Programme

FREDERIC CHOPIN(1810-1849)

Ballade No. 4 in F minor, Op.52Ballade No. 3 in A-flat major, Op.47Scherzo No. 3 in C-sharp minor, Op. 39Scherzo No. 4 in E major, Op. 54

Intermission

Four Mazurkas, Op. 41 E minor B major A-flat major C-sharp minor

Sonata No. 2 in B flat minor, Op. 35 1. Grave - Doppio movimento 2. Scherzo 3. Marche funèbre: Lento 4. Finale: Presto

Sunday, May 16, 2010 7:30 PM,

Vancouver Playhouse, Vancouver

Zbigniew RauboPiano

Sunday, October 18, 2009 Sun-Wook KimSaturday, November 7, 2009 Dina YoffeSaturday, April 10, 2010 Dmitri AlexeevSunday, May 16, 2010 Zbigniew RauboThe 200th Anniversary of the Chopin birthMay 14 - 16, 2010 Chopin Festival

The Vancouver Chopin Society 2009/2010 Concert Season

Concert Sponsors:

The Chopin Festival, May 14-16, 2010commemorating 200th anniversary of Chopin’s birth

Born in 1969, Zbigniew Raubo began his musical education at the age of five and made his orchestral debut at eleven. He was subsequently admitted as a second-year student at the Music Academy in Katowice, in the class of Professor Andrzej Jasiński. He won a diploma with distinction in 1993. Upon graduation he became Professor Jasiński’s assistant. In 2002 he gained the title of assistant professor, in 2004- professor.

Zbigniew Raubo has held several grants from the Chopin Society and the Ministry of Culture and Art. At the age of 17 he won two awards at the Karol Szymanowski National Competition in Łódź. He is a prizewinner of two prestigious international piano competitions, in Bolzano (Italy,1991) and Utrecht (Holland, 1992).

His repertoire spans music from Johann Sebastian Bach to contemporary composers including over thirty pieces for piano and orchestra. He has appeared as a soloist in orchestral concerts and has given recitals in many Polish towns and abroad (Germany, Italy, France, Morocco, Slovakia, Russia, the Czech Republic and Austria).

His discography includes CDs for the Japanese branches of Deutsche Grammophon and RCA: (works with orchestra, with Sinfonia Varsovia and Capella Cracoviensis) and numerous CDs of Chopin’s solo piano music. In 1996 his Chopin recital on the DUX label won a nomination for the “Fryderyk” Award of the Phonographic Academy, which a year later invited Zbigniew Raubo to become a member. In 1997 he recorded “Horn Sonatas” (with Zbigniew Żuk) for Żuk-Records. Two years later he recorded a selection of Schubert’s sonatas. He has also made recordings for radio and television.

He has participated in major music festivals in Poland, including those in Duszniki Zdrój, Szczecin, Opole, Słupsk, Wrocław and Tarnów, as well as the Internationales Bodensee- Festival (Germany). He has also developed a fine career in chamber music, appearing with the violinist Bartłomiej Nizioł and the Silesian Quartet.

He is a co-organizer and deputy president of the Katowice-based Silesian Music Society and chairman of the Katowice Music Academy branch of the Karol Szymanowski Music Society in Zakopane.

Despite his young age, Zbigniew Raubo has some notable achievements as a teacher to his credit. His students have won prizes at national and international piano competitions.

Friends ($100 - $499) Victor BastowAsaf BennyTeresa & Jan BobrowskiMargo BudytaMalgorzata & Krzysztof BurczyckiIko BylickiVincent CardellaDr. Maria DaszkiewiczAnna DomanskaAlex DrennanColette ElblHenry EwertJohn GrahamKen HongKen Hsieh (VMO)Ewa & Jerzy Jakobs

Eric WilsonGloria WongSi Yi WuBernice Wylie

Welcome to the first Chopin Festival in Vancouver’s history, as we join the world in celebrating the bicentennial year of Frederic Chopin’s birth.

Preparing a three-day festival in the midst of a regular season is a major undertaking for any organization, particularly for a small society run entirely by volunteers.

When we were severely challenged by sudden and unexpected cuts from government funding, we hoped we would be supportded by the individuals and organizations we have served over the years, and we were not disappointed.

As a founding member and the current president, I would like to thank my predecessors in this position: Tadeusz van Wollen (founding member), Mateusz van Wollen and Bill Steen, as well as the esteemed Artistic Directors of the past twelve years: Erik Sitkowiecki (founding member), Grzegorz Nowak and our dear Lee Kum-Sing.

I would also like to acknowledge the contribution of all founding members, who helped to form this organiza-tion: Dr. Maria Bleszynski, Malgorzata Burczycka, Teresa Bobrowska, Tadeusz Dukszta and Ewa Wadolna.

I am deeply grateful to all past and present board members and those who gave such generous financial support over the years, to make this festive occasion possible.

The VCS would also like to thank the many volunteerswho have made tonight’s event possible.

Lee Kum-Sing - Artistic DirectorIko Bylicki - PresidentNiels Andersen - Vice-PresidentTeresa Bobrowska - SecretaryJason Ng - Treasurer

Malgorzata Burczycka - DirectorVince Cardella - DirectorDon Mowatt - DirectorOri Kowarsky - DirectorDawn Short - Honorary Board Member

Zbigniew Raubo Programme Notes Message From The President

VCS Board of Directors

Sponsors ($1,000 - $4,999)

Peter Chan Consulate General of theRepublic of PolandDr. Zenon CieslakMarla IgnaszewskiDr. Andrew Jakubowski

Partner ($5000 +)

Anonymous DonorLOHN Foundation

Benefactors ($500 - $999)

Niels AndersenRonald HaglerDr. Robin GarvinDr. Marianna KlimekJack Li Paul Osmanski

The VCS would like to thank the following donors for their generosity and support of our 2009-2010 Season

Danuta & Janusz Jaworskiin memory of Zbigniew JanNiwinskiOri KowarskyMatthew KurnickiLee Kum-SingFrances LamMichael LamErnest LangHorng Dih LeeDr. Samuel LichtensteinJacek LipowskiLois LiuGwen LoweDr. Andrzej MajorAdam MarcMasanao Morimura

Jason NgWalter & Mila OrlowskiNina PopovskaKrystyna Radwan-PytlewskaConscious Living RadioBrigitte SakulerDawn ShortVictoria SmusIza SobieskiWilliam SteenTom StefanskiMaxine StonemanRuth TubbesingMargaret Xu Xuhong XuEdward Weinstein

Hanna Niwinski in memory of Zbigniew Jan NiwinskiHanna McGee,Katsuko OchiaiJadwiga PrenosilMaxine Stoneman

#400 - 601 West Broadway, Vancouver, B.C. V5Z 4C2 CanadaTel. 604-871-4450 Email: info@chopinsociety.orgwww.chopinsociety.org

Other Contributors ($20 - $99)

Janusz Budzynski,L W CampHugh CottonSusan E. FifeSylvia GirardAnne KaplanMan-Kim LiKathleen Lok

In-kind Sponsors Corporate

Clark, Wilson LLPConsulate General of theRepublic of PolandDaniel ChocolatesWest Van FloristsSikora’s Classical RecordsTom Lee Music

Ballade No. 4 in F minor, Op. 52 Ballade No. 3 in A-flat major, Op. 47

This evening’s program features works Chopin wrote in the years 1839-44, a period when he was doing as well in love and work as his delicate health and sensitive temperament allowed. The pattern in his life at this time was to spend winters in Paris and summers at the country estate of Aurore Dudevant (better known by her pen name, George Sand).

Chopin’s ballades are among the first instrumental pieces with that name. They embody the dramatic sweep of Polish narrative poems, with alternately lyric and epic episodes. In form, they are transformations of sonata structure, beginning with two contrasting themes which represent the characters in the drama. The themes are subjected to transformations which suggest a narrative, and the tonal scheme is such that there is a build up of tension toward the end, released in a virtuosic coda.

The F minor Ballade is the longest, the last, and the finest of his four ballades. An introduction leads to the evocative first theme, which immediately is treated to a series of variations: we get a detailed description of the leading character before moving to the simpler second subject

Programme Notes

in B flat major. A development leads seamlessly to the return of the introduction and theme one, heard first in canon and then in a decorated version. Theme two is transformed with a whirling left hand accompaniment. A few hushed chords create a pause before the cataclysmic coda.

The third ballade in A-flat major opens with a gently lyric theme, a question in the right hand, answered in the left. The second theme starts with lilting octaves in the submediant key, F major. A waltz-like third theme appears, and some development follows, increasing the intensity with key changes and fast passagework. The reprise is compact and virtuosic with chromatic octaves, coming to a resounding end with a flourish of the waltz theme.

Scherzo No. 3 in C-sharp minor, Op. 39Scherzo No. 4 in E major, Op. 54

Chopin developed his own unique approach to the Scherzo, creating four large independent works in this genre. While maintaining the basic ternary structure and triple time of the classical model, the tempo became Presto, often with a fiery edge, and the form became more complex with developments and subsections.

A mysterious introduction precedes the emphatic first theme of the C-sharp minor Scherzo. The second theme has hymn-like sustained chords, interspersed with glistening showers of passage work. This idea returns in a new guise before the coda, which means the form of this piece is an unusual ABAB Coda. The ending builds to a dramatic climax.

The E major Scherzo is the longest and most joyful of the four, with brilliant loops of right hand passage work and mostly major tonality. It begins with a collection of seemingly capricious motives which recur throughout the piece. The trio is slower, in singing style, followed by a varied reprise of the first section. The coda recalls the main motives, increasing in speed and excitement.

Four Mazurkas, Op. 41

The first of these Mazurkas, in E minor, is sometimes called the Palma Mazurka, because Chopin wrote it during his disastrous Spanish holiday of 1838-39 which he undertook to improve his health. It has a little arch form (ABCBA), and a theme with a Phrygian inflection. Huneker calls it “sad to the point of tears.” The B major Mazurka is next, a vigourous dance that shows its peasant roots. The Mazurka in A-flat is playful and decorative. The final dance, a Maestoso in C-sharp minor, is the longest of the set. The first theme has a poignant Phrygian lowered second (D-natural), while the second theme is waltz-like. The music builds to a majestic climax and then hauntingly dies away.

Sonata #2 in B-flat Minor, Op. 35

Chopin spent his first summer at Nohant, the country home of George Sand, in 1839; it was in this relaxed atmosphere that he completed his B-flat minor sonata. He had written the iconic funeral march a couple of years earlier, and to it he added three sharply contrasted movements, an Allegro, a Scherzo and a short Finale.

Breathless urgency is heard in the first theme of the Allegro, which is based on short motivic fragments. The atmosphere of a nocturne is heard in the soulful second theme. The development builds to an exciting climax. Contrast is achieved when the recapitulation begins by omitting the first theme, moving directly to the sustained second theme and then rushing on to the final cadence.

The Scherzo is fiery and grim, set in relief by the quiet lyricism of its middle section. The Marche funèbre is in many ways the heart of the sonata; the march, with its doleful left hand ostinato, surrounds a nostalgic middle section. The last movement is brief and unusual, functioning as a postlude. Once described as “night winds sweeping over the churchyard graves,” it is a perpetual motion with the hands always playing an octave apart.

Ruth EnnsMay 2010