Pas de deux Daniel Rowland & Maja Bogdanović

• Jean Sibelius (1865 - 1957):
• 1Vattendroppar, JS 21601:47
• Krzysztof Penderecki (b. 1933):
• 2Ciaccona in memoriam Giovanni Paolo II07:00
• Pēteris Vasks (b. 1946):
• 3Castillo interior12:40
• Claude Debussy (1862 - 1918): Préludes, Livre 1, L. 117:
• 4Préludes, Livre 1, L. 117: IX. La sérénade interrompue03:12
• Maurice Ravel (1875 - 1937): Sonate "A la mémoire de Claude Debussy", M. 73:
• 5Sonate "A la mémoire de Claude Debussy", M. 73: I. Allegro04:55
• 6Sonate "A la mémoire de Claude Debussy", M. 73: II. Très vif03:23
• 7Sonate "A la mémoire de Claude Debussy", M. 73: III. Lent06:10
• 8Sonate "A la mémoire de Claude Debussy", M. 73: IV. Vif, avec entrain05:58
• Giovanni Sollima (b. 1962):
• 9Heimat Terra06:29
• Marcelo Nisinman (b. 1970):
• 10Die Albträume des Todes11:46
• Ástor Piazzolla (1921 - 1992): Three Tangos:
• 11Three Tangos: I. S.V.P.02:48
• 12Three Tangos: II. Tzigane tango03:11
• 13Three Tangos: III. Prepárense03:36
• Total Runtime01:12:55

Info for Pas de deux

Violinist Daniel Rowland and cellist Maja Bogdanovic present an album of works by Sibelius, Vasks, Ravel, Piazzolla, Debussy, Penderecki, Solima and Nisinman, including five world premiere recordings.

Maja and Daniel: We are overjoyed to be presenting this new recording "Pas de deux", with many new pieces by composer friends - it's a project that's very close to our hearts. The great Sonata by Ravel is in a way our kaleidoscope, a looking glass that takes us both back and forward in time, and both of those simultaneously.

Our journey begins with the slightest of pieces. 'Raindrops' is a charming vignette by the 10 year old Sibelius, whose love of nature would a decade or so later of course give us some of the greatest works in the symphonic repertoire.

Deeply moved by the death of Pope John Paul II Penderecki in 2005 wrote the Ciaconna in memoriam Giovanni Paulo II Ciaconna, for string orchestra. His transcription of the piece is a self-contained, independent artistic statement: subtle and virtuosic, filled with emotions of a genuinely Romantic kind.

The Interior Castle by Peteris Vasks was a text written by St. Teresa of Ávila, Spanish Carmelite nun and famed mystic, in 1577 as a guide for spiritual development through service and prayer. The work is conceived as a tryptich of pure, deeply felt, reverential music, interrupted my two frenetic, disturbing, dark passages. The love and belief conquers the dark forces. We asked our friend Craig White to arrange a Debussy piano prelude and he created for this disc this beautiful version of the 9th piano prelude of Book 1.

Sicilian cellist/composer Giovanni Sollima is one of the most colorful, eclectic, musical personalities of his generation. Heimat Terra: the title is based on a beautiful text by the anthropologist Edgar Morin.

Marcelo Nisinman is one of the great tango artists of our time, a brilliant bandoneon virtuoso and great friend as well as a uniquely personal, eclectic composer of music that is deeply infused by the world of tango but very aware of classical avant-gardistic writing. Marcelo Nisinman got to know Astor Piazzolla as a child, when Piazzolla and his quintet used to come to rehearse at his parents apartment in central Buenos Aires. From Marcelo we heard many stories about Piazzolla, his passion for boxing and shark fishing, his motto 'no risk, no life' and his larger than life personality. It seems fitting to end this record with three early 'Parisian' tangos that Piazzolla wrote while living in the city in the early 1950s.

Daniel Rowland, violin
Maja Bogdanovic, cello

Daniel Rowland
Rowland’s playing has been acclaimed as ‘wonderful, ravishing in its finesse’ by The Guardian and as ‘both naked and highly virtuosic’ by NRC Handelsblad, while The Herald praised his ‘astonishing sound and uniquely single-minded intensity’.

Daniel has established himself on the international scene as a highly versatile, communicative, charismatic and adventurous performer, with a broad repertoire from Vivaldi to Van der Aa. In recent seasons Daniel has performed with concertos ranging from Beethoven to Brahms, Elgar, Berg, Korngold, Weinberg and Prokofiev, with conductors such as Heinz Holliger, Jaap van Zweden, François-Xavier Roth, Lawrence Foster, Antony Hermus and Rossen Milanov. He is a passionate advocate of contemporary concertos such as Vasks, Lindberg, Glass, Saariaho, Nisinman and Van der Aa. Recently he premiered Isidora Zebeljan‘s Violin Concerto ‘Three Curious Loves’ and this autumn sees the premiere of Roxanna Panufnik‘s ‘Songs of Love and Friendship’ with the Dutch Radio Choir at the Concertgebouw. September 2020 sees the release of ‘Distant Light’, with violin concertos by Peteris Vasks (Challenge Records).

A passionate chamber musician, Daniel has performed with artists as diverse as Ivry Gitlis, Heinz Holliger, Martha Argerich, Michael Collins, Lars Vogt, Giovanni Sollima, Marcelo Nisinman, Willard White and Elvis Costello. Daniel is one half of acclaimed duo partnerships with pianist Natacha Kudritskaya with whom he earlier recorded for Champs Hill Records a disc dedicated to the Enescu Sonatas (‘a perfect partnership’ – BBC Music Magazine), and with cellist Maja Bogdanovic, whose recent duo CD ‘Pas de deux’ (Challenge Records) was described as ‘a magical meeting between violin and cello’ by Dutch daily NRC Handelsblad. In 2005 Daniel founded the Stift International Music Festival in the bucolic region of Twente in the eastern Netherlands, where he grew up, with the 15th century Stiftkerk as the main venue. The festival has garnered acclaim as one of great intimacy, adventure and atmosphere. Daniel was for twelve years the leader of the Brodsky Quartet, performing all over the world, and making numerous recordings, including the celebrated Shostakowitch Cycle.

Daniel was born in London, and started his violin lessons in Enschede after his parents moved to Twente in the eastern Netherlands. He studied with Jan Repko, Davina van Wely, Herman Krebbers, Viktor Liberman, Igor Oistrakh and Ivry Gitlis. His violin is by Lorenzo Storioni (Cremona 1796), and his bow is a Maline, kindly loaned by the Dutch Instrument Foundation. He teaches at the Royal College of Music in London. He lives in Amsterdam with his partner, cellist Maja Bogdanovic´.

This album contains no booklet.