On January 27th, 2023, Sony releases the second album of the Italo-Ukrainian violinist Anastasiya Petryshak.
A sound path of great emotional intensity, characterized by suggestive contrasts with an infinite palette of dynamic and timbre nuances, whose virtuoso pages were written in the early 20th century by the most important French composers of that period.
After the debut album “Amato Bene” focused on Antonio Vivaldi, Anastasiya Petryshak realizes a second recording project. Together with the pianist Lorenzo Meo, with whom she has been collaborating for nine years, Anastasiya tackles the great masterpieces of Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel, and Olivier Messiaen. The recording took place at the Fazioli concert hall in Sacile, Italy. The CD, entitled “Ange Terrible”, released by Sony, will be released on January 27th, 2023, and will be available on all digital platforms as well as in specialized stores around the globe in physical format. The musical project focuses on French music written between 1891 and 1941, which includes the period of the two world wars, and highlights the duality between good and evil. Anastasiya Petryshak touches the deepest strings, on the one hand, the purest and angelic ones, full of hope, and on the other hand the darkest and most intense ones, with no way out.
« The music, of profound meaning, arose in times of suffering and destruction when the souls were most sensitive than ever. In those notes live the thoughts and ideas of the great composers who experience the war. I hope that this CD may make you think and bring light in today’s times. » – Anastasiya Petryshak
The CD includes important and demanding pieces from a virtuosic point of view and an artistic musical point of view.
The CD begins with the intense Sonata n.3 by Claude Debussy, written when the First World War was at the gates of Paris: The Maestro’s last composition is a tribute to the golden age of French music. It is followed by a fascinating piece, Les Angelus, originally written for voice and transcribed for violin and piano.
By Maurice Ravel, there are three works. The first one is the Sonata n.2 which highlights «the incompatibility of the two instruments» and includes a blues and the energetic perpetuum mobile. It is followed by another transcription for violin and piano, the Pièce en forme de Habanera, for which Ravel took as a model the slow and sensual Spanish
dance called Habenera. The last work is the famous Tzigane, concert rhapsody, with inspiration from the melodies and rhythms of the gypsy musical tradition, an openly virtuosic piece, often the battle horse of the greatest violinists, at the same level than Paganini’s caprices.
Two pieces of great spiritual and philosophical intensity, by Olivier Messiaen, close this recording. The first one is Thème et Variations, a work written by the composer for his wife and himself, which may be seen as their wedding gift. Eventually, the last piece of this musical journey is the extraordinary Louange à l’immortalité de Jésus, eighth and last movement of the “Quator pour la fin du temps”. Messiaen composed this piece while prisoner at a German camp during WW2. He writes about the Louange: « His slow ascent towards the extreme high register is the ascension of man towards his God, of the son of God towards his Father, of the deified creature towards Paradise. »
ANASTASIYA PETRYSHAK
Is one of the most interesting violinists in the international classical music scene. Ukrainian by birth, naturalised Italian, she has been performing in public since the age of eight and has won several international competitions. At 11 she moved to Italy to continue her violin studies with Maestro Salvatore Accardo, who became her guide in the world of music. She is an alumnus of the prestigious ZHdK in Zürich, where she graduated in the Master “Soloist”
under the guidance of Maestro Rudolf Koelman. Anastasiya’s name quickly becomes a reference in the music environment.
The international career as a violinist soloist leads her to play all over the world: namely in Europe and beyond, like USA, South Korea, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon. She performs in the most prestigious concert halls under the baton of the most important conductors and with leading orchestras. Since 2010 she has been regularly collaborating with the tenor Andrea Bocelli.
In 2018 she records her first CD “Amato Bene” with Sony, playing the Stradivari “Toscano” with the National Academy of Santa Cecilia. Anastasiya is often nicknamed the “Stradivari girl” as she had the great honour to collaborate with the museum of the violin in Cremona, Italy. They granted her the rare privilege to play with the finest instruments of their incredible collection (Stradivari, Amati, Guarneri, etc.). Anastasiya even recorded with more than 60 instruments for research purpose. Anastasiya also played with Paganini’s violin, the “Cannone”, while performing at the Teatro Carlo Felice in Genova, Italy.
Anastasiya was awarded the “European personality in the field of classical music” award in 2016, at the occasion of the 46th European Days. In 2022, she was recognized as “woman of the year” in Italy, receiving the international award “Profilo Donna”, 32nd edition.
