Music and Recruiting in the Austro-Hungarian Army

Music for Miles Brings Rousing Classics to Waterloo Arts

The Impreza Piano Trio, Sunday April 10, 4 pm

How did the Austrian army lure peasants to its recruiting stations? With music! And the Impreza Trio will demonstrate, in its April Music for Miles concert at Waterloo Arts.

Eric Charnofsky is at the piano in this newly formed Cleveland-area ensemble, with Emily Cornelius on violin and Lauren M. Dunseath playing cello. All three of these musicians have a wide background of performance experience as soloists, chamber and orchestral musicians, and are also active as teachers at all levels. Their debut program comprises trios from the standard chamber music repertoire, including works by Haydn, Shostakovich, and Mendelssohn.

Lane Cooper’s show “What Dreams May Come” will be hanging in the gallery, and the Callaloo will be ready as always with glasses of wine and flavors of the Caribbean. Or it might be the time to try Waterloo’s new coffee shop – Six Shooter, at the corner of E161.

 The concert opens with Haydn’s “Gypsy Rondo” Trio in G Major from 1795,  colored by a Hungarian style Rondo finale movement which incorporates several gypsy tunes - including “Recruiting Dances” that were used by Austrian army officials to attract peasants to recruiting posts. The first two movements are more tranquil; first a set of variations alternating between major and minor, followed by a gentle, melodic Adagio.

 Shostakovich’s Trio No. 2 in E minor, composed during World War II and premiered in Leningrad in 1944, its four movements express degrees of intensity, angst, drama, joy, and frenzy. The music powerfully reflects on the conditions Shostakovich witnessed in Soviet Russia, and the impact on listeners is usually mesmerizing.

The Impreza program will close with Mendelssohn’s extraordinarily rich and varied Piano Trio No. 2 in C minor, a four-movement work composed in 1845, with virtuosic writing for the three instruments. You’ll recognize the familiar “Old Hundredth” hymn melody, commonly known today as “Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow,” in the final movement. The music is majestic and extremely dramatic, and will make for a grand ending to the overall program.

Piano Trio in G Major ‘Gypsy Rondo’: Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)

1.      Andante

2.      Poco Adagio

3.      Finale: Rondo all’ Ongarese. Presto

 Piano Trio No. 2 in E minor, Op. 67; Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975)

1.      Andante

2.      Allegro non troppo

3.      Largo

4.      Allegretto

 -        Intermission –

Piano Trio No. 2, Op. 66: Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)

1.      Allegretto energico e fuoco

2.      Andante espressivo

3.      Scherzo: Molto Allegro quasi Presto

4.      Finale. Allegro appassionato

Emily Cornelius holds degrees from the Oberlin Conservatory and the New England Conservatory. An active performer, she serves as concertmaster of the Heights Chamber Orchestra and the Cleveland Philharmonic Orchestra, and as principal second violin of the BlueWater Chamber Orchestra. She is also first violinist with the Canton Symphony Orchestra and the Breckenridge Music Festival Orchestra. She has appeared as soloist with the Richmond Symphony Orchestra, the Richmond Philharmonic, the Canton Symphony Orchestra, the BlueWater Chamber Orchestra, the Breckenridge Music Festival Orchestra, and the Heights Chamber Orchestra. Emily is also a dedicated teacher with a large private teaching studio in Shaker Heights.

Lauren M. Dunseath is a cellist with diverse musical tastes. She performs regularly in chamber and orchestral settings, and has an active teaching studio in Cleveland, Ohio, where she directs the Ohio City Cello Choir. Lauren received her Bachelor’s degree at SUNY Purchase under the tutelage of Julia Lichten and her Master’s degree at CarnegieMellonUniversity with fellowships in Opera and Contemporary Music. While at CMU, she received the Wilkins Cello Award, as well as a grant to perform in Perugia, Italy. As a chamber musician, she has won numerous competitions and performed internationally. In her career thus far, she has been fortunate to collaborate with a diverse array of musicians, from Kanye West to John Adams. Lauren continually strives to explore all genres of music with her use of color, shape, and balance.

 Eric Charnofsky is active as a collaborative pianist, composer, classroom music teacher, and lecturer. He is a full-time Instructor at CaseWestern ReserveUniversity and has also taught at the Cleveland Institute of Music. Eric has performed as a collaborative pianist throughout North America, concertizing with members of major American orchestras, and has performed as an orchestral pianist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Cleveland Orchestra. A graduate of The Juilliard School where he majored in piano accompanying, Eric also holds degrees in solo piano performance and composition from CaliforniaStateUniversity, Northridge. Eric appears on recordings on the Albany, Capstone, and Crystal labels. He was named “Composer of the Year” for 2012 by the Ohio Music Teachers Association, and his radio program, “Not Your Grandmother’s Classical Music,” airs on Monday afternoons on WRUW-FM.

These concerts are presented with the support of Local 4 Music Fund, the Music Performance Trust Fund, the Waterloo Arts Friends’ Committee, Cuyahoga Arts and Culture, and Ohio Arts Council.

Waterloo Arts, 15605 Waterloo Road  Cleveland44110, 216-692-9500.

Nan Kennedy

Founding member of Arts Collinwood; chair of AC Advisory Board; president of Lakeshore/Collinwood Garden Club; writer of neighborhood events e-letter; grandmother of Emma, Jane and Attila.

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Volume 8, Issue 4, Posted 6:27 PM, 04.06.2016