SFSOUND'S MICROFESTIVAL OF CONTEMPORARY PIANO MUSIC (II)
Irene Russo, solo piano
and
Tom Djll's HackMIDI
In conjuction with Italian Cultural Institute of San Francisco, sfSoundSalonSeries is pleased to present Italian virtuoso
Irene Russo in a program of solo works for piano spanning the entire 20th century to the present: Claude Debussy (1862-1918) - Images, Book I (1905), Gian Francesco Malipiero (1882-1973) - A Debussy (1920), Tōru Takemitsu (1930-1996) - Rain Tree Sketch II (1992), Teresa Procaccini (1934) - Preludi per pianoforte op. 29 (1966), and Jörg Widmann (1973) - Hallstudie (2003).
Tom Djll performs pieces from his HackMIDI project -- compositions for a digital piano using wildly out-of-range pitches, instantly shifting ambiances and attacks, long strings of repeated hammerings whose frequencies traipse into the audio range, competing melodic and rhythmic lines.
PROGRAM NOTES
The imaginary world of vision applied to sound include the first book of the “Images” by Claude Debussy, including Reflets dans l'eau, which is a clear example of the new tone colors Debussy discovered for the piano in this part of his life, and although he later refined this style, this piece is part of the greater achievements Debussy reached with the instrument. In 1913 the Venetian composer Gian Francesco Malipiero moved to Paris, where he became acquainted with compositions by Debussy and 7 years later composed his homage to the French composer, clearly referring to his senses by making use of non-functional harmony and ambiguous key signatures, tonality being mainly non-diatonic and usually having a sense of modality.
Also the Japanese Tōru Takemitsu frequently expressed his indebtedness to Claude Debussy, referring to the French composer as his "great mentor", as well to Olivier Messiaen, clearly mentioned in his last piano composition “Rain Tree Sketch II”.
Italian living composer Teresa Procaccini is one of the most famous and versatile, able to move from quite complex compositions and dramatic sketches to graceful intimate music. Her dedication to instrumental music brought her successfully on the international scene; the Preludi per pianoforte, op. 29 recall her personal characteristics that stand out especially in the incisive rhythmic vitality, dynamism and ironic nonchalance. Among the younger generation of composers Jörg Widmann seems to be the most strongly influenced by Schumann. Some works are direct homages, in others Widmann cites motives from Schumann’s music; he also often uses A minor as a Schumann allusion, like in Hallstudie. Composed in 2003 and dedicated to the Italian pianist Irene Russo, Hallstudie’s concept is the resonant body of the grand piano developed in a percussive manner – otherwise gently sounds evoke the ensemble of percussions, so that the interpreter and the instrument are merging. This will not only point out the importance of the “body” in Widmann’s works, but also demonstrate the composer’s manner of unifying the body of an instrument and an instrumentalist in most different ways.
HackMIDI might perhaps be re-settled into an American experimentalist continuum that goes back to George Antheil’s pioneering work for eight pianolas Ballet Mechanique through Conlon Nancarrow’s player piano music (providing a huge pair of shoulders on which to perch my attempts) (and Trimpin — is he American?). It’s often said that Nancarrow’s music is “unplayable by any human pianist.” HackMIDI, in echt kill-the-father style, obliterates that notion with piano music that is unplayable by any physical piano. What the Keytar demands of the digital piano is nothing short of perverse: wildly out-of-range pitches, instantly shifting ambiances and attacks, long strings of repeated hammerings whose frequencies traipse into the audio range, competing melodic and rhythmic lines. The result is sounds that are impossible to achieve on any mechanical instrument yet which still refer back to some unnamed Yamaha engineer’s vision* of a perfect piano sound world— sounds which create their own unique gamut ranging from pure piano to pure electronic noise. -- T.D.
* See Djll, T., “Synthesizer + Improvisation = Impossible?” (RéR Quarterly Magazine, 3/3. 1991, London: November Books: 12-15. ISSN·0954·8807)
ABOUT THE MUSICIANS
Praised by the legendary Martha Argerich as "one of the best young musicians I ever heard in my life", Italian pianist IRENE RUSSO (1974) appeared on the big international stages like one of the most interesting talents of her generation. In July 2008 she was the recipient of the First Prize at the Dorothy MacKenzie International Piano Award in New York.
In 2000 Irene Russo won the Clara Schumann International Piano Competition in Düsseldorf, where she was particularly praised by the Jury: Joachim Kaiser ("She reminds me of a young Kempff"), Nelson Freire, Maria Tipo and Martha Argerich ("Mademoiselle Russo à toute mon admiration") among others. Ms. Russo is also Prize Winner of the 2002 ARD International Piano Competition in Munich, where she received the Special Prize for the Best Interpretation of Contemporary Music. Living composers, among which Jörg Widmann, have written works especially for her. In 2003, Irene Russo was also awarded with the Mention of Honour at the Martha Argerich International Piano Competition.
Her discography includes CD's for Brilliant Classics, Edipan and Oehms Classics, DVD for WERGO as well as television recordings on: Italian RAI, ZDF, Alpha BR and CBC Canada. Her studio/live recordings are regularly broadcasted on: SWR, NDR, ARD, Bayerischer Rundfunk, Radio 3 Belgium, D-Radio Berlin, North-American KUHF, France Musique, Radio 4 Holland. Her upcoming recordings for Brilliant Classics on Prokofiev and Liszt solo works are scheduled for 2015.
Passionate chamber musician, Ms. Russo has collaborated with: Jörg Widmann, Alexander Lonquich, Valerie Guillorit, Gabriele Cassone, Frank Reinecke, David Adorjan, Cristina Mantese, Alissa Margulis, Carolin Widmann, Genevieve Strosser, Zoltan Kovacs and Nadja Helble among others.
Dedicated teacher, from 2008 to 2013 Irene Russo held a professorship at the Royal Music Conservatory of Antwerp. In October 2012 she was offered a professorship at the LUCA School of Arts in Leuven (Campus Lemmens Instituut) where she currently teaches. Ms. Russo is also on faculty at the Music Conservatoire of Castelfranco Veneto (Venice), where from 2010 to 2013 she was member of the Artistic Board. She's often invited to gives Master Classes and Lectures in Conservatoria and Universities in The Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Finland, Spain and Belgium. She serves regularly as jury member at various international piano competitions.
Tom Djll is a composer, improviser, and occasional writer on music. He is the recipient of a Masters degree from Mills College in Electronic Music as well as a Deeploma from the Deep Listening Organization, and was awarded the Paul Merritt Henry Prize for Composition at Mills. His projects include Mockracy, for co-operative orchestra, Grosse Abfahrt, large-group free improvisational music, and Beauty School, hardcore electronic noise. Djll appears on recordings from EMANEM, Tzadik, Creative Sources, Rastascan, and Artifact.
“Djll has taken the trumpet as far beyond its silver, snarling vernacular as it is possible to go, and as far from the extended technique proponents as Bill Dixon is from Roy Castle. Djll’s trumpet extensions are in some respects no different to what early jazzmen used as punctuation devices or timbral effects. Few have gone as far as Djll, though, in making such articulations the entire substance of a piece, and none have gone so far in the development of split-channel playing.” — Brian Morton, The Wire
Cost: $15 General, $10 Members & the Underemployed