ABOUT THE PERFORMERS
Violinist Irmina Trynkos has been hailed by BBC Music Magazine “an intense and charismatic new star” and “a phenomenal talent”. Gramophone calls her simply “excellent”. The Strad Magazine praises her for being “an agile and expressive soloist (…whose) poise never falters and matches her sense of power and conviction”.
Her recording with Maestro Vladimir Ashkenazy conducting the Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra for Chandos Records features Nimrod Borenstein’s Violin Concerto and earned her the coveted 5 star BBC Music Magazine “Concerto Choice”. BBC Music Magazine states that her “intensity recalls Isaac Stern’s golden period”.
Since her breakthrough performance conducted by Neeme Järvi, Irmina’s highlights include performances at the Berliner Philharmonie, Sinfonia Toronto, Slovak Philharmonic, Cadogan Hall, Wigmore Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Toronto Centre for Arts, Shanghai Concert Hall and the debut at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam which received no less than 6 standing ovations.
Her debut CD with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra became NAXOS’ best-seller and reached the Top 20 Specialist Classical Charts. Luxembourg’s Pizzicato awarded Irmina with its coveted Supersonic Award, calling her interpretation “engaging and eloquent”. As Fanfare reveals, “musical intelligence and emotional depth are hallmarks of Trynkos” and it is her curiosity that was the leading force behind the Waghalter Project and subsequently her debut CD with all of Ignatz Waghalter’s premiere violin works.
Following this success, Irmina was invited to give an extensive tour of China which included debuts at Shanghai Oriental Art Centre, Chongqing Guotai Arts Centre and Guangzhou Opera House.
Her recordings are broadcasted on international radios including BBC3, Radio 4 Netherlands, Kol Ha Musica, Polish Radio 2, Concertzender, KulturRadio, Radio New Zealand and more. Jewish Renaissance Magazine made Irmina “Artist of the Year” and she was featured on BBC Xtra, where she was interviewed and played live to an audience of more than 36 million worldwide.
“Irmina is a very natural performer, always giving her outmost and impressing the audience with her interpretation, warmth and sensitivity. She loves being on the stage, which comes through in her playing and communication with the listeners” says acclaimed violinist Lydia Mordkovitch. Irmina’s Greek-Polish background, leaving bravely home at an early age and her troubled youth have made her an unrivalled communicator and champion of classical music to the young and to new audiences.
Irmina is a strong advocate of reviving unknown violin compositions and working with living composers, whose new works are often dedicated to her. Irmina plays on Jakob Stainer Violin from 1670
Sinfonia Toronto now in its 28th season, has toured twice in Europe, in the US, South America and China, receiving glowing reviews. It has released six CD’s, including a JUNO Award winner, and performs in many Ontario cities. Its extensive repertoire includes all the major string orchestra works of the 18th through 21st centuries, and it has premiered many new works. Under the baton of Nurhan Arman the orchestra’s performances present outstanding international guest artists and prominent Canadian musicians.
Maestro Nurhan Arman has conducted throughout Europe, Asia, South America, Canada and the US, returning regularly to many orchestras in Europe. Among the orchestras Maestro Arman has conducted are the Moscow Philharmonic, Deutsches Kammerorchester Frankfurt, Filarmonica Italiana, Orchestra Sinfonico di Roma, St. Petersburg State Hermitage Orchestra, Orchestre Regional d’Ile de France, Hungarian Symphony, Arpeggione Kammerorchester, Milano Classica and Belgrade Philharmonic.
ABOUT THE MUSIC
Concertino for Violin and String Orchestra, Op. 4 by Mieczysław Weinberg (1919-1996)
The Concertino for Violin and String Orchestra, Op. 42 is an early work by Polish-Soviet composer Mieczysław Weinberg. Written in 1948, it is lighter and more lyrical than many of his later works. It is sometimes described as a neo-classical work with Romantic lyricism.
It was written during a difficult period for composers in the Soviet Union. In 1948 Soviet cultural authorities launched a campaign against “formalism” in music and condemned modernist composers. Only music that was melodic and accessible was ideologically acceptable. As a refugee from Nazi-occupied Poland living in Moscow, Weinberg was vulnerable to the political pressure and motivated to satisfy Soviet expectations by avoiding experimental or dissonant language.
The work’s scoring for solo violin and string orchestra gives it a chamber-orchestra transparency, closer to works like a Mozart concertino or a Baroque concerto grosso than a Romantic violin concerto. The first of its three movements is tuneful and relaxed, with a light, rhythmic character, often described as pastoral. The slow second movement is the emotional core of the piece; it features a darker mood and reflective lyricism. The last movement is light and dance-like, becoming increasingly exuberant en route to the conclusion.
Although Weinberg’s work influenced (and was influenced by) Shostakovich, in this piece the influence is subtle; the tone is lighter and the drama is restrained compared with Shostakovich’s violin concertos.
Much of Weinberg’s music was neglected for decades. Production of his opera The Passenger in 2010–2011 drew attention to his other works, an since then, many recordings of his music have appeared and violinists have increasingly peformed the Concertino.
Violin Concerto by Claudia Montero (1962-2021)
Toronto premiere
This work by Claudia Montero is one of the most important violin concertos from Latin America in the early 21st century. It is a compact yet emotionally vivid work that blends the classical concerto tradition with folkloric rhythms and Argentinian musical idioms such as tango. Composed in 2012, the concerto gained international fame in 2014 when it won a Latin Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Classical Composition. It helped establish Montero as one of the most prominent contemporary Latin-American classical composers.
Montero was born in Buenos Aires, trained at the Alberto Ginastera Conservatory, and later established her base in Valencia, Spain, where she studied for a doctorate in composition. Her music is notable for combining classical orchestral writing, Argentinian tango gestures, South American rhythmic patterns, and lyrical romantic melodies.
Each of the concerto’s three movements is conceived as a kind of narrative scene.
“From the Pink Corner” - The first movement’s title refers to a famous story by Jorge Luis Borges about a knife fight. It depicts the conflict with rhythmic drive, tango-like accents, dramatic violin gestures and vibrant orchestral rhythms. The violin alternates between percussive attacks and lyrical phrases, building tension.
“The Moon in Front of You” - The second movement is slow and atmospheric, with lyrical violin lines, delicate string textures, a melancholic tone and expressive rubato, perhaps representing Argentinian nostalgia and romanticism.
“Labyrinth” - The final movement is energetic and rhythmically complex, with shifting rhythmic patterns, folk-inspired dance elements, virtuosic violin passages, and a dramatic build toward the end. Its title suggests its twisting musical lines and unpredictable motion.
These elements are all integrated into a classical concerto structure. At the same time, Montero’s music often emphasizes long melodic lines, emotional expressiveness, and dramatic contrasts. This concerto is part of a growing trend in modern classical music, which highlights regional musical identity within classical forms. Similar trends appear in works by composers from Argentina, Mexico, Brazil, and Spain. In this context, Montero’s concerto stands out for its compact structure, its accessibility, its elegant blending of tango and classical writing and its strong melodic appeal.
Divertimento in D Major, K. 137 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Mozart was only sixteen in 1772 when he composed his Divertimento in D Major, K. 136, just after returning from a concert tour of Italy with his father. Young Wolfgang was already an accomplished virtuoso performer, and his set of three Divertimenti K. 136-138, also known affectionately as the “Salzburg Symphonies,” show creative finesse far beyond his years.
The first and last of the set follow the customary order of movements, fast-slow-fast, but this work begins with a slow movement and continues with two fast ones in succession, an experiment Mozart never repeated.
The first movement opens with a few bars of overwrought harmony, not settling into its home key of B-flat until the eighth measure. The key foundation remains rather unstable beneath the movement’s melodic ornamentation. Each of the three movements is in straightforward sonata form, without the adventurous excursions the more mature Mozart would include in his development sections. The second movement bustles with good humour, propelled by repeated-note figures in the lower strings. After the main theme of the finale, Mozart inserted a folk-style melody over a simple bass line. The finale’s development section makes a gesture towards learned counterpoint, but at the end of the recapitulation it falls back on the folk-style theme for a vigorous, cheerful ending.
Theatrical Suite by Vache Sharafyan (1966 - )
Canadian premiere
Vache Sharafyan created his Theatrical Suite in 2024, basing it on incidental music he originally composed for stage productions. Poignantly lyrical, it is a journey through Eastern European and Armenian traditions blended with contemporary styles. Movements first meant to accompany actors’ dialogue and actions, now heard as pure music, build a symphonic narrative with emotional resonance.
Sharafyan graduated from the Yerevan Conservatory in 1990 and in 1992 completed a doctorate there under the eminent composer Edvard Mirzoyan. He has written hundreds of compositions including symphonic works, chamber, choral, vocal music and five operas. His works have been performed in 35 countries, and he was appointed an official composer for Yo Yo Ma's Silk Road Project. In addition to many international guest lecturer engagements, including a full semester at UCLA, he has been Head of the Composition Department at Komitas State Conservatory since 2003.
Capriol Suite by Peter Warlock (1894-1930)
The Capriol Suite is English composer Peter Warlock’s most famous work. Composed in 1926, it is a lively and colourful suite of short dances, inspired by music of the Renaissance. Despite its historical inspiration, the music is unmistakably 20th-century in harmony and orchestration.
The dances are based on melodies from a 16th-century dance manual by Thoinot Arbeau. Arbeau’s famous book, Orchésographie, published in 1589, undertook to describe all familiar Renaissance dances: their rhythms, choreography, and accompanying music. Warlock used Arbeau’s melodies but re-harmonized and re-orchestrated them in his own distinctive style. The title “Capriol” refers to the fictional young nobleman who appears in Arbeau’s Orchésographie: Arbeau teaches the dances to a student named Capriol, and their dialogues explain the dances.
The suite’s stylistic features include melodies and rhythms that imitate 16th-century dance music, but Warlock’s harmonies are richer, more chromatic, and unmistakably modern. His scoring for strings allows clear contrapuntal lines, crisp articulation, and strong rhythmic drive.
The six movements offer a delightful sequence of contrasts. A stately court Basse-Danse with broad chords and a solemn, ceremonial atmosphere sets the historical tone of the suite, followed by a graceful Pavane featuring smooth melodic lines, gentle harmonic shifts, and elegant phrasing. The quick tempo, energetic rhythm and playful character of a Tordion provides a dramatic contrast before the even more playful Bransles, a group of three short dances with vigorous rhythms, a folk-dance flavour and humorous accents.
The Pieds-en-l’air is the emotional center of the suite. Its slow tempo, expressive melody and haunting atmosphere are enriched by Warlock’s modern harmonies. The final Mattachins is a dramatic sword dance that imitates Renaissance mock-combat dances performed by soldiers.
Warlock was deeply interested in early music, collaborating with the musicologist Cecil Gray and writing essays on early composers, including Carlo Gesualdo. While still a student he also became fascinated by the occult, leading to the pseudonym by which he is known. His real name was Philip Arnold Heseltine, but he published all his music under the name Peter Warlock.
The Capriol Suite is often grouped with other early-music-inspired works by English composers such as Ralph Vaughan Williams, Gustav Holst, and Benjamin Britten. Along with Warlock, these three were all part of a broader 20th-century English early-music revival.
