Lars Vogt

July 9, 2000 Program
Ludwig van Beethoven: Bagatelles, Op. 126-No. 1 & 2
Tatyana Komarova: Theme and Variations
Ludwig van Beethoven: Sonata No. 23 in f minor, Op. 57, "Appassionata"

Listen to Lars Vogt talk with guest host Jorja Fleezanis.
On his life as a pianist (RealAudio 3.0; how to listen)
On Beethoven's "Appasionata" Sonata

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Tatyana Komarova

Tatyana Komarova
The Russian composer Tatyana Komarova was born in Brest (Byelorussia) in 1968. She grew up in Moscow, taking early music lessons from her parents who are both musicians; her father, Vladimir Komarov, is also a composer. In 1987, after her piano studies, Komarova began to study composition at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow with Professor Nikolai Sidelnikov (1933-1992), who laid the foundation for her compositional work and had a significant influence on her artistic development.

Tatyana Komarova's compositions have already seen a considerable number of performances, both in her native country and in numerous European countries such as Germany (Schleswig-Holstein-Festival, Kissinger Sommer), Sweden, Norway, France (Festival La Roque d'Anthéron, Paris), England, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, Greece and the Czech Republic. Her Sonata for Piano (1990) was premiered in New York in 1992 and performed in Frankfurt, Leipzig (Gewandhaus), Amsterdam, Prague and Athens, and recorded by Lars Vogt on EMI 7545482. Another piece, "Triptychon," for violoncello and piano, was premiered in December 1993 by Boris Pergamentchikov and Lars Vogt, who have since then performed the work in Stuttgart, at the Cologne Philharmonic, in Paris (Châtelet), and London (BBC live broadcast). "Triptychon" was also included in the concert program of the cellist Truls Mørk. Its American premiere took place in 1995 at a chamber concert of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association.

About "Theme with Variations"
Komarova's "Theme with Variations" uses a simple cantabile 11-bar theme alternating between 2/4 and 3/4 time. The seven variations are of different length, ranging between 8 and 37 bars, and of different character - the cycle moves from a peacefully-flowing variation via partly dance - like, partly extremely virtuoso variations to the meditative final section which recalls the mood of the theme like an echo. Despite the impression of individuality of the variations, the sound material of the theme is used in each of these variations with almost serial strictness.