CALL OF THE PAPER KITE – Kevin Zi-Xiao He – Alexander Panizza

Composed by Kevin Zi-Xiao He. Performed by Alexander Panizza (piano).

Audio recorded and mastered by Alexander Panizza.

Video edited by Xu Zhiwei.

ABOUT THE COMPOSER: Kevin Zi-Xiao He is a Chinese-born composer who immigrated to Canada in his mid-teen years. With a particular interest in popular and traditional music of East Asia, Kevin has studied with renowned figures such as Gary Kulesha and Alexander Rapoport. His works have been showcased in international new music festivals in North America, Asia, and Europe. Kevin is a current doctoral candidate in composition in the studio of Dr. Christos Hatzis, at the University of Toronto.

ABOUT THE PERFORMER: Alexander Panizza is a master pianist who is known throughout the Americas for his incredible interpretations of great classical works, as well as other genres and style of piano music.

PROGRAM NOTES FROM MR. HE: “Call of the Paper Kite”, composed in 2014, was inspired by a vague fragment of my memory of a movie scene I had watched as a young child: during WWII in Northeastern China, the commander of the Japanese army brought his daughter, a six year old girl, who became friends with a Chinese orphan boy. The two children, against all odds of war and brutality, beyond the barrier of language and nationality, saw the most innocent and pure friendship blossom between them, flying a paper kite together every day, into sunset…

The SPO is very grateful for the funding support for this work and other projects from: Canada Council for the Arts | Toronto Arts Council | SOCAN Foundation.

To learn more about Kevin Zi-Xiao He: https://www.hezixiao.com/ | https://www.instagram.com/kevinhezixiao/ |    / @hezixiao  .

To learn more about Alexander Panizza: http://alexanderpanizza.com/.

RUBATO ROBOTO – Bruno Degazio – Alexander Panizza

Composed by Bruno Degazio. Performed by Alexander Panizza (piano).

Video edited and produced by Bruno Degazio. Audio recorded and mastered by Alexander Panizza.

ABOUT THE CREATOR: Bruno Degazio is a talented Canadian composer who is also professor of Digital Tools in the Classical Animation program of Sheridan College, recently voted top animation school worldwide by Animation Career Review magazine. He has extensive experience in cinematic sound design, including special-effects for the Oscar-nominated documentary film, “The Fires of Kuwait” and music for the IMAX films “Titanica” and “CyberWorld-3D“, as well as many other films and television dramas. As a researcher in computer applications for the arts he has published papers on music composition using fractals and genetic algorithms. He is the author of “The Transformation Engine“, a software system for music composition and data sonification. He is currently investigating the algorithmic combination of OpenGL graphics with computer music composition.

Alexander Panizza is a master pianist who performs all kinds of music throughout the Americas. He also produces music performance videos. The SPO greatly appreciates the funding support for this video from: Canada Council for the Arts | Toronto Arts Council | SOCAN Foundation. To learn more about Bruno Degazio: http://sheridan4thyear.blogspot.com/p…. To learn more about Alexander Panizza: http://alexanderpanizza.com/.

MUTABILITY – Elizabeth Raum – Alexander Panizza

Composed by Elizabeth Raum; Performed by Alexander Panizza, piano Video and audio recording and editing by Alexander Panizza. Post-Porduction video editing by Eero Daniel-Raum

Programme notes from the composer: Jane Gordon, the lady for whom Mutability was written, commissioned this piece as a present to herself for her 60th birthday. The reason for the commission is best described in her own words. The following is a letter I received from Jane on July 2, 2002: “In my non-musical life I am a professor of Sociology and Women’s Studies at Mount Saint Vincent University in Halifax. Although I had piano lessons as a child, I gave it up as soon as I could. However, I kept the piano and the books and at age 55 (after I’d finished years of paying for my children’s lessons, from the cultural to the athletic) I decided it was my turn and I started piano again. In my scholarly work, I have spent most of my academic career looking at issues around women’s lives, particularly the paid and unpaid work women do, in the academy and in the home and my research is tied to my teaching areas, primarily the family and work. …as a tie in with my academic interests, I began to learn what I could by Canadian women composers. Last year, as part of the Mount’s celebration of International Women’s Week, I arranged a short performance and lecture called “Canadian Women of Note”. In my recent Grade 7 exam I did (from the old Royal Conservatory syllabus) a study by Nancy Telfer and “Sparks” by Barbara Pentland. In my observation, the experience of women composers parallels that of women in other professional areas: less visible, less valued. I try to use my music (and I am really just an intermediate level student) to share the work of contemporary Canadian women composers, though most of the ‘sharing’ is recitals organized by my teacher and university based opportunities, such as the community hobby and talent show.” Before I began working on this piece for Jane, I found myself drawn to a book of poems by Shelley and upon opening it, the first poem that caught my eye was Mutability. This poem became the inspiration for Jane’s new work for piano.

MUTABILITY — by Percy Bysshe Shelley

We are as clouds that veil the midnight moon;

How restlessly they speed, and gleam, and quiver,

Streaking the darkness radiantly! -yet soon

Night closes round, and they are lost for ever:

Or like forgotten lyres, whose dissonant strings

Give various response to each varying blast,

To whose frail frame no second motion brings

One mood or modulation like the last.

We rest. A dream has power to poison sleep;

We rise. One wandering thought pollutes the day;

We feel, conceive or reason, laugh or weep;

Embrace fond woe, or cast our cares away:

It is the same! For, be it joy or sorrow,

The path of its departure still is free:

Man’s yesterday may ne’er be like his morrow;

Nought may endure but Mutablilty.

For more information on the composer, Elizabeth Raum: https://elizabethraum.com/.

For more information on the pianist, Alexander Panizza: http://alexanderpanizza.com/.

Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 26 in E♭ major, Op. 81a, “Les Adieux”

Ludwig van Beethoven, composer; Performed by Alexander Panizza, piano

Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 26 in E♭ major, Op. 81a, known as Les Adieux (“The Farewell”), was written during the years 1809 and 1810. The title Les Adieux implies a programmatic nature. The French attack on Vienna, led by Napoléon Bonaparte in 1809, forced Beethoven’s patron, Archduke Rudolph, to leave the city. Yet, there is some uncertainty about this nature of the piece — or at least, about the degree to which Beethoven wished this programmatic nature would be known. He titled the three movements “Lebewohl”, “Abwesenheit”, and “Wiedersehen” (‘farewell’, ‘absence’, and ‘reunion’), and reportedly regarded the French “Adieux” (said to whole assemblies or cities) as a poor translation of the feeling of the German “Lebewohl” (said heartfully to a single person). Indeed, Beethoven wrote the syllables “Le-be-wohl” over the first three chords. On the first 1811 publication, a dedication was added reading “On the departure of his Imperial Highness, for the Archduke Rudolph in admiration”. An average performance of the piece lasts about 17 minutes. The sonata is one of Beethoven’s most challenging sonatas because of the mature emotions that must be conveyed throughout as well as the technical difficulties involved. It is also the bridge between his middle period and his later period and is considered the third great sonata of the middle period. [Source: Wikipedia] ————– Software and plugins used: Recorded on a Yamaha N3 Soundest: Vienna Instruments Bösendorfer Imperial Sound: Studio One v5 Video: Premiere Pro with Red Giant software ————–

You can find many more amazing video performances from Alexander on his YouTube channel —    / pianopanizza  .

You can find more about Alexander on these platforms: Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/AlexanderPan… Spotify | https://open.spotify.com/artist/0LxBG… Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/alexanderpa… Sound Cloud | https://soundcloud.com/alexander-panizza

Moonlight Sonata – Ludwig van Beethoven – Alexander Panizza

Ludwig van Beethoven, composer; Alexander Panizza, piano T

he Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor, marked Quasi una fantasia, Op. 27, No. 2. It was completed in 1801 and dedicated in 1802 to his pupil Countess Giulietta Guicciardi. The popular name “Moonlight Sonata” goes back to a critic’s remark after Beethoven’s death. The piece is one of Beethoven’s most popular compositions for the piano, and it was a popular favorite even in his own day. Beethoven wrote the “Moonlight Sonata” in his early thirties, after he had finished with some commissioned work; there is no evidence that he was commissioned to write this sonata. [Source: Wikipedia] Mr. Panizza’s performance is remarkable, as is the video which Mr. Panizza also created. The Scarborough Philharmonic Orchestra is thrilled to present Mr. Panizza’s performances as part of our online digital content series.

Attributions: austria-court-ball-1900-granger Michał_Stachowicz_-_Dancing_in_front_of_the_village_inn_-_MP_2599_MNW_-_National_Museum_in_Warsaw Pieter_Bruegel_II_-_Peasant_Wedding_Dance_-_Walters_37364 Frederic_Storck_-_Beethoven Other images: Wikipedia All other media: Envato Elements