Violinist Chee-Yun stands in a library, in front of a bookshelf (Photo courtesy of the artist) — Violinist Chee-Yun (Photo courtesy of the artist)

The Amici Chamber Ensemble has handpicked a selection of seldom performed pieces for their next concert, aptly titled Hidden Treasures. The program features works by Babadjanian,Tajčević, Rota, Ravel and Arutiunian.

Violinist Chee-Yun joins Amici’s Artistic Directors clarinetist Joaquin Valdepeñas, cellist David Hetherington and pianist Serouj Kradjian on April 13.

On the program:

Marko Tajčević: Seven Balkan Dances for clarinet, cello and piano
Nino Rota: Trio
Maurice Ravel: Tzigane for violin and piano
Arno Babadjanian: Piano Trio
Alexander Arutiunian: Suite for Clarinet, Violin, and Piano

The Music

Marko Tajčević: Seven Balkan Dances for clarinet, cello and piano (1973)

Serbian composer and musician Marko Tajčević (1900 to 1984) studied violin in Zegreb and Prague, then later in Vienna with Joseph Marx and Max Springer. He would complete his studies back in Serbia, and began his career composing songs influenced by folk music. As a composer, he was known to work quite slowly, leaving a legacy of 54 compositions for choir, chamber orchestra, solo voice, strings, woodwinds, and piano solo. Along with composing Tajcevic made a living as a music critic and teacher. His Sedam balkanskih igara (Seven Balkan Dances) was championed by Arthur Rubinstein and other prominent pianists, and is today his best known piece.

Nino Rota: Trio for Flute, Violin and Piano (1958)

Italian composer Nino Rota (1869 to 1937) was a former child prodigy. He studied at the Milan Conservatory and the Santa Cecilia Academy in Rome, and for two years in the US at the Curtis Institute. He is best known for his film scores, of which he wrote more than 150, including for movies by Federico Fellini and Luchino Visconti, and two of Franco Zeffirelli’s Shakespearean films. For North American audiences, he’s probably most famous for composing the music for the first two films of the iconic Godfather trilogy, receiving the Academy Award for Best Original Score for The Godfather Part II in 1974. Along with his film output, he wrote ten operas, five ballets and many orchestral, choral and chamber works. The flute was a favoured instrument, and his Trio was dedicated to the Klemm-Cervera-Wolfensberger Trio, a German group.

Maurice Ravel: Tzigane for violin and piano (1924)

French composer Maurice Ravel (1875 to 1937) wrote his Tzigane for violin and piano, with an optional luthéal attachment. Ravel described it as “a virtuoso piece in the style of a Hungarian rhapsody” consisting of “a string of successive variations juxtaposed without development”. The piece was dedicated to Hungarian violinist Jelly d’Arányi, who performed its premiere on April 26, 1924. The luthéal was a relatively new attachment for the piano that added tone-colours via a system of pulling stops installed above the keyboard. It was first patented in 1919, and Ravel made use of one of the tone colours similar to a cimbalom, fitting the Romani style of the music.

Arno Babadjanian: Piano Trio in f-sharp minor (1952)

Armenian-Soviet composer Arno Babadjanian (1921 to 1983) was born in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, and while little known in the West, is a musical hero on that country, and well known in Russia. His precocious musical talent was recognized at age five, when composer Aram Khachaturian recommended he receive formal training. Arno subsequently studied at the Komitas State Conservatory of Yerevan, and then in Moscow. His Piano Trio is considered one of his most significant compositions, written in three movements that allow each instrument to shine. It was a success from its premiere, and he toured it throughout the then Soviet Union and Europe.

Alexander Arutiunian: Suite for Clarinet, Violin, and Piano (1992)

Soviet-Armenian composer Alexander Arutiunian (1920 to 2012) was also a pianist and professor at Yerevan State Conservatory, in the city where he was born. At seven, he became a member of the Yerevan State Conservatory’s children group, beginning formal studies at the age of 14. He graduated just in time for WWII to begin. After the war, he studied in Moscow, but returned to Yerevan after completing his degree. He was appointed artistic director of the Armenian State Philharmony in 1954. Arutiunian won many prizes for his work, which includes chamber, choral, symphonic and also pop music. The Suite for violin, clarinet, and piano was commissioned by the American Verdehr Trio, although Arutiunian composed it in Erevan, Armenia.

Guest Musician

Chee-Yun, violin

A native of Seoul, South Korea, Chee-Yun first took the stage in Korea at the age of eight after winning the Grand Prize of the Korean Times Competition. She went on to study at The Juilliard School as a teenager. In 1989, she won the Young Concert Artists Susan Wadsworth International Auditions, which jump started her career with a Carnegie Hall debut.

She has since performed across the United States and Asia, including a tour with the San Francisco Symphony under Michael Tilson Thomas, and a concert with the Seoul Philharmonic conducted by Myung-Whun Chung that was broadcast on national television. She has worked with some of the world’s most renowned conductors, including Krzysztof Penderecki, Neeme Järvi, Pinchas Zukerman, and many others.

Her busy career includes engagements as a recitalist, educator, and as a recording artist on the Denon label.

Find more details and tickets for the April 13 performance [HERE].

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Anya Wassenberg

Anya Wassenberg is a Toronto City Editor at Ludwig Van. She is an experienced freelance writer, blogger and writing instructor.