FOREWORD SONATA FOR CELLO AND PIANO IN G MINOR, OP.19 2 PIECES FOR CELLO AND PIANO OP.2

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1 Yuki Ito cello CELLO Sofya Gulyak piano The Windsor Festival International String Competition was delighted to announce the exceptional young cellist, Yuki Ito, as the winner of the 3rd competition in 2011, giving rise to this recording. The competition was founded in 2008 in honour of Yehudi Menuhin, one of the founding Artistic Directors of Windsor Festival, and welcomes violinists, violists and cellists from all corners of the globe. Through it the WFISC s vision is to build strong relationships with the next generation of performers to ensure that talent is nurtured, encouraged and supported. WFISC is very pleased to be in partnership with Champs Hill Records, and is most grateful for their valuable work with the competition s winners.

2 FOREWORD SONATA FOR CELLO AND PIANO IN G MINOR, OP.19 1 Lento - Allegro moderato Allegro scherzando Andante Allegro mosso PIECES FOR CELLO AND PIANO OP.2 5 Prelude in F Oriental Dance MELODY OP.3 NO ROMANCE PRELUDE IN G, OP.23 NO VOCALISE, OP.34 NO The music of Sergei Rachmaninov: impassioned, often wistful and tinged with melancholy. His long, mellifluous melodies imbued with the sublime colours of his exquisite harmonies have always been a source of great inspiration throughout my life. As such, it was my earnest desire to record his complete works for cello, and I cannot fully express the joy I felt when I received an offer from Champs Hill Records to finally implement it. The cello is said to be the instrument whose range most resembles that of the male voice. I believe that the works recorded on this CD are written with such flowing, natural contours that one almost feels that the cello is singing, such is the sonority of its timbre. I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Mary and David Bowerman for helping me to realise this cherished project. 11 SPRING WATERS, OP.14 NO.11 (arr. Yuki Ito) Produced and Engineered by Richard Sutcliffe Assisted by Claire Hay Edited and Mastered by Richard Sutcliffe Recorded on the 1st 3rd December 2011 at the Music Room, Champs Hill, West Sussex, UK Executive Producer for Champs Hill Records: Alexander Van Ingen Product Manager for Champs Hill Records: John Dickinson

3 RACHMANINOV CELLO WORKS In the summer of 1890, the then 17-year-old Rachmaninov joined his cousins, the Satins, for a holiday in their family s rural estate Ivanovka. Before their journey from Moscow, they were joined by another family of cousins, the Skalons, to whom the young Rachmaninov was introduced. One of the Skalon sisters, Ludmila, recalled their first impression of a tall, thin youth, very pale, with disordered light hair. We definitely did not like him he was so morose, so uncommunicative. No, we all decided inwardly, it will be hard to make friends with him. Already a fine pianist, Rachmaninov was also a budding composer, much admired not only by his teacher Anton Arensky but also by the legendary Tchaikovsky. This was heady acclamation for a teenager, who in childhood had been poorly managed by his now-separated parents and subsequently much indulged by his maternal grandmother; it is hardly surprising that Rachmaninov was so socially awkward and yet complacent in his own talent. Even so, he soon managed to charm the Skalon sisters with his compositional and pianistic skills, creating several pieces for the three girls to perform six hands at the piano, including a waltz based on a theme by the eldest, Natalia. But it was the youngest, Vera, then 15 years old, blithe, blonde and pretty, who most captivated him. He soon coined a number of nicknames for her including little psychopath, and it was in her honour that he composed his first piece for cello, originally titled Lied (the German term for an art song) but now more widely known as Romance. One can hear in this short but soulful little piece the earnestness of Rachmaninov s intentions. Even so, the affair was forcibly ended when Vera s mother heard of the young couple s habit of sitting together at dusk holding hands. However talented, a rising young musician was thought a very poor match for a general s daughter, and Rachmaninov was forbidden to write to Vera once he returned to Moscow that August. Thus started Rachmaninov s relationship with the cello, the stringed instrument he preferred above all others according to the memoirs of the great cellist Gregor Piatigorsky; certainly the cello takes prime place in Rachmaninov s handful of chamber works. His partiality for the instrument was further encouraged by his close friendship with the cellist Anatoly Brandukov ( , who incidentally became a teacher of Piatigorsky). Brandukov, who like Rachmaninov had earned the admiration of Tchaikovsky, shared the platform with Rachmaninov when, aged 19, he performed in his first public concert as a pianist-composer. It was for this occasion that Rachmaninov composed his next cello work, the sweetly lyrical Prelude in F. After its premiere by the composer and Brandukov on 30 January 1892, the Prelude was repeated two years later by the same performers, now coupled with the Oriental Dance, a piece which reflects something of the character of Rachmaninov s opera Aleko, which he was then composing for his graduation from the Moscow Conservatory. Both pieces were published together as Rachmaninov s Op. 2. In the meantime Rachmaninov had composed five pieces which he collected under the title Morceaux de Fantaisie, Op. 3 (1892) and dedicated to his composition teacher, Arensky. These include the famous Prelude in C sharp minor a piece which became the encore regularly demanded of Rachmaninov the pianist, and which he eventually grew to hate. It seems he was rather more fond of the third piece, the Melody in E major, which he revised in 1940, though not before the great German cellist, Julius Klengel (another teacher of Piatigorsky), had made an arrangement of the Melody for cello and piano. Thus the version performed here could be said to be in some ways closer to Rachmaninov s original conception.

4 In 1895 Rachmaninov composed his First Symphony, a work considered by some, including the musicologist and composer Robert Simpson, to be the finest of his symphonic works. Rachmaninov followed this with his Op. 14 collection of songs, including Spring Waters (arranged for cello and piano in this recording by Yuki Ito). Here we can hear a composer at the peak of his ability and ambition, writing some of the most impassioned and virtuosic piano accompaniment to be heard in his oeuvre as he portrays the exuberant and almost violent eruption of spring in Russia. But then, on 15 March 1897, just five days before his 24th birthday, Rachmaninov suffered a crushing humiliation: Alexander Glazunov, who as rumour has it mounted the podium inebriated, conducted the premiere of his First Symphony, a work in which Rachmaninov had set great store. The result was a disaster and Rachmaninov, who had hitherto only known the approbation of the great and good, lost his confidence. Years later he told a friend: I felt like a man who had suffered a stroke and for a long time had lost the use of his head and hands. He did not compose anything significant for the next three years. Finally his faith in his own ability to compose was restored through hypnosis by Dr Nikolai Dahl. As Dahl was himself an amateur cellist, it seems significant that the work Rachmaninov composed immediately after completing his breakthrough Second Piano Concerto in 1901 was a Sonata for Cello and Piano, originally completed in November that year. In character the Sonata shares much in common with the Concerto, such as the typically melancholic and soulful second theme of its first movement. The Allegro scherzando second movement is a more pent-up affair, the steady beat of its opening metre suggesting a hurrying express train. By contrast follows the tranquil slow third movement, with its hints of distant tinkling bells such as Rachmaninov would have heard in his now-favoured rural retreat of Ivanovka. And the sense of triumph to be heard in the finale is, compared to the almost stern defiance of that same movement of the Second Piano Concerto, frankly joyous, as if expressing relief at the proven restoration of his compositional skills. In fact, Rachmaninov chose to heighten the sense of final triumph by adding the lively coda after giving the premiere of the work on 2 December 1901 with the work s dedicatee, Brandukov. Such was Brandukov s friendship with Rachmaninov that he served as best man at Rachmaninov s wedding in 1902 to Natalia Satina. Brandukov also arranged several of Rachmaninov s piano pieces for cello. Unfortunately most of these arrangements have been lost, though one that has survived and become beloved by cellists is the Prelude in G flat major, Op. 23 No. 10 (originally composed in 1903); in making this arrangement, Brandukov had the key transposed up a semitone to G major. He also arranged one of Rachmaninov s most popular works, the Vocalise, which was originally composed for voice and piano in 1912, and further revised in September 1915 according to suggestions by its dedicatee, the singer Antonina Nezhdanova. While the original version in E flat minor has since been discovered, it is the revised version in C sharp minor which has established itself as a treasured part of the repertoire and on which the transcription played by Yuki Ito is based. Daniel Jaffé

5 YUKI ITO Yuki Ito, cellist of an out-of-the-ordinary instinctiveness, natural affinity for music with great intuition, senses and spontaneous combustion, certainly has the long-range musical taste and intelligence that make all the difference in a lifetime s career The Arts Desk Yuki Ito was born in Tokyo in 1989 and began playing the cello at the age of 6. His teachers have included Sumiko Kurata, Alexander Boyarsky and David Geringas, and he graduated from the Royal College of Music, London, with First Class Honours. Since his very first public appearance in 1996, he has won numerous prestigious international awards and prizes, including 1st prizes at the Windsor Festival International String Competition (as the first ever Japanese cellist), the International Johannes Brahms Competition in Austria, the FLAME International Music Competition in Paris, and the Antonio Janigro International Cello Competition in Croatia. At the age of 21 Yuki Ito launched an international career after making his professional début with the Philharmonia Orchestra of London, and he has since appeared regularly with major orchestras and renowned conductors, performing world premieres of works dedicated to him at important music festivals and concert venues around the globe. In the Queen s Diamond Jubilee Year 2012 HRH Prince Edward invited him to give a private recital at HRH s residence, and that same year he embarked on his career as a conductor, making his London conducting début at St. Martin-in-the-Fields. His performances and recordings are frequently broadcast on BBC Radio 3, BBC Radio Berkshire, KT-1 TV Austria, NHK Radio and TV Japan. Even classical musicians nowadays have to look like a bankable, marketable stars with Hollywood style charisma, and today I met a young man who clearly fits the bill already! Anne Diamond - BBC

6 SOFYA GULYAK Sofya Gulyak was born in Kazan in 1979, and studied in a Special Music College, and then in Kazan State Conservatoire under professor Elfiya Burnasheva. She also graduated from the Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris Alfred Cortot, the Incontri col Maestro in Italy with Boris Petrushansky and the Royal College of Music with Vanessa Latarche. In September 2009 Sofya Gulyak was awarded first prize and the Princess Mary Gold Medal at the Leeds International Piano Competition as the first ever female pianist winner, and she has also received prizes from the William Kapell International Piano Competition in the USA, Maj Lind Helsinki International Piano Competition and the Tivoli Piano Competition in Copenhagen. Since making her debut with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra in 2010, Sofya has performed with major orchestras and renowned conductors around the globe, making regular appearances at international music festivals. As well as having been honoured with the role of scholar for the Rostropovich and Russian President foundations, Sofya has also been a jury member at several international piano competitions, and her playing has been broadcast on radio and television in numerous countries.