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10/17/2025
“On Wings of Peace”
Felix Mendelssohn: String Symphony n° 10 in B minor, MWV N 10 [5]
Joaquín Turina Pérez: Rapsodia Sinfónica, opus 66 [1, 5]
Mark Kopytman: Kaddish (1982 Orch. Version) [2, 5]
Kareem Roustom: Three Klezmer Dances [3, 5]
Valentin Silvestrov: Quiet Music: III.“Moment of Serenade” [6]
George Enescu: Romanian Rhapsody n° 1 (arr. Cristian Lolea) [4, 6]
Jacob Gade: Tango Jalousie [6]
Franz Schubert: String Quartet n° 14 “Death and the Maiden”, D810 (arr Gustav Mahler) [5]
Edward MacDowell: Woodland Sketches, opus 51: I. “To a Wild Rose” [5]
Davide De Ascaniis [3], Pavel Sporcl [4] (violin), Vilém Vlcek [2] (cello), Michael Davidman [1] (piano), iPalpiti Orchestral Ensemble of International Laureates, Eduard Schmieder (conductor)
Recording (Live): Ambassador Auditorium, Pasadena, California (July 27, 2024) [5] & Saban Theatre, Beverly Hills, California (July 23, 2022) [6] – 106’
BCM+D Records – Booklet in English
“iPalpiti” is Italian for “Heartbeats”, and the name of conductor Eduard Schmieder’s orchestra he founded in 1991 has since come to be known as ‘a Musical Peace Corps.’ Schmieder is a professor of violin and the Artistic Director for strings at Temple University in Philadelphia where he teaches an internationally selected class of students. iPalpiti is “a consortium of prize‑winning young concert soloists” from around the globe. It’s annual festival of International Laureates in Los Angeles is a “platform for artistic exchange and collaboration among musicians representing diverse traditions and backgrounds.”
The current roster of 25 iPalpiti players represents 20 different countries in these recordings. Schmieder writes in the liner notes that these programs “ ... have never been more resonant...in a time when the call of despair is loud” with their mission aspiring to “unite people through the spiritual affirmation of music.”
This two-disc collection opens with iPalpiti’s detailed, soulful performance of Mendelssohn’s String Symphony with the musicians sculpting its intimacy and indelible symphonic power.
Next is Spanish composer Joaquín Turina Pérez’s Rapsodia Sinfónica with American pianist Michael Davidman leading with a virtuosic command to call and to respond in dialogue with the orchestra’s beguilingly tender strings. Schmieder leans into Turina’s sharp compositional fusion of Catalonian and Roman neo‑romantic idioms.
Israeli composer Mark Kopytman’s 1964 Kaddish is, indeed, a unifying prayer for the world, here performed in its 1982 orchestral version led by Czech Republic cellist Vilém Vlcek. Kopytman’s turbulent central theme and variations are articulated with all of its Hassidic heritage and an altogether universal message vividly summoned by the orchestra.
It is followed by Syrian-American composer Kareem Roustom’s Three Klezmer Dances (2008) with Italian violinist Davide De Ascaniis delivering an altogether heart‑pounding performance. It’s hard to stay still in your seat or even on your chair while dancing to De Ascaniis’ fiercely rapturous fiddling.
Ukrainian composer Valentin Silvestrov’s Quiet Music possesses orchestral stillness while progressing into a meditative realm of string atmospherics. Silvestrov’s goal was to compose “a symbol of something that cannot be expressed.” Within that descriptive iPalpiti musicians express everything.
Silvestrov’s quiet sound world is followed by Romanian composer George Enescu’s rousing Romanian Rhapsody which might inspire one to get up and dance and be serenaded by the moon by Czech Republic violinist, Pavel Sporcl.
And since we’re in that joyous mood, what could be a better encore than Danish composer Jacob Gade’s dancehall vamp Tango Jalousie with Sporcl and De Ascaniis as the lustily jousting violin soloists.
Schmieder’s unified musicianship spans over a range of repertory for these young players. The orchestra’s standard is particularly evident in the restraint, detailing and earned emotional depth as is expressed in every movement of Schubert’s String Quartet n° 14 in its full arrangement by Gustav Mahler. Also known as Death and the Maiden, it was first performed in 1826, two years before Schubert’s death at age 31 from tertiary syphilis. The symphonic drama unfolds with the sonorous lower strings during the 2nd movement, “Andante”, which incorporates the variation of Schubert’s 1817 composition, Death and the Maiden. The narrative themes of youthful joy and aspirations of love give way to taught passages of emotional torment. Schubert’s compositional agency is a dramatic fusion reflective of both the neoclassical and romantic eras. The dynamic rhythmic tension of the 3rd movement, “Scherzo”, captivates iPapiti’s full sound blooms and in the expressive 4th movement, “Presto”. Schmieder’s detailing leans into the shadowy musical drama of this Schubert masterpiece.
iPalpiti closes these recordings with Edward MacDowell’s “To a Wild Rose” from Woodland Sketches...a fitting encore and lullaby for peace from these musical laureates.
Lewis J. Whittington
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