Various Composers - Last Silence (Martha Aarons; Lev Polyakin; Frances Renzi)

Information

• Nino Rota - Trio for Flute, Violin & Piano
• César Cui - 5 Petits duos, Op. 56
• Paul Schoenfield - 4 Souvenirs
• Jacques Ibert - 2 Interludes
• Paul Schoenfield - Last Silence

Martha Aarons, flute

Lev Polyakin, violin

Frances Renzi, piano

Date: 2020

Label: Azica

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Description

Performed by the trio for whom it was written, Paul Schoenfield's new composition "Last Silence" picks up where "Cafe Music" left off. A show stopping tour de force of excitement and emotion. Schoenfield's "Four Souvenirs" is finally released here by violinist Lev Polyakin and pianist Frances Renzi, who commissioned the work. Beautiful trios by Rota and Cui round out the album. Paul Schoenfeld's music is widely performed and continues to draw an ever-expanding group of fans. According to Juilliard's Joel Sachs, "he is among those all-too-rare composers whose work combines exuberance and seriousness, familiarity and originality, lightness and depth. His work is inspired by the whole range of musical experience, popular styles both American and foreign, vernacular and folk traditions, and the 'normal' historical traditions of cultivated music making, often treated with sly twists. Above all, he has achieved the rare fusion of an extremely complex and rigorous compositional mind with an instinct for accessibility and a reveling in sound that sometimes borders on the manic."

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Martha Aaron began her career as principal flute of the North Carolina Symphony, followed by 25 years with the Cleveland Orchestra. Since becoming a freelance artist in 2006, she has performed frequently with the Philadelphia Orchestra and appeared as guest principal with leading ensembles, including the Metropolitan Opera, Minnesota Orchestra and World Orchestra for Peace. Aaron has served on the artist faculty of the Aspen Music Festival for 19 years and participated in major international festivals. She has been a soloist with several prominent orchestras and premiered Christopher Rouse's Flute Concerto in 2003.

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Violinist Lev Polyakin enjoys an international career as a soloist, orchestral leader and recording artist. At age 21, he was appointed co-concertmaster of the Moscow Chamber Orchestra, with which he frequently appeared as soloist and recorded extensively. In the United States, he served as assistant concertmaster of the Cleveland Orchestra and concertmaster of the American Academy of Conducting at the Aspen Music Festival. A prizewinner at the Carl Flesch and Romanini international violin competitions, Polyakin has performed with leading orchestras worldwide. His recordings include a Grammy-nominated chamber album.

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Frances Renzi is an American pianist and educator from Texas. She studied at the University of North Texas and The Juilliard School, and later became Professor Emerita at the University of Toledo, receiving an Ohio Senate commendation for her 27-year academic career. Renzi has appeared as a soloist with major orchestras and performed internationally in prominent venues across North America and Asia. A highly regarded chamber musician, she was a founding member of the Toledo Trio and is a frequent festival artist. Her extensive, critical acclaimed discography includes a Grammy-nominated recording.

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