Aldona Dvarionaitė (1939-2000)
Aldona Dvarionaitė (1939 05 18 Kaunas – 2000 11 05 Palanga) – a Lithuanian pianist, pedagogue, one of the most renowned Lithuanian performers. Lithuanian and foreign musicologists often compared her playing with the most celebrated pianists of our time – V. Horowitz and S. Richter.
Aldona Dvarionaitė was born on May 18, 1939 in Kaunas to a family of eminent Lithuanian musicians Balys and Aldona Dvarionas. Father, composer Balys Dvarionas, and mother, pianist Aldona Dvarionienė, nurtured an artistic atmosphere at home, which surrounded Aldona and her brother Jurgis. She started playing piano at a very early age; her first teacher was her mother. In 1946, she entered the Kaunas Ten Year Music School (presently J. Naujalis Music Gymnasium). After family moved to Vilnius in 1949, she furthered her piano education under Miriam Azizbekova at the Vilnius Ten Year Music School (presently M. K. Čiurlionis National School of Art). Meeting all piano technique requirements and making striking progress A.Dvarionaitė started giving concerts while still a student. In 1956, on her last year at the school she was chosen to perform Liszt’s Second Piano Concerto in A flat major with the State Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra. Upon graduating from the school she entered the Lithuanian State Conservatoire (presently the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre) where she studied under Azizbekova. In 1962, she graduated cum laude from the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow (Heinrich Neuhaus), where in 1966 she completed a postgraduate degree (Stanislav Neuhaus).
Creative career
In 1966, A.Dvarionaitė and her husband painter J. Karzeniowski settled in Gdynia, Poland. Concerts were the main field of her activities. Even though she lived in Poland, she always presented herself as a Lithuanian pianist representing Lithuania. A.Dvarionaitė greatly contributed to the promulgation of Lithuanian music in the world. She gave solo concerts and appeared as a soloist with symphony orchestras in Austria, Bulgaria, the USA, Spain, Italy, Poland, Lithuania, France, the USSR, Germany and other countries. A.Dvarionaitė took part in international festivals including Schleswig-Holstein (Germany), Incontri di Serra Maiori (Italy), Chopin a Duszniki and Baranów in Sandomierz (Poland), Chopin Festival (Austria), Oviedo Festival (Spain), etc.
She promulgated the music of her father B. Dvarionas in Lithuania and abroad, premiered many of his works for piano, carried on with concert series for children initiated by her father – performed in music schools of Lithuania.
A.Dvarionaitė’s contemporaries considered her to be second to none and idiosyncratic pianist whose spontaneous and swift temperament, inner freedom, sensitiveness and subtlety was tailored for romantic music. Among her favourite composers – F. Chopin, F. Schubert, S. Rachmaninov, M. K. Čiurlionis, as well as A. Scriabin, C. Debussy, F. Liszt, J. Brahms and M. Ravel.
The international press repeatedly praised A.Dvarionaitė’s high artistic-professional level. After her concert in Baranów in 1986, the musicologist Bohdan Pociej wrote: ”A romantic artist Dvarionaitė is endowed with a rare ability to create musical images; at the piano producing an unbelievable range of sound and power she has a natural feel for specific transposition of large time periods and sense of large-scale form of Liszt’s virtuoso works (…); her interpretation art – the key to Liszt’s music – proves that this music speaks out only in the hands of the most prominent pianists”. (Bohdan Pociej. „Muzyka i idee“/ „Music and ideas“. Tygodnik Powszechny, 1986, No. 45. From: “Amžina klajūnė” p.316)
Since 1963, A.Dvarionaitė had taught with interruptions at the Piano Department of the Lithuanian State Conservatoire where in 1995 she became an associate professor. In 1998–1999, she taught at the private conservatoire in Vigo (Galicia, Spain). She led international master classes in Spain, Italy, Poland and Lithuania; was a jury member in international piano competitions such as M. K. Čiurlionis, B. Dvarionas, Jose Iturbi (Spain) and A. Rubinstein (France). In 2000, she was the initiator of the F. Chopin Society in Lithuania of which she served as the first president. In addition, the pianist was a member of K. Szymanowski Society in Poland. She released 3 CDs one of which featuring Chopin’s piano works was issued by Polish recording studio “Futurex classics”; she also recorded for the Lithuanian Radio.
A.Dvarionaitė often visited Lithuania, was giving many concerts here in particular in Palanga. She often gave concerts for friends and musical community in the house of her parents.
When her health weakened her brother Jurgis Dvarionas took her to parents’ house in Palanga. She died after a difficult illness on November 5, 2000. At the funeral her nephew Justas Dvarionas performed music from B. Dvarionas’ Little Suite as a farewell from her parents’ house. Her father used to perform this opus for Aldona on her birthday on May 18th.
The pianist is buried next to her parents Aldona and Balys Dvarionas in the family grave in Palanga. The Dvarionas family grave monument was created by sculptor R. Midvikis.
Written by Aldona Juodelienė
Lithuanian Composers
Vytautas Bacevičius
Sonata for piano No. 3 (LRT Recording)
Kazimieras Viktoras Banaitis
“Twilight Songs and Visions”, op. 2
Variations on the Lithuanian Folk Song
Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis
„Stretch Away, Fields", Variations on the Lithuanian Folk Song (LRT Recording)
Two Pieces – fughetta op. 29 No. 1
Four preludes op. 27
Four preludes op. 26, No. 1-4
The Sea op. 28 No. 1-3.
Prelude op.7 No. 4, in A minor (LRT Recording)
Prelude op.12 No. 1, in D minor (LRT Recording)
Preludes op.16 No. 1, in B minor (LRT Recording)
Prelude op.16 No. 2, in B minor (LRT Recording)
Prelude op.16 No. 3, in D minor (LRT Recording)
Prelude op.17 No. 1, in G minor (LRT Recording)
Prelude op.20 No. 1, in B flat minor (LRT Recording)
Prelude op.20 No. 2, in B flat minor (LRT Recording)
Prelude op.21 No. 1, in D minor (LRT Recording)
Prelude op.21 No. 4, in D minor (LRT Recording)
25 Preludes
Four preludes, op. 26
Four preludes, op. 27
Two fughettas and two preludes, op. 29
Three preludes op. 30: No. 1 – in C major, No. 2 – in D minor, No. 3 – in C minor
“Autumn” op.17, No. 2 (LRT Recording)
Balys Dvarionas
“Mirage” (LRT Recording)
Impromptu "Refreshed Fresco" (Dancing Fresco)
Adagio (LRT Recording)
“Reeds” (Of A Lake) (LRT Recording)
“Sorrow” (LRT Recording)
Prelude (LRT Recording)
Polka (LRT Recording)
Lullaby (LRT Recording)
Intermezzo (LRT Recording)
“Album leaf” (LRT Recording)
Dance (LRT Recording)
Concerto for piano and orchestra No.1 in G minor (LRT Recording)
Sonata-ballade for violin and piano (LRT Recording)
Koncertas fortepijonui ir kameriniam orkestrui Nr. 2 (LRT Recording)
Nocturne (LRT Recording)
“By The Old Belfry” (LRT Recording)
“Little Suite” (LRT Recording)
“From The Winter Sketches” (LRT Recording)
Nocturne In F-sharp Minor (LRT Recording)
Waltz Impromptu (A Vision From The Past) (LRT Recording)
“Footsteps” (Drops) (LRT Recording)
Prelude B flat Major (LRT Recording)
“A Legend” (LRT Recording)
Micro Preludes (LRT Recording)
Sonatina In G-sharp Minor
Humoresque In D Minor
Etude
Minuet In B Minor
12 pieces
Elegy
Scherzo
Waltz in G minor
Juozas Gruodis
“A la Chopin”
Oriental dance from the music for Jerzy Żuławski's play "Sabbatai Zevi"
Sonata for piano No. 2 (LRT Recording)
Sonata for violin and piano (LRT Recording)
Variations on the Lithuanian Folk Song "Don't Tempt Me, Boy" (LRT Recording)
Vladas Jakubėnas
„Fairy tale“ op. 2, No. 1 (andantino) (LRT Recording)
“Legend” op. 2, No. 2, (Adagio) (LRT Recording)
Leonas Povilaitis
Sonata for piano (LRT Recording)
Foreign Composers
Issak Albeniz
Suite “Iberia” (LRT Recording)
Bela Bartok
Romanian folk dances (LRT Recording)
“Out of Doors” (LRT Recording)
Rhapsody in G minor (LRT Recording)
Rhapsody for violin and piano No.1 (LRT Recording)
Ludwig van Beethoven
Bagatelle, in B flat major (LRT Recording)
Concerto for piano and orchestra No. 4, in G major, op. 58 (LRT Recording)
Sonata No. 14, in C sharp minor "Quasi una fantasia"
Sonata No. 21, in C major, op. 53, “Waldstein”
Sonata in C minor op. 27 No.2 “Moonlight” (LRT Recording)
Sonata in C major “Aurora”, op. 53
Johannes Brahms
Sonata for violin and piano No. 2, in A major, op. 100
Sonata No. 2, in F sharp minor, op. 2
Sonata in F minor op. 5, No. 3
Intermezzo op.118
Intermezzo in A minor (LRT Recording)
Intermezzo, op.118 in E flat major (LRT Recording)
Intermezzo, op.118 in A major (LRT Recording)
Sonata No. 3, in F minor, op. 5 (LRT Recording)
Sonata No. 1,in C major, op. 1 (LRT Recording)
Song (Įrašyta LRT)
“Klavierstücke”, op. 118
Frederic Chopin
Waltz in A minor, op.34, No. 2 (LRT Recording)
Waltz in E flat major, op.18, No. 1 (LRT Recording)
Ballad No.1,in G minor, op.23 (LRT Recording)
Etude in C minor, op. 10, No. 12 (LRT Recording)
Etude in B minor (LRT Recording)
Concerto in F minor No.2
Mazurka in A minor (LRT Recording)
Mazurka in C sharp minor (LRT Recording)
Nocturne in D flat major, op. 27 No. 2 (LRT Recording)
Polonaise in F sharp minor, op. 44 (LRT Recording)
Prelude in E minor, op. 28, No. 4 (LRT Recording)
Prelude in B minor, op. 28, No. 6 (LRT Recording)
Prelude in D flat major op. 28, No. 15 (LRT Recording)
Prelude in G minor op. 28, No. 22 (LRT Recording)
Sonata in B mnior, op. 58
Waltz in A flat major, op. 69, No. 1 (LRT Recording)
Waltz in D flat major, op. 64, No. 1 (LRT Recording)
Waltz in E flat major, op. 18 (LRT Recording)
Waltz in A minor, op. 34, No. 2 (LRT Recording)
Waltz in F major, op. 34, No. 3 (LRT Recording)
Waltz in C sharp minor, op. 64, No. 2 (LRT Recording)
Waltz in C sharp minor, No. 7 (LRT Recording)
Claude Debussy
Prelude Les sons et les parfums tournent dans l'air du soir (LRT Recording)
L'isle joyeuse (LRT Recording)
Habanera (LRT Recording)
Prelude Minstrels (LRT Recording)
Le vent dans la plaine (LRT Recording)
Feux d'artifice (LRT Recording)
Ce qu'a vu le vent d'ouest (LRT Recording)
Rogelio Groba
Piano quintet (LRT Recording)
Manuel de Falla
“El amor brujo” (LRT Recording)
Franz Liszt
Sonata in B flat mninor
Nocturne No. 3, in A flat major, op. 52 (LRT Recording)
Concerto for piano and orchestra No. 2 in A major (LRT Recording)
Tarantella (LRT Recording)
Fantasia quasi Sonata “Apres une lecture du Dante” (LRT Recording)
“Funerailles” (LRT Recording)
Années de Pelerinage (LRT Recording)
“Venezia e Napoli”: Gondoliere, Canzone, Tarantella (LRT Recording)
“Hungarian Rhapsody” (LRT Recording)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Concerto for piano and orchestra No. 20, in D minor (LRT Recording)
Concerto for piano and orchestra in A major
Sergei Prokofiev
Concerto for piano and orchestra in G minor No. 2
Sonata in D minor No. 2, op. 14
Sonata No. 8 in B flat major, op. 84
Sergei Rachmaninoff
Concerto for piano and orchestra No. 4, in G minor, op. 40 (LRT Recording)
Concerto for piano and orchestra No. 2 in C minor, op.18 (LRT Recording)
Prelude op.23, in E flat major (LRT Recording)
Etude-tableaux in F minor, No. 1 (LRT Recording)
Etude-tableaux in E flat major No. 5 (LRT Recording)
Prelude No.5, op.23, in G minor (LRT Recording)
2 Etudes-Tableaux op.39
Maurice Ravel
“Valses nobles et sentimentales” (LRT Recording)
“Le gibet” (LRT Recording)
“Ondine” (LRT Recording)
“Gaspard de la nuit” Trois poèmes pour piano d'après Aloysius Bertrand" (LRT Recording)
Franz Schubert
“Du bist die Ruh” op. 59 No. 3 (LRT Recording)
Sonata in A major, op. 120 (LRT Recording)
Sonata in B flat major
Franz Schubert-F. Liszt
“Du bist die Ruh”
“Erlkönig”
Robert Schumann
Scenes from Childhood, op. 15 (LRT Recording)
“Blumenstück”, in D flat major, op. 19 (LRT Recording)
Sonata No. 3, in F minor, op. 14 (LRT Recording)
Waldscenen, Op. 82
Sonata in F minor, op. 14
Alexander Scriabin
Sonata in F sharp major (LRT Recording)
Waltz op.38, in A flat major (LRT Recording)
Poem “Vers la flame”, op 72 (LRT Recording)
Two Pieces op. 57 (LRT Recording)
Sonata No. 7 (LRT Recording)
Concerto for piano and orchestra in F sharp minor, op. 20. (LRT Recording)
Sonata No. 4 op. 30
Sonata No. 7, op. 64 “Weisse Messe”
2 Etudes op. 42
Karol Szymanowsky
Three Mythes, op.30 (LRT Recording)
Fantasy, op. 14
Giuseppe Tartini
Sonata in G minor
Joaquin Turina
“Women's Portrait” (LRT Recording)
Henryk Weniawsky
Polonaise in A major
“I wonder whether today anyone performs Chopin in a similar way: so powerfully and with such inner might, elaborated dramaturgy and lavish detail – tone nuances and texture forged into one form. (…) I would only look for comparison among the greats, no longer alive ones: Horowitz, Richter… Perchance in the past Liszt could have played Chopin in similar way?”
Bohdan Pociej. From: Žigaitytė, A. “Pianistė netramdo prigimties romantizmo”. Lietuvos rytas, 2000 01 25, No. 20
