Sofia Gubaidulina: Triple Concerto for Violin, Cello and Bayan, Rejoice! Sonata for Violin and Cello Baiba Skride, Harriet Krijgh, Elsbeth Moser. NDR Radiophilharmonie & Andrew Manze

• Sofia Gubaidulina (b. 1931): Triple Concerto for Violin, Cello and Bayan:
• 1 Gubaidulina: Triple Concerto for Violin, Cello and Bayan 29:45
• Rejoice!:
• 2 Gubaidulina: Rejoice!: I. your joy no one will take away from you 03:24
• 3 Gubaidulina: Rejoice!: II. rejoice with joy 04:33
• 4 Gubaidulina: Rejoice!: III. rejoice rabbi 11:16
• 5 Gubaidulina: Rejoice!: IV. and he returned to his own abode 06:48
• 6 Gubaidulina: Rejoice!: V. heed thyself 05:23
• Total Runtime 01:01:09

Info for Sofia Gubaidulina: Triple Concerto for Violin, Cello and Bayan, Rejoice! Sonata for Violin and Cello

One special aspect of Sofia Gubaidulina’s music is that at the end of the 1970s she discovered the sound characteristics and expressive possibilities of the bayan, a button accordion that had previously been popular only as a folk music instrument in Russia; she then established it as an instrument of contemporary music through numerous inspired compositions. She was supported and accompanied in this endeavour by bayan performers such as Friedrich Lips in Moscow and the Swiss musician Elsbeth Moser, who taught in Hanover. The creation of the Triple Concerto for violin, cello and bayan can be traced back to a suggestion by Elsbeth Moser. For the five movements of the sonata Rejoice! for violin and cello (1981), Gubaidulina chose various quotations from the writings of the Ukrainian ‘travelling philosopher’ Grigori Skoworoda (1722–1794), who called for poverty and self-deepening as a prerequisite for finding God. The composer explained: “The theme of my work is the metaphorical representation of the transition to another reality, expressed through the juxtaposition of normal sound and harmonics.” Due to its clear religious references, it was not possible to premiere the work until 1988, in Finland.

Baiba Skride, violin
Harriet Krijgh, cello
Elsbeth Moser, bayan
NDR Radiophilharmonie
Andrew Manze, conductor

Baiba Skride
Skride’s natural approach to her music-making has endeared her to some of today’s most important conductors and orchestras worldwide. She is consistently invited for her refreshing interpretations, her sensitivity and delight in the music.

The list of prestigious orchestras with whom she has worked include the Berliner Philharmoniker, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Boston and Chicago Symphony Orchestras, New York Philharmonic, Concertgebouworkest, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Orchestre de Paris, London Symphony Orchestra, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, Oslo Philharmonic, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Shanghai Symphony Orchestra and NHK Symphony Orchestra. Notable conductors she collaborates with include Marin Alsop, Christoph Eschenbach, Ed Gardner, Susanna Mälkki, Andris Nelsons, Andres Orozco-Estrada, Santtu-Matias Rouvali, Andris Poga, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Tugan Sokhiev, John Storgårds, Juraj Valcuha and Kazuki Yamada.

Highlights of Baiba Skride’s 2021/22 season include the season opening of the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, with which she performs Sofia Gubaidulina’s Triple Concerto with Harriet Krijgh (cello) and Martynas Levickis (bajan) under the baton of Andris Nelsons. In celebration of the composer’s 90th birthday she returns to the orchestra once again for a performance of Gubaidulina’s Violin Concerto No. 1 “Offertorium”, which she also plays with the London Symphony Orchestra and Dima Slobodeniouk as well as with the Hallé Orchestra and Sir Mark Elder this season. Additionally, she returns to the hr-Sinfonieorchester with Alain Altinoglu to perform the composer’s Violin Concerto No. 3 “Dialog: Ich und Du”. Furthermore, Skride looks forward to her return to orchestras such as the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Orchester der Komischen Oper Berlin, Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg, RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, Residentie Orchestra, Antwerp Symphony Orchestra, Singapore Symphony Orchestra and Sydney Symphony Orchestra, amongst others.

Baiba Skride is a sought-after chamber musician internationally and commits to the long-established duo with her sister Lauma. She is one of the founding members of the Skride Quartet, with which she has performed at venues such as Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Musikverein Vienna, Wigmore Hall London and Louvre Paris and has toured in North America and Australia in previous seasons. In 2021/22 Skride also performs in trio with her sister Lauma Skride and Harriet Krijgh as well as in different chamber music projects with Alban Gerhardt and Brett Dean and others.

Baiba Skride is anticipating the release of her latest solo recording in January 2022, which adds to her prolific discography including her recently released Mozart recording with the Swedish Chamber Orchestra and her Bartok recording with the WDR Sinfonieorchester, both with Eivind Aadland, as well as her American disc featuring Bernstein, Korngold and Rózsa with the Gothenburg Symphony and Tampere Philharmonic Orchestras under the baton of Santtu-Matias Rouvali and the debut recording of the Skride Quartet, all under the Orfeo label.

Skride was born into a musical Latvian family in Riga where she began her studies, transferring in 1995 to the Conservatory of Music and Theatre in Rostock. In 2001 she won the 1st prize of the Queen Elisabeth Competition. Baiba Skride plays the Yfrah Neaman Stradivarius kindly loaned to her by the Neaman family through the Beare’s International Violin Society.

Harriet Krijgh
The young Dutch artist Harriet Krijgh is one of today’s most exciting and promising cellists. Her grace and expressiveness touch her audiences as soon as she is on the concert platform.

Harriet Krijgh played in the most important venues in Europe, North America and Asia. She has performed with orchestras such as the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Vienna Symphony Orchestra, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Munich Philharmonic Orchestra, Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra, Hong Kong Sinfonietta and Sydney Symphony Orchestra. She is also regular guest at international festivals such as the Heidelberger Frühling, Grafenegg Festival and the Schubertiade Hohenems. As “Prizewinner in Residence” of the Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Harriet Krijgh made her mark on the 2019 summer festival edition in about 20 concerts.

Always an enthusiastic chamber musician, she joined the Artemis Quartet in spring 2019. On tour, the ensemble regularly plays the most important concert venues worldwide. Harriet Krijgh also maintains a close collaboration with the pianist Magda Amara and in trio with the sisters Baiba and Lauma Skride.

Harriet Krijgh has an exclusive recording relationship with Deutsche Grammophon since April 2018. As first result of this collaboration a disc with works by Vivaldi, recorded with the Amsterdam Sinfonietta and their leader Candida Thompson, was released in September 2019. Her discography also comprises of six discs, all released by Capriccio, featuring music by Kabalevsky, Haydn, Brahms, Rachmaninov as well as several French composers.

Harriet Krijgh is winner of numerous competitions. In 2015/2016 she was chosen as “Rising Star” of the European Concert Hall Organisation (ECHO). In 2017 and 2018 she dedicated herself to the artistic direction of the International Chamber Music Festival in Utrecht. Her annual summer festival “Harriet & Friends” at Burg Feistritz (Austria) celebrates its tenth anniversary in 2021.

She performs on a Domenico Montagnana cello (Venice, 1723) whose scroll was made by Stradivarius. The rare instrument is on loan to her by the Prokopp Foundation.

“Krijgh’s rousing, fiery temperament, the passionate impulse of her playing style, the nuance-richness of her colour and expression scale seemed simply blissful.” - Die Rheinpfalz

Booklet for Sofia Gubaidulina: Triple Concerto for Violin, Cello and Bayan, Rejoice! Sonata for Violin and Cello