Tag Archives: Krzystof Penderecki

Opus 961, Violist Noémie Chemali’s Auspicious Debut: New Music Activism From Emerging Lebanese Composers


There are many ways to debut on the world stage and there are many ways to represent political activism. Violist Noémie Chemali has chosen, as her important first impression in her recorded debut, a selection of music from young composers whose heritage includes political oppression. The albums profits are promised to MSF, also known as Doctors Without Borders. These works are not directly political, rather they are a carefully curated selection of new works produced by composers who, in varying degrees, have experiences of dealing with or having friends and family whose lives are negatively impacted by political conflicts and oppression. This is gorgeous music by emerging talents.

The good news is that these wonderfully creative artists persevere in creating great art and it is the celebration of that creative drive that lies at the heart of this fine release. While the pieces here variously reference tunings, rhythms, and melodies representative of their individual ethnic heritages, they are not confrontational. Rather the music here stands as evidence of the beauty of artistic invention which stands defiantly in contrast to the cruelty of oppression and warfare. That gentle activism casts a kinder and gentler image of people more commonly represented in the media as terrorists (actually a numerical minority) in a culture with ancient roots and a powerful artistic soul (the better descriptor of the actual majority).

Links to the composers’ web sites can be accessed by clicking the names of said composers.

The album’s contents are as follows:

Wajdi Abou Diab (1991- )

1. “The Moraba’ Dance” (2020)

This, the composer’s Opus 13C, is based on an Arabic rhythm called “Al Mouraba”. It is for solo viola and is cast in the unusual meter of 13/4, using an Arabic scale. The music imitates traditional music which ostensibly enticed horses to dance in times past.

Sami Seif (1998- )

2. “La’ib an-nard / The Dice Player” (2019)

This musical impression of a poem of the same name by Mahmoud Darwish. It is, in the composer’s description, a meditation on the random elements that affect our lives. It is scored for viola, cello, and double bass.

Layale Chaker (1990- )

3. Cadenza from “The Brown Texts”; movement one (2017-2020)

4. Cadenza from “The Brown Texts”;movement two

The term “cadenza” derives from the word “cadence” and it generally refers to the improvisations (by the soloist) in a concerto. The notion of a solo cadenza does not appear, as far as this listener’s encounters, until the mid to late twentieth century. Penderecki’s Cadenza for Viola is the only example that immediately comes to mind. Though that work is sometimes performed separate from the viola concerto from which it derives, its origin is in the classical/romantic tradition of a virtuoso work that displays the skills of the soloist. As with the previous work, this one is a musical rendition of originally poetic ideas, those of the late Nadia Tueni. And, unlike any other cadenza I’ve known, it is cast in two separate movements. The piece is a fine showcase for Ms. Chemali’s technical and interpretive skills.

Noemie Chemali:

5. “Kadishat” (2021)

Delightfully, Ms. Chemali has chosen to include one of her own compositions. She describes this as a set of variations on the ancient Aramaic Trisagion “Qadishat aloho”, a tune which has been firmly ensconced in the composer/performer’s consciousness from having heard it since her childhood. One could characterize it as one of the greatest hits of the Eastern Orthodox Church and one of its most deeply felt pieces. Chemali casts this work for violin, viola, and cello. This writer is reminded of another fine example of the incorporation of sacred hymns into the classical music tradition, that of Carolyn Shaw’s fine “In Manus Tuas” which mines that composer’s memory of hearing a sacred chant. Both works reflect the composer’s internal process of hearing and attempt to convey that spiritual experience to the listener.

Mary Kouyoumdjian (1983- ):

6. “The Revolt of the Stars” (2018/2020)

This piece, another musical expression of a literary work, namely, the Armenian fable that provides the title for this work which is cast for cello, voice, and electronics. It is presented here in a transcription for viola by the soloist. The fable deals with the strength in numbers that rise up against those in positions of power. It is a delightful work with dark implications.

Saad Haddad (1992- ):

7. “Dohree” (movements 1&2)

8. “Dohree” (movement 3)

This work, scored for viola, harp, and flute is cleverly written in three movements which, in turn, each give a solo to each of the musicians who are, in turn, accompanied by the others in the group. “Dohree” is an Arabic word which translates as “my turn”.

Six pieces over eight tracks with chamber groups ranging from solo viola to viola with electronics (in the Kouyoumdjian work) and small chamber groupings in the others. All in all a fine and engaging selection of music that bear witness to the beauty and creativity of people living with oppression. This music reflects the human experience that can get erased by merely identifying ethnicity.

In addition to Ms. Chemali this recording includes the following musicians: Shaleah Feinstein, violin; Raffi Boden, violoncello; Kebra-Seyoun Charles, double bass; Lauren Scanio, flute; Deanna Cirielli, harp. They really do honor to the spirit of this music and this album is beautifully recorded as well.

Kouyoumdjian was the only composer known to this reviewer prior to hearing this album but she is apparently in very good company here and listeners would do well to make note of these rising stars. We will doubtless hear from them again. Here’s hoping.

Noemi Chemali (from the Orchestra of St. Luke’s web page)

This is the artist’s biography as it appears on her website (linked above):

French-Lebanese-American violist Noémie Chemali received her Bachelor’s degree from McGill  University’s Schulich School of Music, her Artist Diploma from the Robert McDuffie Center for Strings at Mercer University, and her Master’s Degree from The Juilliard School. Her principal teachers include Becca Albers, Hsin-Yun Huang, and Carol Rodland.

During her time at Juilliard, she made her Carnegie Weill Hall solo debut in the UN Chamber Music Society’s Arabic Language Day concert and collaborated with dancers of the New York City Ballet. During her time at the McDuffie Center for Strings, she performed alongside faculty members of the Cavani and Ehnes String Quartets. In 2019, she also performed in “A Night of Georgia Music,” a tour the American South with violinist Robert McDuffie,  guitarist Mike Mills of the band R.E.M., and pianist Chuck Leavell of the Allman Brothers Band/Rolling Stones. Some performance highlights from McGill include playing a concert with clarinetist David Krakauer in a program of Klezmer music, being selected to perform a chamber work by John Rea in a concert presented by the Société de musique contemporaine du Québec (SMCQ) alongside Schulich faculty and students, and participating in the 2018 Musical Chairs Chamber Music Festival, where she collaborated with students from the Mozarteum (Austria) and the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music (Singapore).

Noemie has spent her summers at music festivals such as The Music Academy of the West, Sarasota Music Festival,  Orford Musique, The Lunenburg Academy of Music Performance (LAMP), Scotia Festival of Music, Manhattan in the Mountains, and Green Mountain music festivals. While Ms. Chemali was a fellow at the Music Academy of the West, she played under the baton of esteemed conductors Larry Rachleff, Stéphane Denève, Gustavo Dudamel, and James Conlon. While at Sarasota Music Festival, she served as principal violist of the festival orchestra under the baton of Jeffrey Kahane and performed in a faculty concert as a member of a quintet with bassoonist Frank Morelli. She has, throughout the years, participated in various masterclasses with artists such as Joseph Silverstein, Ida Kavafian, Cynthia Phelps, Karen Dreyfus, Richard O’Neill, James Dunham, Jutta Puchhammer and the Pacifica String Quartet.

Passionate about diversifying musical audiences, she co-founded the Hildegard Project, which aims to bring music written by women composers to women’s shelters in the greater Montreal area and was invited to speak about her work at the Classical Evolution/Revolution Conference in Santa Barbara, CA. Most recently, she founded Music@Daybreak, an interdisciplinary performance and research project which features performances at homeless shelters in collaboration with the Sociology department at Mercer University.

Noémie is the recipient of a Juilliard Career Grant, George J. Jakob Global Enrichment Grant, Gluck Community Engagement Fellowship, Juilliard Entrepreneurship Grant, Barenboim-Said Foundation (USA) Grant, and a Lower Manhattan Cultural Council Creative Engagement Grant. In January 2024, she will be releasing Opus 961, her debut album of music written by contemporary Lebanese composers.

Her website includes some YouTube videos reflecting the artist’s fascinating choices of repertory. Along with fervent activism, she demonstrates a pretty unique take on what she chooses to play. Her biography evidences an eclectic group of collaborators and influences that will likely characterize her career.

This is quite an impressive first impression from an artist who greets us at the beginnings of what this reviewer believes will be a long and interesting career representing a new generation of musicians with a unique and (hopefully more effective) approach to the ills of our age. Great art inspires, if not action, at least hope. And we desperately need hope. Thanks for that Ms. Chemali.

Kinga Augustyn Tackles the Moderns


Centaur CRC 3836

Kinga Augustyn is a new musician to these ears. She kindly sent me this wonderful very recent release for review. And she certainly found a reviewer sympathetic to new music here. A quick review of her releases reveals that she has been releasing recordings since at least 2010 and, in addition to many of the “usual suspects” or “warhorses” of the repertoire, she has demonstrated a keen interest in lesser known works as well as recently minted works hoping for a place in the repertoire.

Her album count by my reckoning is up to 13 now and her musical interests appear to range from the baroque with Telemann’s 12 violin fantasies (no, not a transcription of the better known solo flute works) to the very recent works presented on the present disc. Her choices of repertoire for recording are delightfully unusual as she ventures into the work of neglected composers such as Astor Piazolla (1921-1992) and Romuald Twardowski (1930- ). And she has chosen to release an album of Paganini’s 24 Caprices rather than the Bach solo violin works (though these may come later). The point is that she seems interested in bringing out performances of music which gets less attention than the standard repertoire. Indeed she appears to be attempting to influence and add to the canon of solo violin performance repertoire.

How often can one expect to find a solo violin disc where the only familiar piece is one of Luciano Berio’s Sequenzas? Well this is that disc. The earliest work here is Grazyna Bacewicz’s (1909-1969) Sonata No. 2 (1958). Berio’s Sequenza VIII (1976). Along with Isang Yun’s (1917-1995) Koenigliches Thema (1976) are also 20th century pieces. And though the four movements of Elliot Carter’s (1908-2012) Four Lauds begin in the late 20th century (Riconoscenza per Goffredo Petrassi, 1984 and Remembering Aaron, 1999) they end in the 21st century with Remembering Roger, 2000 and Rhapsodic Musings, 2001.

The brief, almost “Webernian” miniatures that comprise Carter’s “Four Lauds” each have an individual character, the first an homage to Aaron Copland (1900-1990) which doubtless represents the composer via a quotation or perhaps some more personal inside reference. The Riconoscenza per Goffredo Petrassi is the longest and seemingly most complex of the group (I don’t know Petrassi’s music as well as I would like so I’m not sure about the references here). The Rhapsodic Musings are not apparently directed to any musician or composer in particular and The Fantasy-Remembering Roger does seem to embody the sound of Roger Sessions’ style.

The Berio is one of a set of 14 pieces for solo instruments (depending on how you count them) and they are a sort of compositional manifesto utilizing extended techniques. Augustyn delivers a very convincing reading of this intentionally challenging work. It is the longest single work on this recording.

This Polish born, New York based violinist has done homage to the music of her homeland before with her Naxos album of miniatures that I doubt you will find elsewhere. On this album she does homage to Polish musical culture by her inclusion of the inexplicably too little known Grazyna Bacewicz and a world premiere of a solo violin work by the well documented Krzysztof Penderecki in his 2008 Capriccio. As one who fell in love with the avant-garde Penderecki of say 1958-1972 I have not paid as much attention to Penderecki’s later works. In a pleasant surprise these ears heard this very late Penderecki piece as almost a summation including tasty bits of avant-gardist techniques along with nicely lyrical passages. I am now convinced I need to do a reappraisal of my knowledge of this composer’s later work.

She follows this with a very significant work by a criminally neglected composer, Grazyna Bacewicz (1909-1969). Her Second Sonata for Solo Violin (1958) is an adventuresome work which challenges the violinist while holding the listener’s attention. It is definitely time for a major reassessment of this woman’s work and one hopes that Augustyn’s reading will help encourage more interest in Bacewicz’s work.

Augustyn next chooses another unjustly neglected composer, Isang Yun (1917-1995) whose biography including kidnapping by the South Korean intelligence officers and subsequent sequestration in a South Korean jail stirred artistic outrage which eventually resulted in his release. The piece played here, “Koniglisches Thema”(1976) brings us back to the beginning of solo violin composition by its quotation of a Bach theme. Not a theme from any of the solo violin music but rather the theme given to Bach by Frederick II of Prussia. The origin of the theme is not by Bach and its compositional origins are much debated but what is not debated is that fanciers of Bach know this theme instantly. Isang Yun writes, apparently, a set of variations on the theme, an offering of his own to the master.

This is a dream of an album for people who appreciate modernism, new music, and undiscovered gems but Augustyn’s readings of the unfamiliar Carter “Four Lauds” and, the most recent work on the disc, Debra Kaye‘s (1956- ) “Turning in Time” (2018) are, for this listener, worth the price of the disc by themselves. Carter is no easy task for listeners and certainly for performers but she manages to find the late post-romantic/post-modern lyricism in these pithy little works. And the Debra Kaye work is “hot off the presses” so to speak, having been written just before the second of the two recording sessions that produced this album. The Kaye work is the second longest on this recording and fits well as a concluding work on this ambitious and engaging program.

New music is in need of talented musicians willing to search for and learn their work and Augustyn happily seems to be willing to fill that bill. Her acumen in being able to know music of substance when she sees it and the ability to bring those scores to life bodes well for listeners interested in this repertoire. After all it’s hard not to notice that the Bacewicz Sonata is her second and completists will want to hear that first one. But, more seriously, I look forward to the upcoming releases by this artist who, when sighted on my radar again, will not be let go without a serious listen.