America (Suite Popular) for quintet & orchestra (1992)
Quintet of the Americas commissioned this work for their Carnegie Hall (Stern Auditorium) debut in 1992. The work was recorded and released on the CD Discovering the New World MMC2018.
In recognition of the Quintet’s devotion to music of the Western hemisphere, The Quintet asked Ilan Rechtman to write this medley of popular selections which includes “The Entertainer” by Scott Joplin, the Puerto Rican tune “El cumbanchero” and Tico-tico from Brazil. The other countries represented are Argentina, Uruguay, Venezuela, Peru, Colombia, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Chile, and Mexico.
Native of Israel, llan Rechtman’s career as a pianist began early when he gave his first performance with the Israel Philharmonic at age 11, performing Mozart concerto in D minor K. 466. His career has taken him to many continents, performing in over 50 countries as a soloist and chamber musician where he has been heard in venues such as Carnegie Hall, Town Hall, 92nd St. “Y”, Avery Fisher, Alice Tully, Weill and Merkin halls (New York), Symphony Hall and Jordan Hall (Boston), Symphony hall (Chicago), Barbican Center and Wigmore Hall (London), Pleyel Hall and the Louvre Museum, (Paris), Suntory Hall (Tokyo), Seoul Arts Center and many other major halls around the world. Among the artists and groups Rechtman appeared with are Yo-Yo Ma, Ivry Gitlis, Gary Hoffman, Sharon Kam, Alisa Weilerstein, Miriam Fried, Matt Haimovitz, Arnaud Sussmann, Peter Bruns, Anna Tifu, Lara St. John, Chen Reiss, Ori Kam, Ittai Shapira, Guy Braunstein, Zvi Plesser, Amihai Grosz, St. Lawrence, Aviv and the Jerusalem String Quartet and the Mark Morris Dance Group.
As a composer, some of Rechtman’s works have been published by the Theodore Presser Company, USA, Hofmeister Musikverlag in Leipzig, Germany and Bottle Cello Publishing in San Francisco, USA. His compositions “Rondo Op. 5” and “Fanfare by the Red Sea” have been commissioned and conducted by Maestros Zubin Mehta and Lorin Maazel, respectively. Rechtman was also commissioned to compose a special work for the 125 years celebration of the Chautauqua Music Festival, the oldest music festival in the USA. Some of Rechtman’s orchestral compositions have been performed by the Boston Pops, Pittsburgh, New World, Augusta, Grand Rapids & Cape Cod symphonies. Rechtman was the music director and founder of the Israel Virtuosi, director and founder of the “Sundays on the Island”, a baroque music series which ran weekly nearly 15 years, as well as the recital and chamber music series at the Wales – Mansfield in Manhattan, NY, which ran over 10 years. During the 6 years Rechtman lived in Brazil (2001-2007), he performed as soloist with the State Orchestra of São Paulo, Campinas and Riberão Preto symphonies, and was director of the “Um Certo Olhar” chamber music series at Sala São Paulo. As a composer, Rechtman wrote scores to various Brazilian films, as well as to the long running “Esperança” telenovela, which reached an audience of nearly a billion spectators around the world.
For more information visit Elan’s website:
http://www.ilanrechtman.com/