By Signe Hammer
Pro Musica is delighted to welcome back Laurence Kayaleh for a glorious weekend of violin sonatas with Bernadene Blaha on piano. They will play on Friday, February 24, and Sunday, February 26, at 5pm in St. Paul’s Church.
Kayaleh has played for us several times and our audiences love her, not only for her rich, singing tone but also because she is a great communicator who wears her heart on her sleeve. Her violin, a 1742 Guarneri that The Strad magazine calls “glorious,” speaks to the audience in an extremely personal and unforgettable way.
Kayaleh earned a Performer Diploma at the prestigious Kayaleh Violin Academy in Switzerland and was awarded the Grand Prize by unanimous jury decision at Italy’s Stresa International Competition. At her Paris debut at the Théâtre du Châtelet, the world-renowned Le Figaro critic, Pierre Petit, described her playing as “regal” praising her wonderful sound and her innate sense of phrasing. Her early career took her throughout Europe and in the U.S. She has performed as soloist with such orchestras as Washington’s National Symphony, the Montreal Symphony, and the Cleveland Orchestra, while her recitals have taken her from the Kennedy Center to Moscow’s Bolshoi.
On Friday, February 24, we hear three sonatas and a suite. At the premier of his “Sonata No. 32,” Mozart played the piano part from memory. He’d just finished composing the sonata for violin virtuoso Regina Strinasacchi who he claimed played with “a great deal of taste and feeling,” and had not had time to write down the piano part. Mozart is preceded by Shakespeare fan Erich Korngold’s lyrical suite for violin and piano, “Much Ado About Nothing,” which attracted violinists Fritz Kreisler and Jascha Heifetz.
After the intermission we will hear Franck’s “Sonata in A Major” written as a wedding present for his friend, violinist Eugene Ysaÿe, who, immediately upon receiving the score, quickly rehearsed and then performed it for his wedding ceremony along with his bride’s sister-in-law, pianist Marie-Léontine Bordes-Pène! Sunday, February 26, is all sonatas, beginning with Baroque violinist and composer Jean-Marie Leclair’s “Sonata No. 3.” Leclair studied in Italy and worked for Louis XV. His sophisticated style combines Italian passion and French refinement. Next you will hear “Sonata No.1 in F- major,” the first of three violin sonatas written by the great Norwegian Romantic composer, Grieg. His use of Norwegian folk music in his pieces helped his country, formerly ruled by Sweden, to develop a national identity. After the intermission, Władysław Żeleński dedicates “Sonata in F-major” to pianist Marcelina Czartoryska who had studied with her friend Chopin and played with Liszt. David J. Brown wrote in L.A. Opus: “Żeleński’s ‘Violin Sonata’ was a real find, played with whole-hearted commitment and skill by the Kayaleh/Blaha duo.”
Pro Musica Concert Series
“Laurence Kayaleh, Violin and Bernadene Blaha, Piano”
Fri., Feb. 24 and Sun., Feb. 26, 5pm
St. Paul’s Church, calle Cardo
200, 400, and 600 pesos
On sale on website and 45 minutes before the performance.
Details of all concerts and Patron Membership are available on the website
www.promusicasma.org or contact us at promusicasma@aol.com
