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Guest violinist Pavel Farkas and pianist Stephen Moore to Perform All-Slavic Recital on Sunday, November 14, 3 P.M., in Kulas Recital Hall
Story by Michael Chipman
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THE PROGRAM: Penderecki: Sonata Martinu: Five Madrigal Stanzas Moyzes: Sonata Op. 63 Shostakovich: Four Short Pieces Dvorak: Sonata in F |
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Pianist Stephen
Moore, associate professor of
aural skills, describes his upcoming all-Slavic recital with
frequent collaborator violinist Pavel Farkas, artist
professor of music at the University of Redlands, as a
program "that shifts between lyrical, idiosyncratic scale
melodies, and the rhythmic emphasis of Eastern Slavic
culture." Slated for Sunday, November 14, 3 p.m., in Kulas
Recital Hall, the concert is free and open to the public.
The program is a specialty of the duo, who have worked on this music for several years and plan to produce a recording. "Pavel has a natural, instinctive feel for the rhythms and phrasing of Slavic music," says Moore. "His Eastern European roots give him a deep connection to the melody and timing that is not possible, or at least not always achieved by American players."
Moore met Farkas while teaching at the University of Redlands. They have performed together in recitals in and around California, in Arizona, and at the Mozarteum in Salzburg.
"Besides being a great artist, Pavel is a fascinating person," says Moore. "He lived under Communist rule for many years during which time he was restricted as a performer. He left Europe in 1968, but he has maintained strong ties with Bratislava. As a performer he is well-known in Europe. Interestingly, he was also a prize-winning boxer."
The recital will open with Penderecki. "The sonata is one
of Penderecki's earlier works," says Moore. "The first
movement is in a traditional sonata form which exploits
atonality. Pavel describes the second movement as 'the wind
over the steppes in Russia.' The last movement is a Slavic
dance: very stark, with similarities to Shostakovich."
Martinu's "Five Madrigal Stanzas" will follow. Moore describes these five pieces as "lyrical sections juxtaposed with very irregular rhythmic sections. Next they will play Moyzes' Sonata Op. 63, which, says Moore, "uses an indigenous 'minor' scale. The first two movements involve juxtapositions of recitative and dances, culminating in a final dance for the third movement. Shostakovich's Four Short Pieces "sounds like music for an eastern European cabaret," says Moore. "They are inventive and spontaneous with sudden harmonic shifts."
Moore and Farkas will end the recital with Dvorak's Sonata in F. "This is not a widely known work," says Moore. "It is late-Romantic sounding and the middle movement offers some of his most beautiful melodic writing. The last movement is a traditional dance."
About the Performers:
Pavel Farkas, artist professor of music, is in charge of the String Program and Orchestra Study at the University of Redlands School of Music. Born in Czechoslovakia, he joined the Bratislava Radio Symphony Orchestra at the age of seventeen. Five years later, he became the concertmaster of that orchestra. He has served as concertmaster of the Osaka Philharmonic Orchestra in Japan and concertmaster of the Dutch Broadcasting Foundation in Hilversum. In 1973 , Farkas settled in Los Angeles as a member of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra. He co-founded the Pacific Symphony and Master Symphony, two successful local orchestras.
He has been concertmaster for the touring company of the Bolshoi Ballet, American Ballet Theater, and as a principal for the Joffery Ballet. He has freelanced as a musician and contractor for the recording industry. He recorded as concertmaster with Grammy winners Whitney Houston, Linda Ronstadt, Aaron Neville, Cher, Barry White and Natalie Cole. His film credits include work with major composers including John Williams, Maurice Jarre, Michelle Legrand and Lalo Schiffrin.
In addition to his performing career, Farkas enjoys a successful teaching career. He served as associate professor at California State University at Los Angeles, and artist-in-residence of Pepperdine University. In 1993, he joined the Redlands Symphony Orchestra as concertmaster. Farkas continues to visit Europe to underscore the music for major film productions.
Stephen Moore, associate professor of aural skills, holds the doctor of philosophy degree in Music Theory from Indiana University, with emphases in piano performance and jazz studies. The title of his dissertation is "The Writings of Emile Jacques-Dalcroze: Toward a Theory for the Performance of Musical Rhythm." He received the master of music degree in piano performance from the Manhattan School of Music, where he was awarded the Shirr-Cliff Prize in music theory. His principal teacher there was Dora Zaslavsky. Other teachers have included Jeneane Dowis (The Juilliard School) and Beatrice Erdely (New England Conservatory).
In 1992, Dr. Moore was granted the license in Dalcroze Eurhythmics from the Manhattan Dalcroze Institute under Robert Abramson and now serves as national president of the Dalcroze Society of America. From 1988-1993, Moore was artist teacher of piano at the University of Puget Sound and continues to teach at the University of Washington during summers as part of the Dalcroze training program. As a member of the University of Redlands Duo, he performs nationally and internationally with violinist Pavel Farkas and is a frequent soloist and clinician having performed recently on the University of Rhode Island Convocation Series and the San Juan Island Recital Series.
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