November Night
this coming Monday, the 10th @ 8 p.m.
For our November program, we are very excited to welcome the eminent Lithuanian cellist David Geringas. A world-renowned soloist and distinguished teacher, David Geringas studied with Rostropovich in Moscow and won the Tchaikovsky Competition in 1970. Some of the greatest contemporary composers have dedicated works to him, one of which - Peteris Vasks' haunting "A book for solo cello" - he will perform for us. Geringas will also be joined by one of his former students, CU's own Evgeny Tonkha, for Haydn's cheerful Duet in D for 2 cellos.
After
his smashing duo performance with Danny Holt last season, the
highly-regarded LA pianist Steven Vanhauwaert makes his first solo
appearance at CU with some most romantic works of Rachmaninoff and
Liszt.
One of the most delightful
CU debuts last season was the soprano Jennifer Lindsay, whose radiant
and natural voice warmed our hearts. She will sing selections from
Verdi's La Traviata and Gounod's Faust, accompanied by CU's own,
pianist Mary Au.
Osaka native Chika Inoue covered all bets by studying saxophone at both UCLA and USC, where she recently received her doctorate. Doctor of Saxophone, how cool is that?! She is making her Classical Underground debut, accompanied by Mary Au.
Osaka native Chika Inoue covered all bets by studying saxophone at both UCLA and USC, where she recently received her doctorate. Doctor of Saxophone, how cool is that?! She is making her Classical Underground debut, accompanied by Mary Au.
Leonid Steele was an artistic giant with a remarkable life story. His career in art spanned an astounding 75 years.
The
very first exhibition of his life was the 1939 World Fair in New York
where he was part of the Soviet Children Art Pavilion. Recovering from a
concussion during the war in Novosibirsk, he met and studied with the
director of the famed Tretiakov Gallery who was evacuated to Siberia and
who was one of the very few students of the great Russian Realist
master, Isaac Levitan.
Leonid went to Repin Academy after the war and became part of the core generation that revived the full glory of classical Russian Academic tradition and method. He melted that capability into decades of fearless stylistic feats. He moved mountains in ART. He became one of the founding influences of the Severe Style with his 1958 "Dawn." He participated in 11 All-Union exhibitions, the most prestigious in the USSR, a rare fit for a maverick artist who enjoyed public love, but never held any official post in the soviet art bureaucracy. Because of such public love of his work, he had rare mass media coverage of his art totaling around 30 million in circulation.
His output
is truly gigantic. He painted masterpieces. He loved life and was
loved back generously. He loved people, and his own visual brand of
humanistic rendition of the very depths in personal characters made him
unique within Socialist Realism. He touched universal humanity while
faithfully portraying a nation in its long and tumultuous stretch of
history. His style could be termed Humanist Realism.
His legacy and his life's work are now an inseparable part of our common culture, much as his name now belongs fully to our common history.
We are most grateful to our supportive friends at Steinway Piano Gallery for graciously providing us with their incomparable instrument.
A message from Evgeny Tonkha about David Geringas appearance and his new music series "K17":
When I asked David Geringas if he was interested to do a solo recital in LA, he replied - “For me it’s important to play – because I love it!” Those words really struck a chord – when I first came to Los Angeles all I wanted to do was play. My first recital here took place at the Classical Underground series and I’m very grateful to Alexey and Olga for that opportunity – since then we became good friends.
Right now I’m happy to be presenting my own concert series “K17”. Our first concert took place at the Frankel Hall in Beverly Hills on October 25th and it featured a magnificent David Geringas. It was a resounding success and I’m happy to share this success with my dear friends at Classical Underground.
Haydn Duett D-Dur Hob X:11 for 2 Cellos
Moderato
Menuet
Presto
Peteris Vasks "A book for cello solo"
Fortissimo. Pianissimo
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