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Release Date: November 13, 2020
Catalog #: NV6317
Format: Digital & Physical

Piazzolla & Galliano

Concertos

Jovica Ivanović accordion

Ukrainian Chamber Orchestra | Vitaliy Protasov conductor, Valeriy Sokolov concertmaster

Internationally-renowned Serbian-Austrian classical accordionist Jovica Ivanović has released his newest album — PIAZZOLLA & GALLIANO — with Navona Records. The program features concertos from Astor Piazzolla and Richard Galliano, both legends in their own rights. Recorded with the Ukrainian Chamber Orchestra, Ivanović’s performances bring these masterworks to life with persuasive passion.

PIAZZOLLA & GALLIANO is the result of Ivanović's partnership with violinist Valeriy Sokolov. With Ivanović's capable hands on the accordion, Sokolov as concertmaster and Protasov as conductor of the chamber orchestra, the three set out to recreate the music of these two much revered composers. The album opens with Piazzolla's Aconcagua, a concerto for bandoneon, string orchestra, and percussion. The music bursts forth from the outset, full of the tantalizing excitement of Argentinian tango. Ivanović’s sensitive-yet-fiery style immediately sets him apart; the soloist glides effortlessly above the orchestra, lending a rich voice to the melody. It is not lost on Ivanović that Piazolla himself especially loved this piece, playing the bandoneon himself at performances in the 1980s. Ivanović treats Aconcagua with the same loving care as its composer did. And, now, thanks to state-of-the-art recording technology, we hear each note with sublime clarity.

Galliano’s Opale Concerto is a mix of Balkan, nostalgic Parisian, and American influences. From the outset, Opale is a pulse-quickening adventure; Ivanović reveals the depths of his classical training by making every fiery note sound rounded and deliberate. As with Aconcagua, Ivanović’s performance of this piece makes clear that it is particularly dear to his own heart.

The music of PIAZZOLLA & GALLIANO is perennially contemporary and exciting. Bridging cultures and generations, it speaks deeply to the human heart. Ivanović’s virtuosic performances are supple and thoughtful. Thanks to his musicianship, along with the high-fidelity quality of these recordings, listeners are invited to enjoy these works by Astor Piazzolla and Richard Galliano the way their composers first imagined them.

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Hear the full album on YouTube

"Ivanović is a superb accordionist, well-matched to the string players’ collective musicianship"

The WholeNote

Track Listing & Credits

# Title Composer Performer
01 Aconcagua: I. Allegro marcato Astor Piazzolla Jovica Ivanović, accordion; Ukrainian Chamber Orchestra | Vitaliy Protasov, conductor; Valeriy Sokolov, concertmaster 8:15
02 Aconcagua: II. Moderato Astor Piazzolla Jovica Ivanović, accordion; Ukrainian Chamber Orchestra | Vitaliy Protasov, conductor; Valeriy Sokolov, concertmaster 8:47
03 Aconcagua: III. Presto Astor Piazzolla Jovica Ivanović, accordion; Ukrainian Chamber Orchestra | Vitaliy Protasov, conductor; Valeriy Sokolov, concertmaster 7:09
04 Opale Concerto: I. Allegro furioso Richard Galliano Jovica Ivanović, accordion; Ukrainian Chamber Orchestra | Vitaliy Protasov, conductor; Valeriy Sokolov, concertmaster 7:26
05 Opale Concerto: II. Moderato malinconico Richard Galliano Jovica Ivanović, accordion; Ukrainian Chamber Orchestra | Vitaliy Protasov, conductor; Valeriy Sokolov, concertmaster 5:49
06 Opale Concerto: III. Allegro energico Richard Galliano Jovica Ivanović, accordion; Ukrainian Chamber Orchestra | Vitaliy Protasov, conductor; Valeriy Sokolov, concertmaster 7:28

All tracks recorded December 5-6, 2018 at Large Concert Studio of Ukrainian Radio in Kyiv, Ukraine
Recording Session Producer & Engineer Andriy Mokrytskiy
Photos of Jovica Ivanović flausen.at

Executive Producer Bob Lord

Executive A&R Sam Renshaw
A&R Director Brandon MacNeil
A&R Miran Vaupotić

VP, Audio Production Jeff LeRoy
Audio Director Lucas Paquette

VP, Design & Marketing Brett Picknell
Art Director Ryan Harrison
Design Edward A. Fleming
Publicity Patrick Niland, Sara Warner

Artist Information

Jovica Ivanović

Accordionist

Serbian accordionist Jovica Ivanović was born in 1987 in Zvornik, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Within the pedagogical field he accomplished his diploma of Musical Education (ME) as well as his master in art-based education (KA) at the Hanover University of Music, Drama, and Media in Germany, studying accordion. During his time at university, Ivanović earned prestigious scholarships such as the Yehudi Menuhin Live Music Now Award and the Germany Scholarship.

Valeriy Sokolov

Valeriy Sokolov

Concertmaster

The Ukrainian violinist, Valeriy Sokolov, is one of the most outstanding young artists of his generation.

Working regularly with the world’s leading orchestras, he has enjoyed collaborations with the Philharmonia Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Cleveland Orchestra, Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, Rotterdam Philharmonic, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo Symphony, Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra, Seoul Philharmonic, NAC Ottawa, Orchestre National de France and the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen. He works frequently with conductors including Vladimir Ashkenazy, David Zinman, Susanna Malkki, Andris Nelsons, Peter Oundjian, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Vasily Petrenko, Herbert Soudant & Juraj Valcuha.

Highlights of the 2017-18 season include debuts at the Lucerne Festival and with the MDR Leipzig, as well as Valeriy’s subscription debut with the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande. This season also sees Valeriy return to the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, MDR Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk as well as the Concertgebouw with the Noord Nederlands Orkest. Valeriy will begin his role as Artist-in-Residence with the Weimar Staatskapelle, in which he will embark on an extensive US tour with the orchestra and its Music Director, Kirill Karabits.

sokolov-music.com

Vitaliy Protasov

Vitaliy Protasov

Conductor

VITALIY PROTASOV attended the Tchaikovsky Music School in Simferopol and the Tchaikovsky National Music Academy of Ukraine in Kyiv. He graduated in 1998 from the faculty of Opera and Symphony Conducting after having mastered the class of Prof. Roman Kofman.

Protasov has worked as director and assistant chief conductor of the Academic Symphony Orchestra of the National Philharmonic of Ukraine while he studied and participated in the creation of ‘Rikoshet’ modern music ensemble on the basis of the National Union of Composers of Ukraine in Kyiv in 1998. This collaboration continued until 2001.

Protasov conducted the symphony orchestras of Lviv, Odesa, Luhansk and Dnipro Philharmonics, as well as the National Philharmonic of Ukraine, the Chamber Orchestra of the Rivne Philharmonic, the Kyiv Chamber Orchestra, the orchestras of Pomeranian and Szczecin Philharmonics, and the Beethoven Symphony Orchestra (Germany). Being on tour with the Academic Symphony Orchestra of National Philharmonic of Ukraine and Kyiv Chamber Orchestra, he conducted the orchestras in Poland, Germany, France, China and Japan. Protasov has performed in partnership with such soloists as: Liana Isakadze (violin), Valeriy Sokolov (violin), Andrei Belov (violin), Vadim Brodsky (violin), Dominique de Williencourt (cello), Serhiy Terentyev (piano), Igor Chetuiev (piano), Eugene Izotov (oboe) etc.

In 2006 he worked with O. Shetynsky and they set up the ‘Kyiv-Sinfonietta’ ensemble of modern music. He is also a participant of Ukrainian and international festivals of modern music such as Kyiv Music Fest, European Musical Space, GogolFest (Kyiv), Contrasts (Lviv), and Two days and Two Nights (Odesa).

Ukranian Chamber Orchestra

Ensemble

Internationally renowned violinist Valeriy Sokolov founded a chamber orchestra in his native Ukraine in 2018. This group consists of the best young string players in the country. Since it’s formation, the group has been successfully performing all over the country as well as taking part in a recording for Sony Classics in Vienna in 2019.

Astor Piazzolla

Astor Piazzolla

Composer

Three years after ASTOR PIAZZOLLA’s birth in Argentina in 1924, his family moved to New York City. Presumably to connect him with his origins, his father bought him a bandoneon, which he mastered at the age of nine. Already as a young man Piazzolla was considered a serious composer and serious touring musician.

When she heard his early classical pieces, his teacherr, Nadia Boulanger, compared them to Ravel, Bartok and Stravinsky, but missed Piazzolla’s personal signature. When she heard him play a tango after talking him into playing it, she shouted, “Only play this, throw away the rest!”

Everything that happened after is well-known history, but similar to Piazzolla’s passion and personal signature, Jovica Ivanović also aspires to follow his true inspirations, let his experiences in life flow into his music, and share the passion given by Piazzolla’s compositions with his audience.

Piazzolla’s Concerto Aconcagua for bandoneon, string orchestra, and percussion was commissioned by the Banco de la Provincia de Buenos Aires in 1979 and praised at its premiere in December 1979, probably because Piazzolla himself played the bandoneon solo in the years after the premiere. His own love for this piece went so far that he described the recording from 1987 as one of the most outstanding recordings of his entire career.

Richard Galliano

Richard Galliano

Composer

RICHARD GALLIANO was heavily talented and influenced by the art around him, so when he met the Argentinean composer and bandoneonist Astor Piazzolla in 1980, he let himself be encouraged to create the French “New Musette.”

Finally, the accordionist Jovica Ivanović seizes Galliano’s Opale Concerto for accordion and string orchestra to show the positive and vibrant culture to which both accordionists contributed in their times. As a mixture of raw Balkan, nostalgic Parisian and bustling American influences, Galliano’s own performances were filled with passion, confidence and high-quality entertainment and featured virtuosity as well as seductive emotion right after each other. This binds the two together and arises when Ivanović combines his Balkan-filled temper with Galliano’s and Piazzolla’s music.

The passion, liveliness, and uniqueness of PIAZZOLLA & GALLIANO CONCERTOS emphasises Ivanović’s dedicated and intense approach to combine different vivacities as well as to fully merge into the fiery temper of the chosen works. 

— Daniela Syczek

Notes

Savo Ivanović

Savo Ivanović

The paths of my music led me from classical training to passionate interpretations of nature and culture of the human being. Just as life takes you places when you let it happen, I let my music connect me with great musicians. Therefore, when I met Valeriy Sokolov, I found new inspiration and committed myself to an amazing experience. He had founded the Ukrainian Chamber Orchestra and I took great pride in having the chance to work with them and the conductor Vitaliy Protasov while performing together and learning from each other. The goal and extraordinary aspect about this project is the careful selection of music that is dear to me, that I can not only relate to, but feel in different vivacities every time I perform them. I chose Piazzolla and Galliano to be my companions on this fulfilling journey of presenting my close relationship to folk music and am very thankful for the cooperation, inspiration, and comfort their music and the orchestra offered me.

This experience took place at a time of my life during which my father was seriously ill and I was not sure I would have the strength to perform and work on sharing my music with others. At the same time, being on stage and recording these powerful and passionate concertos Piazzolla and Galliano had written, surely not only experiencing positive things either, encouraged me to proceed with this album and helped me focus, completing the album while also being there for my family. Sadly, my father passed away some months after the production of the album was finished, and it is of great honour and importance to me to dedicate it to him. Thank you, Savo, for your support and being my ultimate inspiration. You enabled me, you encouraged me generously, although or because you wanted to be a musician yourself and never got the chance to perform professionally. Your intense connection with music shaped me, our relationship and the way I perceive the world. When I play, I can feel you, still.

— Story by Jovica Ivanović, Text by Daniela Syczek