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Marilyn McDonald and Robert Spano to Reunite for Violin/Piano Recital, Saturday, November 13, 8:00 P.M., Kulas Recital Hall
Story by Michael Chipman
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THE PROGRAM: Mozart: Sonata in G major K. 301 Three Myths of Szymanowski Bartok: Sonata no. 1 |
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Marilyn
McDonald, professor of violin
and Robert
Spano, associate professor of
conducting -- two artists whose paths have crossed many
times -- will be reunited again on November 13 at 8 p.m. in
Kulas Recital Hall to perform a recital of music for violin
and piano. This concert is free and open to the public.
McDonald first met Spano when he was a student at Oberlin. Since his graduation in 1983, they have performed together on six recitals. Their seventh collaborative performance will feature works of Mozart, Szymanowski and Bartok.
"Playing a recital with Bob is always a high point for me," says McDonald, "especially the rehearsals. The exchange of ideas during the rehearsal process is fantastic. Nothing is too far out to be tried by Bob. That's one of the things I have always admired about him -- he validates musical ideas from whatever level of experience, and works with them. It is rare to find talent like that in the world."
McDonald says that in preparing recital programs, she and Spano have always approached pieces that were new to them both. "We try to plug in some non-standard repertoire, which always adds an edge of spontaneity to both rehearsals and performance. Sometimes I'll experiment with a musical idea, and Bob will take the cue and go with it. Often he throws out some new ideas and we explore that. It's an exciting process."
The recital will begin with Mozart's Sonata in G major. "I like to begin recitals with this piece," says McDonald, "because it is in the welcoming key of G major. It puts the audience at ease."
The Three Myths of Szymanowski were written in 1915, says McDonald. "These are great pieces and great ideas. Szymanowski began as a devotee of Wagner, but early in his career he was also intrigued by the Paris music scene -- especially Stravinsky. He wrote these pieces in an extremely personal style, successfully evoking the titles of each section in the music. The Myths fall stylistically into a much later category of music for the way he explores the colors of each instrument."
The Bartok Sonata no. 1 is "the larger
of two sonatas for violin and piano," says McDonald. "It was
written in 1921 and offers lots of Bartok ideas: intervals
of a fourth and so on. The second movement is typical of
Bartok's 'night' music and the third is a really earthy,
primitive dance theme, Arabic/Romanian in flavor. The way in
which Bartok pits the violin and 
piano
against each other pushed the genre of violin/piano sonatas
to a new level. Nothing like this piece had ever been
written for the violin before 1921."
McDonald first knew Spano as a young pianist when he accompanied students in her studio. "He was always phenomenal," she says. "He asked me at the end of his first year if I would take him on as a secondary violin student. I was curious to hear how he would play and encouraged him to audition. I remember he came on-stage with an old, musty violin case and a beat-up old violin and played the Sibelius violin concerto for me. Of course I took him on as a student. He actually performed a recital of violin music when he was here, and his program included the first Bartok sonata. As he progressed, we talked more about bowing and issues more related to his conducting.
"I have known Bob since he was seventeen," says McDonald. "He is one of my best friends. It is rare to encounter someone like him who inspires such a committed creative work ethic in his students and everyone he works with. He has never had an attitude of exclusivity about musical ideas and I have a soft spot for him because of that. It is a real privilege to know and work with him."
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