Juilliard Faculty Recital: Laura Goldberg and Victoria Mushkatkol

Yesterday evening's faculty recital at Paul Hall consisted of three major works for violin and piano in an hour long program.

The first piece was the last violin sonata Mozart wrote, the Sonata No. 35 in A, K. 526.  This is not part of any set nor is it a commissioned work.   In Mozart's catalog (the Köchel listing), it immediately precedes the composer's great opera Don Giovanni.  What sets this piece apart from other sonatas is the extremely demanding keyboard part that rises far above the level of simple accompaniment.  It's been suggested Mozart intended the piano part for himself when composing the work.

Following the Mozart was Schumann's Violin Sonata No. 1 in A minor, Op. 105 written in 1851 and premiered by Clara Schumann and Ferdinand David in 1852.  Schumann wrote he was not pleased with this piece.  Perhaps its mood was too dark for him when in a period when his mental collapse was so close at hand.  At times the music conveys to the listener a sensation of anxiety and stress.

The final piece on the program was Stravinsky's Suite Italienne.  This was the 1933 arrangement for violin and piano on which the composer collaborated with Samuel Dushkin.  The music was taken from Stravinsky's Pulcinella ballet that had premiered at the Paris Opera in 1920.  It had been commissioned by Diaghilev and had had choreography by Massine and sets by Picasso.  The suite's five movements were: Introduzione, Serenata, Tarantella, Gavotta con due Variazioni and Minuetto e Finale.

Violinist Laura Goldberg is a graduate of Juilliard and a founding member of the Cassatt Quartet.  Pianist Victoria Mushkatkol is a graduate of the Petersburg Conservatory where she studied under Vladimir Nielsen.