Franz Schubert & Modern Music – the Art of Song in the Stefaniensaal

A competition comes very close to an obstacle course ... you have to overcome one obstacle after the other. What impressed me the most about the two winning duos Mikhail Timoshenko & Elitsa Desseva and Sophia Burgos & Daniel Gerzenberg was their poise from the very first moment and the perfect mastery of their chosen repertoire. Sophia was able to score incredibly well in the contemporary repertoire and sang with astonishing familiarity, Mikhail filled the hall with his voice, his charisma, and his unique personality. Both were perfectly complemented by their congenial duo partners Elitsa and Daniel. The duos presented themselves at the highest level in all rounds and absolutely deserved the competition success. I am sure that this success in Graz will also be reflected in the course of their career.

Luis Gago (violinist, lawyer, musicologist, author, music producer, curator and critic; in 2018 he was a member of the Lied jury of the competition "Franz Schubert and Modern Music")

Duo Mikhail TIMOSHENKO & Elitsa DESSEVA

In 2018, the Timoshenko-Desseva Duo received the 1st Prize at the 10th International Chamber Music Competition "Franz Schubert and Modern Music" in Graz, 1st Prize at the International Song Competition of the Hugo Wolf Academy in Stuttgart, 2nd Prize and the audience award at the International Schubert Lied Duo Competition in Dortmund as well as the 3rd Prize and Yamaha Prize at the International Chamber Music Competition in Lyon and the 1st Prize at the Wigmore Hall International Song Competition in London in 2019. Their collaboration as a duo enabled them to perform in concert halls, such as the Opéra Garnier and the Berlin Konzerthaus.

Mikhail TIMOSHENKO – bass-baritone (Russia):
After studying at the music school in Mednogorsk (Russia), Mikhail Timoshenko completed his studies at the Liszt School of Music in Weimar and got early engagements on the stages of the Opera National de Paris, the Opera Monte Carlo and the Opéra National de Bordeaux, from 2015 onwards also as a member of the Academy of the Paris National Opera. He sang important roles in his career in Joanna Lee's Vol Retour, in Monteverdi's L‘Orfeo, in Tchaikovsky's Mazeppa (Opera from Oviedo, Spain), as well as other roles, among others, in Wozzeck, Rigoletto, Don Carlos, Un ballo in maschera and Boris Godunov at the Opéra Bastille. In 2016 he received 1st prize at the Concours International de Chant Bordeaux Médoc, a special prize from the Cercle Carpeaux, a special prize from the AROP Association, 1st prize at the Siemens Opera Contest and in 2017 1st prize at the International Maria Callas Competition. Annually, Mikhail organizes charity concerts in Russia to support the work with disabled children in the Orenburg diaconal center and similar organizations.

Elitsa DESSEVA – Piano (Bulgaria):
Elitsa Desseva was born in Sofia (Bulgaria) in 1993. She completed her master's degree in piano at the University of Music in Weimar and is currently studying song accompaniment with Charles Spencer at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna. As a pianist, her love is above all the song repertoire, but also the music of the 20th and 21st century. In 2015, she began her international career in a Lied Duo with mezzo-soprano Polina Artsis. In the same year the duo was awarded the 1st prize at the Lied Duo Competition of the Franz Liszt Music Academy in Weimar and the 1st prize and special prize at the International Karl Adler Music Competition in Stuttgart. In 2017 they won first prize at the International Lied Duo Competition in Groningen, followed by a concert and a nationwide live broadcast from the Concertgebouw Amsterdam on the Dutch broadcaster Radio 5, as well as appearances at important festivals such as the Grachtenfestival and the Peter de Grote Festival. She also took part in several fundraising events in Germany and Russia organized by “Yehudi Menuhin Live Musik Now e.V.” and the non-profit organization “Diaconal Center Touch”. At these concerts Elitsa wcollected donations to support the work with disabled children in the diaconal center Orenburg and similar organizations.

Duo Sophia BURGOS & Daniel GERZENBERG

2nd Prize and Special Prize for the best interpretation of the commissioned composition by Isabel Mundry at the 10th International Competition “Franz Schubert and Modern Music” 2018 at the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz.

Ausgezeichnet_plus Duo TIMOSHENKO & DESSEVA and BURGOS & GERZENBERG in the Stefaniensaal Graz, Graz Congress
Date: October 24, 2019
Time: 7.30 p.m.(Prolog in the Hall at 6.45 p.m. with Ulla Pilz)

Programme:

Mikhail TIMOSHENKO – Bass-baritone & Elitsa DESSEVA – Piano: Über den Tag hindurch „Wo Phantasien und Traumgestalten /Immer vor mir vorüberfliehn.“

Gustav Holst (1874-1934) - Ushas (Dawn) op. 24 (Hymns from the Rig Veda)
Franz Schubert (1797-1828) - Memnon D 541 op. 6/1 (Johann Mayrhofer)
Gustav Holst Varuna II (The Waters) op. 24/5
Gustav Holst Maruts (Stormclouds) op. 24 (Hymns from the Rig Veda)
Andrea Lorenzo Scartazzini (*1971) - Hesperos, du bist der hirte des abends) (Raoul Schrott after Sappho)
Franz Schubert - An den Mond D 193 op. 57/3 (Ludwig Christoph Heinrich Hölty)
Andrea Lorenzo Scartazzini - Die sterne gehen wie kienspäne (Raoul Schrott after Sappho)
Richard Strauss (1864-1949) - Heimliche Aufforderung op. 27/3 (John Henry Mackay)

Sophia BURGOS – Soprano & Daniel GERZENBERG – Piano

Improvisation - Ovum (Daniel Gerzenberg)
Andrew Haig (1986*) - Maktub (Daniel Gerzenberg)
1. Reset
2. Das bin ich
3. Maktub

Palindrom

Franz Schubert - Des Fischers Liebesglück D 933 (Karl Gottfried Ritter von Leitner)
George Crumb  (*1929) - Apparition 1 (Walt Whitman)
Manuel de Falla (1876-1946) - Asturiana (Cancion popular)
Lili Boulanger (1893-1918) - Elle était descendue au bas de la prairie (Francis Jammes)
Manuel de Falla - Nana (Cancion popular)
George Crumb - Apparition 2 (Walt Whitman)
Franz Schubert - Des Fischers Liebesglück D 933 (Karl Gottfried Ritter von Leitner)

Mikhail TIMOSHENKO – Bass-baritone & Elitsa DESSEVA – Piano: Der Weg der Liebe „Fühlt meine Seele das ersehnte Licht / Von Gott ...“

Aaron Copland (1900-1990) - The Boatman‘s Dance (Traditional)
Franz Schubert - Auf dem See D 543 (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe)
Franz Schubert - Wilkommen und Abschied D 767 (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe)
Franz Schubert - Im Frühling D 882 (Ernst Schulze)
Hugo Wolf (1860-1903) - Fühlt meine Seele (Michelangelo Buonarroti)
Samuel Barber (*1929) - Sleep Now op. 10/2 (James Joyce)
Samuel Barber (*1929) - I Hear an Army op. 10/3 (James Joyce)

A small "instruction manual" for the concert

The two prizewinner pairs for "Lied Duo" of "Franz Schubert and Modern Music 2018“ were invited to incorporate both elements of the competition into their programming of the evening and decided to mix Schubert's lieder with works from the 20th and 21st centuries. The concert was divided into four blocks:

The duo Timoshenko & Desseva started the evening under the motto “Throughout the day”, subtitle “Where fantasies and dream figures / Always fly past me”, covering a day and, above all, a night with all their natural phenomena.

The duo Burgos & Gerzenberg rounded off the first half with three songs by the young American composer Andrew Haig, which were written for the two of them. What is special about it: the soprano Sophia Burgos is the composer's life partner, tibrettist is the pianist Andrew Gerzenberg. Burgos & Gerzenberg then opened the second half of the concert with a group of seven songs entitled “Palindrom”, which opens and ends with Schubert's Des Fischer's Liebesglück. In between, the arch spans like in a palindrome (a word that can be read from the front and back) over the languages ​​German-English-Spanish-French and the composers Schubert - Crumb - de Falla - Boulanger and back again.

The final of the concert was contested by the duo Timoshenko & Desseva; The headline here was “The Path of Love”, supplemented by the beginning of the Hugo Wolf song of the same name ("Der Weg der Liebe"). Felt my soul the longed-for light / From God ..., the topic was accordingly that around which so much revolves in life and in song: love.


The University of Music and Performing Arts Graz would like to express its sincere thanks for the important and generous support in being able to award such prizes:
* 1st Prize of € 9,000, donated by the City of Graz
** 2nd Prize of € 6,500, donated by the Gesellschaft der Freunde der Kunstuniversität Graz