Istrian Rhapsody - Dejan Lazić Dejan Lazić, Muenchner Rundfunkorchester & Ivan Repušić

• Dejan Lazić (b. 1977): Concerto in Istrian Style:
• 1 Lazić: Concerto in Istrian Style - Overture 07:49
• 2 Lazić: Concerto in Istrian Style - Intermezzo 10:07
• 3 Lazić: Concerto in Istrian Style - Cadenza ad libitum 09:17
• 4 Lazić: Concerto in Istrian Style - Canone e Rondo 07:22
• 5 Lazić: Concerto in Istrian Style - Finale 01:50
• Natko Devcic (1914 - 1997): Istrian Suite:
• 6 Devcic: Istrian Suite: Prelude 04:32
• 7 Devcic: Istrian Suite: Leaping Dance 02:23
• 8 Devcic: Istrian Suite: Lullaby 04:45
• 9 Devcic: Istrian Suite: Finale 06:02
• Ivan Matetić Ronjgov (1880 - 1960): Istrian Folk Anthem (Version for two sopile):
• 10 Ronjgov: Istrian Folk Anthem (Version for two sopile) 00:30
• Istrian Folk Anthem:
• 11 Ronjgov: Istrian Folk Anthem 02:45
• Dejan Lazić: Alterations on the Istrian Folk Anthem:
• 12 Lazić: Alterations on the Istrian Folk Anthem 04:44
• Total Runtime 01:02:06

Info for Istrian Rhapsody - Dejan Lazić

"The folk music of the Croatian peninsula of Istria is as characteristic as it is extraordinary. Its melodies, harmonies and rhythms are unique, and sonorously expressed by the sopila - a traditional shawm instrument - as well as through choral singing and folk dances. The music with its asymmetrical rhythms is based on the so-called 'pentatonic Istrian scale', which consists of major and minor seconds and is thus clearly different from the other musical styles of Croatia. Numerous non-Istrian musicians and composers have been fascinated by it - among them the Croatian composer Natko Devcic, with his 'Istrian Suite' for orchestra (1946), or the young Croatian pianist and composer Dejan Lazic with his 'Concerto in Istrian Style for Piano and Orchestra' op. 18 (2014/2021) or his 'Alterations on the Istrian Folk Hymn' op. 29 (2022).

Natko Devcic was one of Croatia's most important composers and music educators, leaving a lasting impression on subsequent generations of musicians. His most lasting success as a composer came with his 'Istrian Suite' for orchestra from 1946, which uses Istrian folk music as a source of inspiration and as a link between Slavic late Romanticism and the avant-garde.

Dejan Lazic’s five-movement 'Concerto in Istrian Style for Piano and Orchestra' op. 18 is closely connected to Istrian music, with its melodies, harmonies and rhythms, and features the 'Istrian scale' as well as the typical melodies played in thirds. The central movement of the concerto is an extended cadenza in which Lazic – who has already composed cadenzas for piano concertos by Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven and also arranged Brahms' Violin Concerto op. 77 for piano and orchestra – demonstrates his diverse experience in this field.

Lazic's 'Alterations on the Istrian Folk Hymn' op. 29 were written for the present album and are dedicated to the Munich Radio Orchestra and its principal conductor Ivan Repusic. The song 'Draga nam je zemlja', composed by Ivan Matetic Ronjgov, was and continues to be sung as a folk hymn in Istria, and in his work Lazic has taken its melody as the basis for a theme and twelve variations with coda for orchestra."

Dejan Lazić, piano
Stjepan Večković, Sopila
The Choir of the Croatian Radio and Television
Tomislav Fačini, choral master
Munich Radio Orchestra
Ivan Repušić, conductor

Dejan Lazić
Lazić’s fresh interpretations of the repertoire have established him as one of the most unique and unusual soloists of his generation. The Spiegel magazine noted of his Liszt recording for Onyx Classics: “Grandiose technique, dedicated and witty, whilst full-bodied and thoughtful: this longitudinal section through Liszt’s oeuvre is a gift, both for beginners and connoisseurs.” Dejan Lazić has previously released many recordings with Channel Classics, including a critically acclaimed Liaisons series; the latest of which couples together C. P. E. Bach and Britten. In autumn 2017 he performed on tour and recorded Beethoven’s own arrangement of his Violin Concerto as Piano Concerto in D major, Op. 61a, with Netherlands Chamber Orchestra and Gordan Nikolić. This CD was released in May 2018 by Onyx Classics. His live recording of Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with London Philharmonic Orchestra and Kirill Petrenko received the German “ECHO Klassik Award” in 2009. A recording of the Beethoven Triple Concerto was released for Sony Music in 2015. His recording with Mozart’s chamber music, released by Onyx in 2020 was awarded with the prestigious “OPUS Klassik 2021” in the category “Chamber Music Recording”.

Dejan Lazić regularly plays with orchestras such as the Atlanta Symphony, Australian Chamber Orchestra, Boston Symphony, Budapest Festival Orchestra, Basel Chamber Orchestra, Chicago Symphony, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Danish National Symphony, Helsinki Philharmonic, NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra Hamburg, Netherlands Philharmonic, Rotterdam Philharmonic, and the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra. He enjoys a significant following in the Far East touring China with Budapest Festival Orchestra and Iván Fischer, and appearing with NHK Symphony and Yomiuri Nippon, as well as Seoul and Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestras. He has built close collaborations with conductors including Giovanni Antonini, Iván Fischer, Michael Francis, Andris Nelsons, Ivan Repušić, Thomas Søndergård, Robert Spano, John Storgårds, Krzysztof Urbański, Jan Willem de Vriend, and Kazuki Yamada. In addition, he increasingly leads and conducts orchestras himself.

In the 2021/2022 season Dejan Lazić is Artist in Residence of the Bavarian Radio’s Münchner Rundfunkorchester and he undertakes a tour with the Budapest Festival Orchestra and Iván Fischer. In 2022 and 2023 he is also debuting with Dresden, Stuttgart, Bergen, and Slovak Philharmonic Orchestras, as well as with Orchestra della Svizzera italiana. Recitals take him regularly to venues such as the Teatro Colón (Buenos Aires), Lincoln Center (New York), Melbourne Recital Centre, Forbidden City Recital Hall (Beijing), and to various European music centres and festivals. In the summer of 2022 he will appear anew at the Gstaad Menuhin Festival: in a recital and a chamber music concert with Sol Gabetta (violoncello) and Andreas Ottensamer (clarinet) where also his latest composition “Kaleidoscope” for clarinet, violoncello and piano will be premiered. Other chamber music partners include violinists Joshua Bell and Benjamin Schmid (a. o.).

Dejan Lazić’s compositions receive increased recognition, he was signed as a composer by the Sikorski Music Publishing Group in 2015. His arrangement of Brahms’ Violin Concerto as a piano concerto was premiered and recorded with Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Robert Spano in 2009 and has enjoyed much ongoing success, at BBC Proms, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Hamburg Easter Festival, Chopin Festival Warsaw, in both Americas and in Japan. Lazić has performed his “Piano Concerto in Istrian Style”, Op. 18, many times since its premiere at the Aspen Music Festival in 2014. His first major orchestral work, a tone poem entitled “Mozart and Salieri” (after Alexander Pushkin), Op. 21, was commissioned and premiered by Indianapolis Symphony and Krzysztof Urbański; his Cadenzas for 6 Mozart Piano Concertos, Beethoven’s Piano Concertos Nos. 1 – 4, and Haydn Piano Concertos Nos. 4 & 11 were recently published by Sikorski as well.

Lazić’s most recent Mozart arrangement, “Rondo Concertante” for piano and orchestra (after the 3rd movement from Mozart’s Piano Sonata in B-flat major, K. 333) was premiered in June 2018 at the “Mainly Mozart” Festival in San Diego, USA, with the Mainly Mozart Festival Orchestra conducted by Michael Francis. With four fellow composers Lazić composed the work “Der Forellenteich” (“The Trout Pond”), which was premiered and released on CD in October 2018 and subsequently performed at various festivals in Germany. His “S.C.H.E.rzo” for Orchestra, Op. 25, commissioned by the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra was premiered with conductor Krzysztof Urbański on 17 January 2020. He is currently working on his “Chinese Fantasy” for violin and orchestra, Op. 22.

Dejan Lazić was born in Zagreb, Croatia, into a family of musicians. He grew up in Salzburg, where he studied at the Mozarteum (clarinet, piano and composition). The early encounter with Zoltán Kocsis and Imre Rohmann at the Bartók Festival in Hungary was decisive for his artistic career, as well as the significant influence from Peter Eötvös. Dejan Lazić lives in Amsterdam.

Booklet for Istrian Rhapsody - Dejan Lazić