TRPTK delivers to us another amazing recording with Maya Fridman, a cellist whose musical sensibilities and skill never cease to enthrall me, performing two outstanding works for cello and orchestra by Jan-Peter De Graaff. The works are challenging and the performances by Maya Fridman are compelling. If you are at all sympathetic to contemporary music, these are works that I encourage you to hear.
The Forest in April, Jan-Peter de Graaff, composer, Maya Fridman, cello, North Netherlands Symphony Orchestra, TRPTK (2021 (24-352) HERE
Presented are two contemporary works from Jan-Peter de Graaff, both receiving their recording debuts here. The first, Concerto No. 4 "Rimpelingen" (ripples in English), was composed by de Graaff in 2017 for the cellist Hans Woudenberg. It was performed three times that year and then was heard no more until Maya Fridman approached de Graaff about preparing the work to perform in the Cello Biënnale festival in Amsterdam.
The second work, Concerto No. 5 "The Forest in April," was composed by de Graaff for Maya Fridman at her request. Writes Maya, "How different would it be had I not attended the premiere of Rimpelingen by Jan-Peter de Graafff in 2017. Rimpelingen made such a profound impression on me, echoing through the following two years until the right moment came. That right moment was another concert of Jan-Peter's music after which I had the courage to ask him to write a concerto for me."
Recording session for The Forest in April
In listening to this recording, it is clear that Maya is completely invested in both of these works. She took on Rimplelingen to perform at the Cello Biënnale festival and worked with de Graaff to prepare and rehearse the work together. De Graaff writes, "Rimpelingen can be seen as an internal reflection on the relationship between humanity and nature: action, consequences and mourning. It is an abstract piece, dealing with small bits of musical information that form a giant construction that is not obvious to see, hear or feel from the start. But as the piece grew on her, the ideas that formed the piece originally also developed further in my mind. Her performance of it gave me an extraordinary amount of inspiration to compose the next concerto, this time tailored to her musicality and performance strength."
With the next concerto, The Forest in April, de Graaff says, "The piece can be seen as an internal reflection on the relationship between humanity and nature: action, consequences and mourning. As Maya has a very close relationship to nature, it felt completely natural to me to choose this subject for a piece to tailor around Maya's performing abilities and the cello as an instrument to express these emotions."
The composer and the performing artist are of one mind about this musical content. This is evident from what they say about working with each other and what we hear so clearly in the compelling delivery by Maya Fridman. She simply owns these works, in the best sense possible.
Maya Fridman
Maya is a wonderful performing artist. She brings so much passion and insight to her performances. Every note, every phrase, every pause, every entry is so carefully judged for just the right connection, the right communication, in whatever she is playing. And she is so incredibly versatile. Whether she plays Bach or Schnittke or Cassedo or Pärt or Andreissen or Prokofiev or Tavener or Lou Reed, she plays with utter commitment and conviction. And with the works here by de Graafff she is totally committed, delightfully so.
Born in 1989 in Moscow, Russia, Maya Fridman is a talented young artist residing in The Netherlands with an active performing calendar. From her early years of playing the cello, Maya was recognized as a prodigy. While studying at the Moscow State College of Music, she was awarded the First Prize Winner in the International Festival of Slavic Music, among many other awards. In 2010, she gained admission at the Conservatory of Amsterdam, successfully completing in 2016 a master's degree in cello performance with highest honors, cum laude.
In completing her master's degree, she undertook a recomposing—no, re-imagining—of Prokofiev's masterpiece, The Fiery Angel, turning it into a half-hour work that completely conveys the story with just two instruments, cello and piano. This re-imagining performance was recorded by TRPTK in 2018 and is available as a DXD download. I highly recommend it; you can read my more complete comments about this album HERE.
Serge Prokofiev: The Fiery Angel [arranged for piano and cello by Maya Fridman], Maya Fridman & Artem Belogurov. TRPTK. 2018 (DXD) HERE
For the last nine years, Maya has been performing regularly in Europe and maintaining a very active schedule of performances. She was musician-in-residence with Gaudeamus in 2018/2019. In 2018 she was nominated for the Grachtenfestival Prijs, and in 2019 she won the coveted Dutch Classical Talent Award. She was also Artist in Residence at TivoliVredenburg for season 2020/2021.
The North Netherlands Symphony Orchestra provides good service in partnership with Maya on the recording. Founded 1862, the NNO is the oldest professional symphonic orchestra in The Netherlands delivering roughly 120 concerts per season in concert halls, the open air, during festivals and at schools throughout the three northern provinces. In addition, the orchestra regularly performs elsewhere in the country, including The Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, TivoliVredenburg in Utrecht and theatre De Doelen in Rotterdam.
Jan-Peter de Graaff, from his website biography
Composer Jan-Peter de Graaff (b. 1992) started composing at the age of 15. He studied composition at the Royal Conservatoire The Hague from 2010 until 2016 and studied at the Royal College of Music London in 2015. He graduated in 2016 with the opera All Rise, which was honored with the Nicolaï Fund prize for most outstanding final recital. In 2018 he won the Rostrum-prize for composers under 30 for his orchestral composition Le café de nuit.
In his Bio it is stated, "Many of his compositions are recognized by a great amount of transparency and use of color in harmony, structure and orchestration, with an important focus on form and melodic development. Most of his works are inspired by nature, physics, chain reactions and the ever-changing relationship between humanity and her environment."
That description seems well reflected in this album with the cello concertos presented here.
De Graaff's body of work now includes about 40 compositions for various instrumentations, from solo and chamber music (both instrumental and vocal) to pieces for orchestra and Music Theatre. His music has been performed by a great variety in orchestras and ensembles, including the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the Dutch Radio Philharmonic and Choir, the Residentie Orchestra, Asko|Schoenberg, Insomnio Ensemble, Norrbotten NEO, Het Collectief. And, of course, here with Maya Fridman and the NNO.
Brendon Heinst, founder and chief recording engineer for TRPTK, creates a terrific recording in this, one of his infrequent symphony orchestra recordings. It offers excellent stereo imaging, consummate resolution and detail, and it captures nicely the warm naturally reverberant acoustic space of the Concert Hall, De Oosterpoort Groningen.
The various recordings Brendon has made since the founding of TRPTK are consistently outstanding. I highly recommend exploring recordings of music on this label that might appeal to you. Better yet, be a little adventuresome and let TRPTK bring you something wonderful and unexpected!
See TRPTK's current catalog here.
Photos courtesy of Brendon Heinst except as noted.
