Troika Matt Haimovitz, Christopher O'Riley

• Dmitri Shostakovich (1906 - 1975): Suite for Variety Stage Orchestra:
• 1 Suite for Variety Stage Orchestra: VII. Waltz No. 2 (Arr. M. Haimovitz & C. O'Riley for Cello & Piano) 03:53
• Cello Sonata in D Minor, Op. 40:
• 2 Cello Sonata in D Minor, Op. 40: I. Allegro non troppo 12:52
• 3 Cello Sonata in D Minor, Op. 40: II. Allegro 03:19
• 4 Cello Sonata in D Minor, Op. 40: III. Largo 08:40
• 5 Cello Sonata in D Minor, Op. 40: IV. Allegro 04:07
• Sergei Prokofiev (1891 - 1953): Lieutenant Kijé Suite, Op. 60:
• 6 Lieutenant Kijé Suite, Op. 60: IV. Troika (Arr. M. Haimovitz & C. O'Riley for Cello & Piano) 03:03
• Cello Sonata in C Major, Op. 119:
• 7 Cello Sonata in C Major, Op. 119: I. Andante grave 10:46
• 8 Cello Sonata in C Major, Op. 119: II. Moderato 04:48
• 9 Cello Sonata in C Major, Op. 119: III. Allegro ma non troppo 07:43
• 10 Cello Sonata in G Minor, Op. 19: I. Lento - Allegro moderato 13:31
• 11 Cello Sonata in G Minor, Op. 19: II. Allegro scherzando 06:46
• 12 Cello Sonata in G Minor, Op. 19: III. Andante 05:41
• 13 Cello Sonata in G Minor, Op. 19: IV. Allegro mosso 10:17
• Sergei Rachmaninoff: 14 Romances, Op. 34:
• 14 14 Romances, Op. 34: No. 14, Vocalise (Arr. for Cello & Piano) 06:12
• Viktor Tsoi (1962 - 1990): Kukushka:
• 15 Kukushka (Arr. M. Haimovitz & C. O'Riley for Cello & Piano) 04:42
• Punk Prayer "Virgin Mary, Put Putin Away":
• 16 Punk Prayer "Virgin Mary, Put Putin Away" (Arr. M. Haimovitz & C. O'Riley for Cello & Piano) 02:51
• John Lennon: (1940 - 1980) & Paul McCartney: (1942 - ): Back in the U.S.S.R.:
• 17 Back in the U.S.S.R. (Arr. M. Haimovitz & C. O'Riley for Cello & Piano) 03:08
• Total Runtime 01:52:19

Info for Troika

Acclaimed for their adventurous and wide-ranging recording projects – from Beethoven Sonatas on period instruments to genre-bending arrangements of Radiohead and Arcade Fire – the endlessly inventive duo of cellist Matt Haimovitz and pianist Christopher O'Riley returns to explore music of the Slavic soul. Anchored by the cello sonatas of the iconic triumvirate of Russian composers – Rachmaninoff, Prokofiev, and Shostakovich – and inspired by the subversive irony of Shostakovich's Sonata for Cello and Piano, TROIKA also delves into more recently-written, unexpected, and popular works. Whether subtle or blatantly rebellious, each work potently reveals the strength of the artistic voice in the face of political repression in mother Russia.

“With our cover of Pussy Riot’s Punk Prayer, we celebrate the band’s courage and the spirit of protest in an age of Orwellian intimidation. In the opening and closing chorales, I use a glass slide on the strings as I pluck with the right for an eerie theremin-like effect. The grunge punk distortion in the bass is also acoustically achieved with a styrofoam cup smashed behind the cello’s bridge. The traditional three-horse-drawn troika moved across the Russian landscape with its own elaborate system of bells and whistles, used to herald its arrival to the coming town. Here, the composers and songwriters of TROIKA, each in their own way, use the power of their voices to warn and to cajole, to resist and to remember” (Matt Haimovitz)

Matt Haimovitz, cello
Christopher O'Riley, piano

Matt Haimovitz
Renowned as a musical pioneer, multi-Grammy-nominated cellist Matt Haimovitz is praised by The New York Times as a “ferociously talented cellist who brings his megawatt sound and uncommon expressive gifts to a vast variety of styles” and by The New Yorker as “remarkable virtuoso” who “never turns in a predictable performance.” He brings a fresh ear to familiar repertoire, champions new music, and initiates groundbreaking collaborations, as well as creating innovative recording projects. In addition to his touring schedule, Haimovitz mentors an award-winning studio of young cellists at the Schulich School of Music of McGill University in Montreal and is now the first-ever John Cage Fellow at The New School’s Mannes School of Music in New York City.

Haimovitz made his debut in 1984, at the age of 13, as soloist with Zubin Mehta and the Israel Philharmonic. At 17 he made his first recording with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, for Deutsche Grammophon. He has gone on to perform on the world’s most esteemed stages, with such orchestras and conductors as the Berlin Philharmonic, the New York Philharmonic with Zubin Mehta, the English Chamber Orchestra with Daniel Barenboim, the Boston Symphony Orchestra with Leonard Slatkin, and the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal with Kent Nagano.

Haimovitz’s recording career encompasses more than 20 years of award-winning work on Deutsche Grammophon (Universal), Oxingale Records, and the PENTATONE Oxingale Series. His honors include the Trailblazer Award from the American Music Center, the Avery Fisher Career Grant, the Grand Prix du Disque, and the Premio Internazionale “Accademia Musicale Chigiana.” He studied with Leonard Rose at the Juilliard School and graduated magna cum laude with highest honors from Harvard University. Haimovitz plays a Venetian cello, made in 1710 by Matteo Gofriller.

Charline von Heyl
(German, b. 1960) studied at the Hochschule für bildende Künste Hamburg and the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, and participated in the Cologne art scene in the 1980s before moving to New York in 1995. She is a painter whose practice encompasses drawing, printmaking and collage. Von Heyl’s work takes inspiration from a vast and surprising array of sources – including literature, pop culture, metaphysics and personal history. She has been the subject of several survey museum exhibitions, most recently held at the Hirshhorn Museum, Washington, D.C.; the Museum Dhont Dhaenens, Deurle; and the Deichtorhallen, Hamburg.

Past survey exhibitions include the Institute of Contemporary Art Boston; the Tate Liverpool; Kunsthalle Nürnberg; Bonner Kunstverein; and the Institute of Contemporary Art Philadelphia. Her work can be found in collections around the world, including the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; the Hirshhorn Museum, Washington, D.C.; the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; the Museum of Modern Art, New York; the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris; Kunstmuseum Bonn; and the Tate Modern, London. Charline von Heyl lives and works in New York and Marfa, Texas.

Booklet for Troika