Description

RAYA GARBOUSOVA (TBILISI, GEORGIA, RUSSIAN EMPIRE, SEPTEMBER 25, 1909 – DEKALB, ILLINOIS, UNITED STATES, JANUARY 28, 1997)

According to the biography contained in the program booklet for the 1997 memorial concert in her honor in DeKalb, Illinois, she made her formal debut in Moscow in 1923 and left the Soviet Union in 1925. She lived and performed in Europe, and gave her first performance in New York City in 1935. She emigrated to the United States in 1939. In 1948, she married cardiologist Kurt Biss and settled in DeKalb, Illinois. She taught at Northern Illinois University from 1973 until her retirement in 1991. Besides teaching at NIU, Garbousova also taught at the Hartt College of Music in Hartford, Connecticut, and gave many master classes at prominent musical institutions. Her son, violist Paul Biss, married violinist Miriam Fried, and their son Jonathan Biss is a classical pianist. During her performing career, she performed with many of the world’s leading orchestras and conductors. To many who knew her, she was particularly associated with the cello music of Samuel Barber. Barber wrote his cello concerto for her, and she performed its world premiere with Serge Koussevitzky and the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1946. Her recording of the Barber Sonata for Cello and Piano is also well known in this context. For her students, in addition to providing the typical technical and musical instruction which master teachers provide, she added the perspective of having personally known many of the great composers and string soloists of the twentieth century.

TRACKLIST

1. (1-3.) Cello Sonata In A Minor Op. 36 (Grieg) 1st Movement Allegro Agitato 2nd Movement Andante Molto Tranquillo 3rd Movement Allegro, Allegro Molto Arthur Balsam, piano
2. (4.) Cello Sonata in C major, Op. 119 (Prokofiev) I. Andante Grave — Moderato Animato Andante—Allegro Moderato with David Stimer, piano
3. (5.) Cello Sonata in C major, Op. 119 (Prokofiev) II. Moderato — Andante Dolce with David Stimer, piano
4. (6.) Cello Sonata in C major, Op. 119 (Prokofiev) III. Allegro Ma Non Troppo — Andantino-Allegro with David Stimer, piano
5. (7.) Sonata for cello and piano In D Minor, L 135 (Debussy) I. Prologue Lent, sostenuto e molto risoluto with Arthur Balsam, piano
6. (8.) Sonata for cello and piano In D Minor, L 135 (Debussy) II. Sérénade Modérément animé with Arthur Balsam, piano
7. (9.) Sonata for cello and piano In D Minor, L 135 (Debussy) III. Finale. Animé with Arthur Balsam, piano
8. (10.) Die Meistersinger (Wagner) Prize Song with Erich-Itor Kahn, piano