Zajkowski Trio Concert - July 27, 2010

Alexander Romanul, violin

Cynthia Forbes, cello

Thomas Zajkowski, piano

Jill Jaffe, guest viola

String Trio No. 1 in B flat Major, D.581    Allegro moderato    Andante    Menuetto; Allegretto    Rondo Finale; Allegretto String Trio in B flat Major, D.471    Allegro Nocturne in C sharp Minor, op. posth.    Lento con gran espressione

Franz Schubert (1791 - 1828) Chopin - Milstein (1810 - 1849)

- INTERMISSION -

Piano in D Minor    Andante Molto    Adagio ma non troppo    Finale; Vivace Piano Quartet in A Minor    Nicht zu schnell

Joseph Haydn (1732 - 1809) Gustav Mahler (1860 - 1911)

THE VIRTUAL SUMMIT OF THE VIOLIN
The Hardwick Gazette, Wednesday, July 29, 2009

by David K. Rodgers The Partita No.2 in d Minor (BWV 1004) for unaccompanied violin by Johann Sebastian Bach(1685­1750) is the virtual summit of the violin repertoire in
technical difficulty, with double, triple and quadruple stops (notes bowed simultaneously
on the violin strings). Also, there is great emotional depth and melodic beauty. The
five movements are curiously all based on dance rhythms from different countries in
Europe: the Allemanda from Germany, the Corrente (Courante)from France and Italy, the
Sarabanda from Spain, the Giga (Jigg) from England and the Ciaccona (Chaconne) from
Spain (from the Basque "chocuna," pretty).

Romanul played this partita with true love, his bowing very smoothly maintaining the
continuous flow as Bach explores each theme, a sensitive touch to the strings with just
the right tempo and loud/soft dynamics, bringing out the underlying feeling of this work.
Here Bach combines both a mood of peaceful late night meditation with a certain playfulness,
especially in the variations of the long last movment, where you would swear two instruments
are playing rather than one due to the frequent multiple stops. AlL this Romanul played
entirely from memory in a truly magnificent performance that fully deserved the standing
standing ovation from the awed audience. We wish he would make a C.D. of all six of Bach's
sonatas/patitas soon!