PRIMAVERA IV: the heart Matt Haimovitz

• Atar Arad (b. 1945): Aviv:
• 1 Arad: Aviv 08:51
• Tyshawn Sorey (b. 1980): Three Graces:
• 2 Sorey: Three Graces 03:52
• Aaron Jay Kernis (b. 1960): Grace:
• 3 Kernis: Grace 06:27
• Justine F. Chen (n.n.): Iridescent Gest:
• 4 Chen: Iridescent Gest 03:50
• Brian Current (b. 1972): Chlorisflora:
• 5 Current: Chlorisflora 04:43
• Nina C. Young (b. 1984): Pentimento (Version for Solo Cello and Electronics):
• 6 Young: Pentimento (Version for Solo Cello and Electronics) 06:26
• Paul Moravec (b. 1957): Your Own Shadow:
• 7 Moravec: Your Own Shadow 04:25
• Rob Mazurek (b. 1965): Venus in Shadow World:
• 8 Mazurek: Venus in Shadow World 07:15
• Nkeiru Okoye (b. 1972): Breaking Bread:
• 9 Okoye: Breaking Bread 06:48
• Analia Llugdar (b. 1972): Anima vento:
• 10 Llugdar: Anima vento 09:47
• Vincent Ho (b. 1975): Blindfolded Cupid:
• 11 Ho: Blindfolded Cupid 04:39
• Carmen Braden (b. 1985): Her Arranged Marriage to Oranges:
• 12 Braden: Her Arranged Marriage to Oranges 04:03
• Gordon Getty (b. 1933): Winter Song:
• 13 Getty: Winter Song 03:16
• Total Runtime 01:14:22

Info for PRIMAVERA IV: the heart

PRIMAVERA IV the heart is the fourth of six albums in a momentous series encompassing 81 world premieres for solo cello. A collaboration between cellist Matt Haimovitz, artist Charline von Heyl, and director Jeffrianne Young, THE PRIMAVERA PROJECT is inviting 81 composers to respond to two paintings, Sandro Botticelli’s enigmatic painting, Primavera (ca. 1480), and the prophetic large-scale triptych, Primavera 2020, by world-renowned contemporary artist Charline von Heyl.

Passing the halfway point of the commissioning cycle, PRIMAVERA IV the heart presents an eclectic mix of composers who gravitate to various themes in the paintings. Three approaches to the Graces – by MacArthur Genius Grant recipient Tyshawn Sorey, Pulitzer- prize winner Aaron Jay Kernis, and award-winning Justine F. Chen – offer three distinctive interpretations of the Graces. Justine F. Chen’s Iridescent Gest highlights the moto perpetuo kinetic energy of the dancers; Tyshawn Sorey’s Three Graces offers a dramatic, richly nuanced and complex arc through the interlocking gestures of the graces; and Aaron Jay Kernis’ Grace reimagines the heart of each of J.S. Bach’s Six Suites for Cello Solo, the Sarabande, in search of a timeless musical language.

The album begins with legendary violist and composer Atar Arad’s Aviv, a suite of miniatures traversing a wide range of styles, from Jewish modes to Scottish bagpipe music, playful to mournful (“Once Upon a Time – Highland – Song – Humoresque – Elegy – Spring Dance”). Canadian Brian Current’s Chlorisflora shatters our cello expectations with a whole new sphere of timbres and extended techniques (including the use of a paper clip), depicting the earthly flowers and vines that grow out of the nymphs. Nina C. Young’s pentimento also expands the sound palette adding an electronic tableau to haunting acoustic fragments that emerge from the layers of texture. Pulitzer-prize-winning Paul Moravec’s Your Own Shadow contemplates the only words in Charline von Heyl’s Primavera 2020, a three-note motive metamorphosing from a virtuosic show piece to an ethereal melody in harmonics. Jazz trumpeter and composer Rob Mazurek takes us on a Prokofiev-tinged theatrical voyage with Venus in Shadow World.

Argentinian-Canadian Analia Llugdar’s Anima vento evokes the East Wind, the breath of Zephyrus, with a wide-ranging spectral imagination. Juno Award-winning Canadian Vincent Ho’s Blindfolded Cupid taps into vernacular music, unfolding with a series of progressively more wound-up riffs. From the Canadian sub-Arctic, Carmen Braden explores a range of emotions and subtext of the Primavera paintings with Her Arranged Marriage to Oranges. Two returning composers, Nigerian-American Nkeiru Okoye and Gordon Getty contribute new Primavera Project pieces: Okoye’s Breaking Bread merges Spirituals with Bach mock- polyphony; and Gordon Getty’s Winter Song, following his Spring Song released on PRIMAVERA II the rabbits, continues the nonagenarian’s traversal of the seasons with the promise and comfort of nature’s cycles.

Matt Haimovitz, cello

Matt Haimovitz
is acclaimed for both his tremendous artistry and as a musical visionary – pushing the boundaries of classical music performance, championing new music and initiating groundbreaking collaborations, all while mentoring an award-winning studio of young cellists at McGill University’s Schulich School of Music in Montreal.

Mr. Haimovitz made his debut in 1984, at the age of 13, as a soloist with Zubin Mehta and the Israel Philharmonic, and at 17 he made his first recording for Deutsche Grammophon (Universal Classics) with James Levine and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Haimovitz made his Carnegie Hall debut when he substituted for his teacher, the legendary Leonard Rose, in Schubert’s String Quintet, alongside Isaac Stern, Mstislav Rostropovich, Pinchas Zukerman and Shlomo Mintz.

Haimovitz’s recording career encompasses more than 20 years of award-winning work on Deutche Grammophon and his own Oxingale Records. His recent release Meeting of the Spirits was nominated for a GRAMMY® for Best Classical Crossover Album and won a GRAMMY® for Best Producer of the Year (Classical). A new recording with pianist Christopher O’Riley, Shuffle.Play.Listen, celebrating the evolution of the listening experience since the iPod, has received unanimous acclaim. In fall 2012 Haimovitz will be featured as soloist in three world-premiere concerto recordings, Paul Moravec’s Montserrat, Laura Schwendinger’s Esprimere, and Philip Glass’ Cello Concerto No. 2 recorded live with the Cincinnati Symphony and Dennis Russell Davis.

The solo cello recital is a Haimovitz trademark, both inside and outside the concert hall. In 2000, he made waves with his Bach “Listening-Room” Tour, for which, to great acclaim, Haimovitz took Bach’s beloved cello suites out of the concert hall and into clubs. He was the first classical artist to play at New York’s infamous CBGB club, in a performance filmed by ABC News for “Nightline UpClose.”

Haimovitz’s honors include the Concert Music Award from ASCAP, the Trailblazer Award from the American Music Center, the Avery Fisher Career Grant, the Grand Prix du Disque, the Diapason d'Or, the Premio Internazionale "Accademia Musicale Chigiana". He was in the final studio of legendary cellist Leonard Rose at the Juilliard School and received a B.A. magna cum laude with highest honors from Harvard University. Haimovitz plays a Venetian cello, made in 1710 by Matteo Gofriller.

This album contains no booklet.