elina Christova

Elina Christova | p i a n o www.elinachristova.com Nikolai Kapustin was a teenager in Moscow when he first heard jazz on the radio. This early encounter with the music of Louis Armstrong, Glen Miller and Nat “King” Cole would determine his future and he is hailed today as a pioneer of the Soviet jazz scene. Kapustin was born in 1937 in Eastern Ukraine to parents who loved music but who weren’t musicians themselves. He studied with serious teachers who had taught Horowitz and had sat in on conservatory lectures with Rachmaninoff, Scriabin and Medtner, and this gave him a solid foundation from which to explore his interest in other styles. Classical and jazz intersect in much of Kapustin’s piano writing. He didn’t see himself as an improviser but rather as a composer who made his improvisations better by writing them out. The Variations, Op. 41 of 1984 are a good example of Kapustin’s fusion of jazz and classical forms. The theme is based on the bassoon solo opening Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring. In Kapustin's version, this is set in a slow swing, and once it has been introduced it is taken through a multitude of transformations. Each variation is an homage to a jazz style, from swing and waltz to be-bop and blues. A spare-textured Larghetto evoking a Baroque slow movement interrupts the previous lively jazz waltz, followed by a sudden presto tempo gearing toward the conclusion. The last two variations provide an effective ending, and it is only with the last chords that we realize how far the theme has traveled. The variations, like many of Kapustin’s numerous piano works are exhilarating to both play and listen to and have rightfully gained a place in many a modern pianist’s repertoire.

Alexander Vladigerov (1933-1993) TOCCATA Alexander Vladigerov was the son of Pancho Vladigerov (1899-1978), one of the most prominent Bulgarian composers of the Second Generation. Pancho had already successfully established ways to combine Bulgarian folk music with classical forms, a trend that was encouraged in composition during the Socialist regime. An accomplished conductor, composer and pianist, his son Alexander wrote stage and symphonic music and some notable pieces for the piano, among them the “Dilmano, Dilbero” Variations and the fiery Toccata, both influenced strongly by Bulgarian rhythmic and melodic traditions. Alexander Vladigerov's love of jazz, once considered a decadent Western influence in Bulgaria, shines through in both pieces, with sweeping improvisatory passages and liberal use of extended chords. In keeping with the genre, this toccata is extremely virtuosic, highlighting various keyboard techniques. Opening with an expansive introduction, the piece launches into the chordal theme which will reappear again in the coda. The hands exchange repeated and double notes, interspersed with exclamations typical of Bulgarian vocal folk music. In the middle of the piece arpeggios take over, calming the perpetual motion of the beginning and offering a lyric interlude. The coda begins with a return of the rhythmic drive from the opening, followed by a section featuring riffs derived straight from jazz. A clash of chords bring the piece to a close.

www.elinachristova.com Recorded at Factory Underground, Norwalk CT Video edited by Aglika Darakchieva

Stanichka Dimitrova, violin & Elina Christova play Milcho Leviev Sonata for Violin and Piano @ Scholes Street Studio, Brooklyn, NY. Audio & video recorded by René Pierre Allain