Inez Milholland Boissevain preparing to lead the March 3, 1913, suffrage parade in Washington, D.C. She and her family lived in Lewis, NY. (Source: Library of Congress)
Ethel, Dora, & A Gent Named Ludwig
Cello Sonatas by Smyth, Pejacevic, and Beethoven
April 17, 2021, 7:00PM EST
Hannah Holman, Cello
Réne Lecuona, Piano
PROGRAM
Ethel Smyth Sonata for Cello and Piano in A minor, Opus 5
Dora Pejecevic Sonata for Cello and Piano in E minor, Op. 35
1st movement-Allegro moderato
Ludwig Beethoven Sonata in G minor for Piano and Cello, Opus 5 No. 2
“Equally outstanding are the performances by cellist Hannah Holman and pianist Réne Lecuona. Holman’s intonation is consistently excellent. Lecuona seems to lavish well-considered planning to every note she plays. Her control of the keyboard is amazing. The playing of both musicians demonstrates first-rate musicianship.” —Review of String Music by David Gompper by Fanfare
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On April 17th, Piano by Nature will present these two dynamic performers in a zoom program beginning at 7PM and free of charge. If you wish to join the live zoom event on April 17th, all you need to do is sign-up on our mailing list at the bottom of our website (just scroll down!). We will send you a link on the day of the concert and all you need to do is ‘press play’ when the ‘doors’ open anytime after 6:30PM EST. If you wish to listen later or listen again, come back to this page on our website to find the published link to their concert. Then watch it as many times as you like for two weeks! We hope to see you on the 17th and look forward to experiencing this very special event together!
This Piano by Nature concert was featured in Lake Champlain Weekly in the article “In the Final Analysis.” Click images to enlarge or read here.
For more than twenty years, Hannah Holman and Réne Lecuona have performed the canonic literature for cello and piano (Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Brahms, Ravel, Prokofiev). They have also championed lesser-known works. Their CD recording Trouvaille (“Lucky Find”) featured pieces by French composer Louis Vierne and Hungarian composer Ernö Dohnányi. Fanfare magazine called Trouvailles, “breathtaking!” They introduced Léon Boëllmann’s Sonata for Cello and Piano to delighted French and Scottish audiences in 2017. Their recordings of Bernard Romberg’s Cello Sonatas have garnered over 106,000 hits on Youtube.
Recently, they have turned their artistic energy to masterpieces written by pre-eminent and needlessly forgotten women composers.
English composer and suffragette par excellence Ethel Smyth (1858-1944) was the only woman to have an opera produced by the Met until the early 21st century. She studied in Germany in the 1880s and met many of the most famous musicians of the day, including Brahms, Clara Schumann, and Tchaikovsky.
[For more information on the Suffragette Movement in America please visit the ADK History Museum‘s wonderful exhibit right here in Elizabethtown—opening in May 2021.]
“Because I have conducted my own operas and love sheep-dogs; because I generally dress in tweeds, and sometimes, at winter afternoon concerts, have even conducted in them; because I was a militant suffragette and seized a chance of beating time to The March of the Women from the window of my cell in Holloway Prison with a tooth-brush; because I have written books, spoken speeches, broadcast, and don’t always make sure that my hat is on straight; for these and other equally pertinent reasons, in a certain sense I am well known.” —Ethel Smyth
Dora Pejecevic (1885-1923) was the daughter of Croatian and Hungarian aristocrats. She devoted herself to the study of music and travelled to Germany for advanced composition lessons, but it is in Croatia where she is considered a national treasure. Her Symphony in F-sharp minor is considered to be the first Croatian symphony. Tragically, she died in childbirth when in her 30s. Holman and Lecuona will perform the first movement of Pejacevic’s Sonata for Cello and Piano in E minor, Op. 35.
“I hope that our child should become a true, open, and great human being — prepare its way for it, never prevent it from knowing in life that suffering ennobles the soul because only in that way can one become a human being. Let it develop like a plant…if it has talent, encourage it…give it freedom when it seeks it…so act this way if it is a boy or girl; every talent, every genius, requires equal consideration, and sex cannot be allowed to come into the matter.” —Dora Pejacevic
The program will begin with a performance of Beethoven’s Sonata in G minor for Piano and Cello, Op. 5, No. 2. This dramatic piece captures Beethoven’s youthful passion.
“To play a wrong note is insignificant. To play without passion is inexcusable!”
“Music is the one incorporeal entrance into the higher world of knowledge which comprehends mankind but which mankind cannot comprehend. ”
—Ludwig van Beethoven
A LITTLE ABOUT RÉNE LECUONA
Dr. Réne Lecuona has been praised by critics in Germany, the UK, and the US for her chamber music interpretations and solo performances: “The imagery of the music is perfectly conveyed by Vogel and Lecuona in an inspired performance… this is chamber music at its best” (www.klassik.com); “As throughout the entire album, Lecuona’s performance is magnificent…” (David Murray: Bass World); “Lecuona’s interpretation of Mozart was outstanding…” (Daily Iowan).
Dr. Lecuona has performed throughout South America, Mexico, the Caribbean, and the United States. She made her Carnegie Hall debut in Weill Recital Hall with mezzo-soprano Katherine Eberle and in the Goodman Hall at Lincoln Center with soprano Rachel Joselson. Her playing has been featured on many compact discs, including a recording of the music of Margaret Brouwer (CRI label), which won the 2000 Contemporary Art Music Burton Award. She may be heard on Centaur Records, Innova Recordings, Capstone Records, Cybele Recording, Albany Records, and Composers Recordings International.
Dr. Lecuona is professor of piano at The University of Iowa. A devoted teacher, Réne has prepared students for admission and scholarship in performance programs at prestigious institutions such as the New England Conservatory, the University of Michigan, Florida State University, the Manhattan School of Music, the Eastman School of Music, Northwestern University, Peabody Conservatory, and Aspen Music Festival. Her former students hold teaching posts in Germany and Brazil as well as in the U.S.
Réne Lecuona earned a doctor of musical arts degree in piano performance and was awarded a performer’s certificate at the Eastman School of Music. She received undergraduate and master’s degrees at the Indiana University School of Music. Her major teachers have included Menahem Pressler of the Beaux Arts Trio, the late György Sebök, Edward Auer, Shigeo Neriki, and Rebecca Penneys. Réne was raised in Corning, New York, and studied piano for many years with Laurie Conrad of Ithaca, New York. She lives in Coralville, Iowa with her husband Andrew and their son Sebastian.
Past Performances from Hannah and Réne:
A LITTLE ABOUT HANNAH HOLMAN
Hannah Holman, cellist, joined the New York City Ballet Orchestra at the beginning of the 2012-2013 season. Her career has encompassed orchestral and chamber music, solo performances, and teaching. In a review of the second CD she recorded with pianist Rene Lecuona, Fanfare magazine declares “her tone and technique are the stuff that cello legends are made of “… Holman’s cello sings with a lustrous tone that’s hard to resist.”
In addition to her work with the New York City Ballet Orchestra, Ms. Holman is the principal cellist of the Quad City Symphony, a position she has held since 2008. She began her professional career in England playing with the English String Orchestra under Yehudi Menuhin and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra under Simon Rattle. Her previous orchestral work also includes serving as assistant principal cello with the Michigan Chamber Orchestra, the Richmond Symphony; and the American Sinfonietta.
An active chamber musician, Ms. Holman helped found Trio 826, with her dear friends Susanna Klein, violin, and Julia Bullard, viola. She was a founding member of the Beaumont Piano Trio, which performed around the United States and England, and was also a founding member of Quadrivinium, a music ensemble in residence at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. From 2002-2011, she was a member of the Maia Quartet, the University of Iowa’s quartet in residence, which toured China, Japan, and throughout the United States, including teaching residencies at Interlochen Center for the Arts, the Great Wall International Music Academy in China, and the Austin Chamber Music Center. She regularly performs in chamber ensembles with musicians from throughout the United States. As a soloist, Ms. Holman has performed with orchestras in Michigan, North Dakota, Minnesota, Virginia, Georgia, and Iowa.
A dedicated private teacher who finds great fulfillment in helping students of all ages grow musically, Ms. Holman was on the University of Iowa music faculty from 2002-2012, and has served on the faculties of the Worcester College (UK), Michigan State University Community School, and Virginia Union University. She has participated in numerous festivals, and has been on the faculty of the Eastern Music Festival since 2001 and currently serves on the faculty of the International Cello Institute.
Ms. Holman studied at the Eastman School of Music and Michigan State University, where she completed her Bachelor of Music degree. She obtained her Master of Music Degree with Fritz Magg at the New England Conservatory. Hannah was fortunate enough to have several lessons with William Pleeth in London as postgraduate study. Her musical education began at age 5 with her grandmother, whose 1925 Becker cello she plays today. She is eternally grateful for the fine teaching of a transformative teacher, Louis Potter, during her junior high and high school years.
Ms. Holman — whose hobbies include food, wine, and finding killer deals on shoes — divides her time between NYC and Iowa City, Iowa, where she lives with her son, Matisse, and their cat, Ripley.