh Children's Community, one of Russia's leading organisations giving new lives to orphans.
ALAN HOVHANESS AND FATHER HONOURED IN ADANA, TURKEY; HOVHANESS PERFORMED
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ARMENIAN PREMIERE PERFORMANCE OF ALAN HOVHANESS CONCERTO FOR TWO PIANOS AND ORCHESTRA:
On 24 November, 2006, pianists Martin Berkofsky and Atakan Sari gave the Armenian premiere performance of Alan Hovhaness' Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra. They were joined in Aram Khachaturian Hall, Yerevan, by the Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Ruben Asatrian.
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