Jacques Israelievitch, Violin & Christina Petrowska Quilico, Piano
MOZART VIOLIN/PIANO CD SERIES LAUNCHES ON FLEUR DE SON
The last joint collaboration by the duo of pianist Christina Petrowska Quilico and the late violinist Jacques Israelievitch was the recording of Mozart’s complete catalogue of violin and piano sonatas.
The first of six CDs is being released June 10 on the Americanlabel Fleur de Son (FDS 58034) and distributed by Naxos. Copies will be available on iTunes (electronic) and Amazon.com (physical and digital), and through numerous other digital service providers and retailers.
Volume 1 comprises 71 minutes of late sonatasalong with a set of variations. It features the sonatas in E flat, K. 380; B flat, K.454; and A, KV 526; and Six Variations on a French Song (“Hélas, j’ai perdu mon amant”), K. 360.
The sonata series grew out a daylong marathon of Mozart sonatas that Israelievitch and Petrowska Quilico performed in May 2014 at Toronto’s Gallery 345. The two had been performing together since 2008 when Israelievitch joined the faculty of York University, where Petrowska Quilico was a professorof piano and musicology. He had just retired after 20 years as the Toronto Symphony Orchestra’s longest serving concertmaster.
As Israelievitch put it, “When Edmund Hillary was asked why he climbed Mount Everest he replied: ‘Because it’s there!’ Playing the sonatas in one day allows the listener to hear the evolution of the form as the composer goes from featuring mostly the piano to making the violin gradually the equal of the piano.”While Mozart’s early works, dating from 1764, had only a secondary role for the violin, the instrument was well established as an equal partner before the later sonatas.
The pair repeated the cycle over several concerts at York University during the winter of 2014-15, recording before each concert. It was during this time that Israelievitch was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. Despite his severe pain, they completed the final session in May 2015, just months before Israelievitch’s death on September 5, 2015.The CD series was produced by David Jaeger, with sound recording by Simon Head.
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MOZART VIOLIN/PIANO CD SERIES -2
They gave one last performance of four late Mozart sonatas in July 2015 at the Chautauqua Festival in New York State. It would be his last public appearance.
Petrowska Quilico and Israelievitch launched their first joint CD, Fancies and Interludes, a concert of contemporary Canadian works, in June 2015 on the Centrediscs label. The CAML Review, published by the Canadian Association of Music Libraries, Archives and Documentation Centres, recently praised the disc for its “astounding level of virtuosity. Both performers also deliver eloquent interpretations filled with individuality and rich expression.”The WholeNote called it “both a labour of love and musical declaration, intuited and played by two ingenious and accomplished musicians,” and the programming “exquisite, noting how “Israelievitch and Petrowska Quilico allow the impulse, the urge to soar and expand in their playing while granting the listener a breathing space.”
Petrowska Quilico recalls working with Israelievitch: “Jacques was an inspirational and motivational musician and friend. I will always remember the fun and laughter we had rehearsing and recording. What a great way to make music!”
JACQUES ISRAELIEVITCH, Violin ()
Jacques Israelievitchdebuted on French National Radio at 11, graduated from the Paris Conservatory at 16, and was a winner at the International Paganini Competition. Prior to his record-setting 20 years with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, he was assistant concertmaster of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and concertmaster of the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra. As a soloist, he appeared with many of the world’s major orchestras, collaborated with Solti, Giulini, Davis, and Frühbeck de Burgos, and premiered and recorded several concertos. He performed chamber music with Emanuel Ax, Yefim Bronfman, and Yo-Yo Ma. His discography of more than 100 albums includes the first-ever complete recording of Kreutzer’s 42 Studies for Solo Violin.He was an officer of France’s Order of Arts and Letters and a member of the Order of Canada, and held a Lifetime Achievement Award for his distinguished contribution to the performing arts in Canada.
CHRISTINA PETROWSKA QUILICO, Pianist, ()
Hailed by the New York Times at 14 for her “promethean talent” after making her orchestral debut along with Murray Perahia, Juilliard-trained Christina Petrowska Quilico has appeared at Lincoln Center, and Carnegie, Alice Tully and other New York halls. She has also been soloist with the Toronto, Vancouver, Winnipeg and Kitchener-Waterloo symphony orchestras and National Arts Centre Orchestra, as well as with orchestras in Taiwan, Greece and the U.S. She has premieredwell over 150 new works, including 19 piano concertos. Among her 40plus CD titles – four of them Juno nominated – are eight concertos. CBC Music named her one of 20 international “not to miss pianists” of 2014 and one of Canada’s 25 greatest pianists in 2015. Her CD Glass Houses Revisitedwas on CBC Music’s “TOP 30 best Canadian classical recordings ever”, included in two other CBC top 10 lists, and one of Centrediscs’ alltime top-selling CDs. The Canadian Music Centre named her one of Canada’s 50 Ambassadors. She also holds the Friends of Canadian Music award.
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MOZART VIOLIN/PIANO CD SERIES – 3
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For further information, contact:
Linda Litwack
416-782-7837
e-mail: May 17, 2016
Pronunciations:
Petrowska Quilico – pet-TROV-ska KWIL-i-koh
Jacques Israelievitch – zhahk is-RAIL-yuh-vitch (zh as su in measure)