Howard Kadis has been an active performer in the Bay Area since 1972. He studied guitar with James Bertram, Robert Strizich and Michael Troster. As a guitarist, lutenist and mandolinist he has performed with the Santa Fe and San Francisco Opera Orchestras, the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra, the Joffrey Ballet, the San lose and California Symphonies, and the San Francisco Symphony, where he participated in the Grammy winning recording of Prokofiev's "Romeo and Juliet." He has also performed in numerous solo and chamber music recitals in the Bay Area and as a guest of the Ashland, Oregon Shakespeare Festival.
Program Notes: Italian by birth, Domenico Scarlatti spent his most productive years in Portugal and Spain. His keyboard works arc thus infused with Iberian influences, making them particularly suitable for the guitarThese works have become an important part of the modem guitarist's repertoire. The relatively simple two-voice texture, repeated motives, and binary form so typical of Scarlatti's's compositions are exhibited in both of the sonatas on tonight's program.
The beginning of the nineteenth century was something of a golden age for the guitar. Mauro Giuliani was one of the great virtuosos of this era. From 1805 to 1819 he lived in Vienna and regularly encountered such composers as Hummel and Beethoven. Upon his return to Italy, he became acquainted with Rossini. Their association inspired Giuliani to compose six large-scale works entitled "Rossiniana” (op. 119-124).These were potpourris based on Rossini's operatic arias with Giuliani's variations, connecting sections and often grand introductions and codas. This is certainly the case with Rossiniana’s No. 3, op. l21, first published in 1823. It contains arias from Donna del Lago, Turco in Italia, and the more obscure Zelmira and Riccardo e Zoriade.
The Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos made invaluable contributions to the 20th century guitar repertoire. In his youth he participated in "choro" groups which played popular music of Rio Janeiro. The Suite Populare Brasiliene was composed between 1908 and 1912. Villa-Lobos met Andres Segovia in 1924 and with this inspiration composed the 12 Etudes which have become a standard part of the guitarist's repertoire. The Eludes were completed in 1929 and dedicated to Segovia.
Recognized asa prodigy, Agustin Barrios was given a university scholarship at the age of 13 in his native Paraguay He studied a wide range of subjects including mathematics and art. His concert cater took him all over South and Central America, and from 1934-1936 he toured Europe. A prolific composer and legendary improviser (often in concert), Barrios has left us with a large body of literature for guitar and over 30 recordings. Oddly, his music lapsed into obscurity after his death in 1944, but its rediscovery in the 1970s has assured these pieces a revered place in our modern repertoire. |
