Classical Program Offerings:
Wlad Marhulets' Concerto For Klezmer Clarinet and Orchestra
for klezmer clarinet and full symphony orchestra
David Krakauer has recently commissioned 23 year old Polish composer Wlad Marhulets to write a klezmer-inspired clarinet concerto. The result is a tour-de-force roller coaster ride which leaps effortlessly through klezmer and other genres. This piece promises to become a major addition to the clarinet concerto repertoire and will be premiered by the Detroit Symphony and Leonard Slatkin in December 2009.
Krakauer writes: "Hearing Wlad's music for the first time was an astonishing and moving experience. In fact, it is rare indeed to run into someone so young whose original voice is already so clearly formed. I am also fascinated by his work relating to his own Polish/Jewish heritage through his musical projects. Because of this common artistic vision, I have asked him to write a klezmer inspired clarinet concerto for me. I am looking forward to a very rewarding artistic collaboration with this tremendously gifted young man. My prediction is that Wlad will become a major force in the musical world in the very near future."
Osvaldo Golijov's The Dreams and Prayers of Isaac the Blind
for klezmer clarinet and string orchestra
Clarinetist David Krakauer, who recorded the seminal version of composer Osvaldo Golijov's 1994 work for string quartet and clarinet, The Dreams and Prayers of Isaac The Blind, with the Kronos Quartet, is proud to offer the string orchestra version of the work for the 2007-2008 season. "[The Dreams and Prayers...] was inspired by the medieval rabbi known as Isaac the Blind, a mystic who believed that all things happen as the result of combinations of the letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Golijov uses the building blocks of music to tease the same cosmic mysteries in a work that echoes the joy and sorrow, the passion and reason of the entire Jewish experience. Sometimes the music rocks with the sound of klezmer, sometimes it merely, hypnotically seems to breathe. The Kronos Quartet's riveting recording with clarinetist David Krakauer makes it an unforgettable experience." -Gramophone
Ofer Ben Amots' The Klezmer Concerto
for klezmer clarinet, string orchestra, harp and percussion
Ofer Ben Amots writes: "The source of inspiration to this concerto is the unique musical language of clarinetist David Krakauer. Over the last four years I have collaborated with David on several performance and recording projects. It is, however, the first time that I wrote a composition entirely dedicated to him and with the intention to prominently feature his playing. In October 2004, I visited David in New York City and we went over some early sketches. The few hours we spent together seemed to me more like a wizardry session than a musical rehearsal. David demonstrated amazing sounds, passages, and techniques; something I had never heard before and never imagined possible. Some of these inspiring sounds found their way into the composition and they echo frequently throughout the solo clarinet part."
Klezmer Arrangements
by David Krakauer, Jean-Philippe Calvin, and David Cutler
for klezmer clarinet and orchestra
Traditional klezmer tunes and original compositions by David Krakauer arranged for both string orchestra and mixed instrumentation. Available Fall 2009.
Additional Repertoire
for clarinet and orchestra
Debussy - Rhapsodie
Mozart - Concerto K. 622
John Adams - Gnarly Buttons
Paul Moravec - Concerto for Clarinet and String Orchestra
Aaron Copland - Clarinet Concerto
Robert Starer - Kli Zemer*
Ofer Ben Amots - Celestial Dialogues*
Abraham Ellstein - Hassidic Dance*
Jacob Weinberg - Canzonetta, The Maypole*
*Recorded for the Milken Archive of Jewish Music (Naxos)
AKOKA (MESSIAEN REMIX)
David Krakauer, Matt Haimovitz and friends.
Cellist Matt Haimovitz and clarinetist David Krakauer have come together to create a new project centered around Olivier Messaien's Quartet for the End of Time. Given that this piece was composed in a prisoner of war camp in the midst of tremendous world upheaval, and that the subject matter of the quartet describes cataclysmic events (the end of time itself), Haimovitz and Krakauer have created a program of music surrounding and commenting on this aspect of the Messaien. The point of departure is the fact that the clarinetist Henri Akoka who gave the premiere in the prison camp, was Jewish. Metaphorically, to focus on Akoka's story (not literally, but rather poetically through music) is to bring out the human aspect of this composition seen through the "eyes" of one individual caught up in terrifying events beyond his control. Indeed, as the forces of fundamentalism, intolerance and violence intensify in today’s world, this project seems all the more timely. The Messiaen work is bookmarked between two new compositions in a way that “lifts” it out of the polite confines of a normal chamber music performance. Krakauer and Haimovitz first developed this project at the Banff Centre for the Arts in May 2007 where it received an enthusiastic standing ovation.
Program:
Akoka
David Krakauer b. 1956Quatuor pour la fin du Temps (1940-41)
Olivier Messiaen 1908-1992Meanwhile (A Messiaen Remix)
Socalled b. 1977
DAVID KRAKAUER WITH THE ORION STRING QUARTET
Bernstein Artists is proud to announce that clarinetist David Krakauer will be a guest artist on tour with the Orion String Quartet* for the 2007-'08 season. The program features a new work by composer David Del Tredici commissioned specifically for Mr. Krakauer and the Orion String Quartet by Music Accord. Touring periouds available for this program (listed below) are: Oct 9-21 2007 and February 22-March 2, 2008. Bernstein Artists is thrilled to bring this new collaboration to presenters throughout the U.S.
Program:
HAYDN String Quartet (TBD)
DAVID DEL TREDICI Quintet
--
OSVALDO GOLIJOV K'vakarat (1994)**
BEETHOVEN Quartet No. 9 in C, Op. 59, No. 3
*** Program Subject to Change ***
** Rosh Hashanah prayer originally written for Cantor and Quartet
* Orion String Quartet is represented by Kirshbaum Demler & Associates
BEYOND CROSSOVER/David Krakauer in recital
with pianist and small klezmer ensemble
Beyond Crossover is a unique recital program that voyages between classical repertoire, Krakauer's original compositions and klezmer music. The program moves effortlessly without intermission from Janacek, Brahms, Messiaen, Steve Reich and Debussy all the way to Krakauer's mad circular breathing improvisations and klezmer.
Krakauer writes: "Ever since the moment I was able to play the clarinet halfway decently I’ve been interested in juxtaposing the making of my own music with interpreting classical compositions. (In that sense I never felt the need to “cross”–I was already “over.”) It was always amazing to see how the two interacted with one another. Constantly working to create my own sounds (whether it be through improvising or composing) has helped me find my personal key to interpretation: first, always striving to be closer to the moment of creation (play the piece as if I had composed it or improvised it); second, seeking to tell a story; and third, creating a dialogue between my ideas and what I perceive as the composer’s ideas."