Victor Markiw Performs Piano Works By Skoryk MompoVictor MarkiwGenre: ClassicalDescription: EDITORIAL REVIEWS Markiw Plays Skoryk Mompou and Villa-lobos by David Yeagley · March 8 2013 American-Ukrainian pianist Victor Markiw has just released a second album this time of winsome solo piano works including those of the contemporary Ukrainian composer Myroslav Skoryk (b.1938) Catalan Spanish composer Federico Mompou (1893-1987) and the famous Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-lobos (1887-1959). The album was recorded in the Firehouse 12 studio in New Haven Connecticut the same studio in which Markiw recorded his first album with soprano Jennifer Litwin The Litwin-Markiw Duo 2010. This second album was created Shevchenko Scientific Society of the United States. Very much like the first album the very first thing that grabs the ear in the new Markiw album is the remarkable fine tone of the piano. That element is predominant in every track. It has to be the pianist Markiw. The second element must be the music. This entire album carries a very lyrical reflective ambiance throughout (excepting the final three Skoryk works which are strictly for fun). It is a striking collection of reminiscent color of an almost wistful beauty. The tone and music create a most memorable impression. Ukrainian composer Myroslav Skoryk b. 1938 However Skoryk's works are not so meditative as they are curious. They are genuine or sincere yet contain a rather obvious element of innocent almost childlike creativity. It is also a fact that Markiw's doctoral thesis was on the music of Skoryk and in fact was published by Edwin Mellen in 2010 as The Life and Solo Piano Works of the Ukrainian Composer Myroslav Skoryk. Skoryk lived through the horrors of the Stalinist persecution of Ukraine and it is truly amazing that his music maintains such a fundamental spirit of good cheer. Perhaps it is the natural effect of youth but it is undeniable that even in moments of screeching melancholy Skoryk expounds a dominant curiosity and almost naïve exploratory spirit. The works of Mompou are certainly of magical attraction. The enchantment again is in both the music and the lyrical techniques of the pianist Markiw. The Mompou selections are we should say modernized impressionism. That is to say they are one step further in focus than the older French realms. Certainly the impressions of Villa-lobos are completely captivating. The strongest music in the collection Villa-lobos' musical images of Brazillian life and legend are astounding in their vibrancy. Again Markiws special skill in lyricism is simply outstanding. Brazillian composer Heitor Villa-lobos 1887-1959. The final works are as noted for entertainment only. Not a serious note in the last three works-which of course are duo piano works. (The second pianist playing with Markiw is Albert Celotto a colleague of Markiw's at the University of New Haven.) It is a delightful lively ending to what is really a deep reflective album. The selections on the album demonstrate serious understanding of music culture psychology and marketing indeed. Pianist Victor Markiw While Mompou and Villa-lobos naturally specialize in the musical ethnicity of their home countries it seems that Skoryk toys with Americanism. With basically a Western European education he was free to indulge himself in just about any musical ethnicity he wanted. In this sense Skoryk is what could be called an international composer both in the sense of ethnic style and in the matter of musical form and experimentation. Skoryk is not radical but distinctly creative. In a sense much of what he does is almost comedic in it's obvious manipulative employment of distinct styles and forms. However there is simply too much musical sincerity to write the music off as coy or toy. Markiw certainly assures that impression. In the final three works of Skoryk there is the typical indulgence of universally recognizable Americanism: blues and boogie. It seems every composer with intent to say something American must involved a dominant seventh chord. From Gershwin to Ravel it is the same move and Skoryk makes it as well. Americans can all be thankful for Anton Dvorak (1841-1904) the Czechoslovakian composer who ennobled popular American folk melodies. Of course he was of an earlier age whence American society had not earned the world reputation for the decadence of jazz dixieland or honky-tonk. For such a highly educated classical musician as Skoryk American decadence was pure entertainment. The title of the second piece in Skoryk's collection (near the end of the album) Blues: almost American says it all. Skoryk is no pretender. He just has a sense of humor.
