Mid-2010 marks a double debut for Sarajevo-born In The Mists pianist, Ivana Gavrić, who will play at the Wigmore Hall for her first solo recital there, and in association with Champs Hill Records, release her first CD, In The Mists.
Moving to London in 1992 at the start of the Bosnian War, Ivana, the daughter of a pianist and then aged 12, studied at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, Cambridge University, and the Royal College of Music.
About her, Musical Opinion recently wrote: ʻOutstandingly successful in every regard… flawless performance... a young artist who is destined for the highest rank.ʼ
This new CD, recorded recently in the Music Room at Champs Hill (from where the label takes its name), takes its title from the featured Janáček work.
About the programme, Ivana says: "The Schubert is a core around which I have constructed the programme - I have always felt comfortable playing works of Classical construction, and the A minor Sonata (D784) opens with a Slavic tint which, to me, foretells Mussorgsky. I find it important to create a journey for both the audience, and myself, that shows all the aspects of my musical personality; the introspective and haunting images in Janáčekʼs ʻIn the Mistsʼ conveys this, while the Rachmaninov pieces add passion and lyricism.”
Also featured on this CD, are Lisztʼs stunningly melodic Petrarch Sonnets, bringing the playing time to just over 73 minutes.
In The Mists: I. Andante
In The Mists: II. Molto adagio
In The Mists: III. Andantino
In The Mists: IV. Presto
Sonata in D Minor, D 784: I. Allegro giusto
Sonata in D Minor, D 784: II. Andante
Sonata in D Minor, D 784: III. Allegro vivace
Tre Sonetti di Petrarca from Anées de Pèlerinage - Deuxième Année: Italie: Sonatto 47: Benedetta dia l'giorno
Tre Sonetti di Petrarca from Anées de Pèlerinage - Deuxième Année: Italie: Sonetto 104: Pace non trovo
Tre Sonetti di Petrarca from Anées de Pèlerinage - Deuxième Année: Italie: Sonetto 123: I' vidi in terra angelici constumi
Preludes: Prelude in D Major No. 4, Op. 23 - Andante cantabile
Preludes: Prelude in G Major No. 5, Op. 32 - Moderato
Moments Musicaux, Op. 16: No. 3 in B Minor - Andante cantabile
Moments Musicaux, Op. 16: No. 4 in E Minor - Presto
20th August 2010
****
“Her taste, lyrical allure and tonal glow suit Liszt’s Three Petrarch Sonnets well...The Rachmaninoff pieces...are beautifully expressed.”
29th August 2010
“Gavrić seems drawn to the points at which sunshine and shadow converge. The sound is cool, the phrasing carefully considered and imaginatively voiced.”
January 2011
***
“Her playing is classy, navigating a fine path between virtuosity, poetry, structural awareness and idiomatic style. There's a velvety lyricism to her Liszt and she's fearsome in the Schubert.”
6th January 2011
****
“Gavrić commands a wonderfully wide range of keyboard colour...it is the Schubert sonata and Janáček's In the Mists before it that really reveal her playing to be something special. The sudden changes of mood and direction in the Janáček are unexpectedly paralleled...This is very high-class Schubert playing indeed.”
Click on any of the works listed above for alternative recordings.
In The Mists: I. Andante
