Ronald Cavaye

Last updated

Ronald Cavaye (born August 1951) is a British pianist, born in England and a resident of the United Kingdom. He is a classical pianist and writer.

Contents

Life

Ronald Cavaye was born in Aldershot, Hampshire, England, where he attended Heron Wood School. He began to play the piano at the age of 11 and entered the music department of Winchester School of Art at the age of 16. He studied there for 2 years with the Canadian-born pianist, Carlina Carr. In 1969 he began studying at the Royal College of Music in London where his teachers were Malcolm Binns and Oliver Davies. In 1973 he gained a DAAD scholarship to study at the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hannover where his teacher was Hans Leygraf. A further scholarship from the British Council enabled him to continue his studies at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest where he studied with Pál Kadosa and György Kurtág. Marrying the Hungarian pianist, Valeria Szervánszky, Cavaye then went to teach in Japan where he was appointed professor of piano at Musashino Academy of Music in 1979.

Now living in London, Ronald Cavaye returns regularly to Japan for concerts, teaching and to work as a translator/narrator for the kabuki and bunraku theatres.

Performances

Cavaye specialised mainly in music of the 20th century but now concentrates on the piano duo repertoire, principally with Valeria Szervánszky. Szervánszky and Cavaye have performed in Europe and the Far East, China and the USA. They have recorded the Mozart Concertos for 2 and 3 pianos, Stravinsky's arrangement of The Rite of Spring for piano duet as well as works by Ravel and Debussy. They also made the first complete CD recording of the first four volumes (solos, duets and two pianos) of György Kurtág's Játékok – "Games". In 1996 Ronald Cavaye also gave the Japanese première Kurtág's …quasi una fantasia… Op.27 No.1 with the New Japan Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Michiyoshi Inoue. Ronald Cavaye is a Steinway Artist.

Master-classes and competitions

Cavaye has taught master-classes at the International Bartók Festival in Hungary, the Central Conservatory in Beijing, the Royal College of Music, London, the Royal Academy of Music, London, Trinity College of Music, London and the Musikhochschule in Graz. He also regularly serves on the jury of international piano competitions such as the World Piano Competition in Cincinnati, USA, the Concours International de Piano XXeme. siecle in Orléans, France, the Sakai International Piano Competition in Japan and the International Piano Duo Competition in Tokyo.

Writing

Cavaye is the author of Music Education of the Japanese (in Japanese): Shinchosha, Japan and has written articles for the Edinburgh Festival, the Paris Autumn Festival and The Times newspaper, London.

Kabuki and bunraku

An expert on the kabuki theatre of Japan, since 1982 he has been a translator/narrator for the Earphone Guide in use at Tokyo's Kabuki-za and National Theatres.

DVD translations and narrations include –

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kabuki</span> Classical Japanese dance-drama

Kabuki is a classical form of Japanese theatre, mixing dramatic performance with traditional dance. Kabuki theatre is known for its heavily stylised performances, its glamorous, highly decorated costumes, and for the elaborate kumadori make-up worn by some of its performers. The term kabuki originates from a verb that was used to describe young samurai patrons, meaning "being weird" or "offbeat."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steinway & Sons</span> German-American piano company

Steinway & Sons, also known as Steinway, is a German-American piano company, founded in 1853 in New York City by German piano builder Heinrich Engelhard Steinweg. The company's growth led to a move to a larger factory in New York, and later opening an additional factory in Hamburg, Germany. The New York factory, in the borough of Queens, supplies the Americas, and the factory in Hamburg supplies the rest of the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">György Kurtág</span> Hungarian composer and pianist (born 1926)

György Kurtág is a Hungarian composer of contemporary classical music and pianist. According to Grove Music Online, with a style that draws on "Bartók, Webern and, to a lesser extent, Stravinsky, his work is characterized by compression in scale and forces, and by a particular immediacy of expression". In 2023 he was described as "one of the last living links to the defining postwar composers of the European avant-garde".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pierre-Laurent Aimard</span> French pianist (born 1957)

Pierre-Laurent Aimard is a French pianist.

<i>Tokoyama</i> Traditional Japanese hairdresser

A tokoyama (床山) is a traditional Japanese hairdresser specializing in the theatrical arts and professional sumo. The tokoyama trade is the result of a slow evolution from the traditional Japanese barbers of the Edo period, some of whom gradually started to specialize in hairstyles of actors, puppets, and rikishi. The word tokoyama uses a Japanese character meaning 'floor', because in the Edo period barbers had shops on simple raised floors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pál Kadosa</span> Hungarian composer

Pál Kadosa was a pianist and Hungarian composer of the post-Bartók generation. His early style was influenced by Hungarian folklore while his later works were more toward Hindemith and expressively forceful idioms. He was born in Levice. He studied at the national Hungarian Royal Academy of Music under Zoltán Székely and Zoltán Kodály. He was appointed to the faculty of the Fodor School in 1927 where he taught until 1943 when he was forced out due to wartime political issues.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shochiku</span> Japanese movie studio and production company for kabuki.

Shochiku Co., Ltd. is a Japanese entertainment company. It started its business in 1895 by managing kabuki theaters in Kyoto, and in 1914, it also acquired ownership of the Kabuki-za theater in Tokyo. In 1920, Shochiku entered the film production industry and established the Kamata Film Studio. Currently, it is considered one of Japan's Big Four film studios and is the oldest among the Big Four. Shochiku is a member of the Motion Picture Producers Association of Japan (MPPAJ).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Namiki Sōsuke</span>

Namiki Sōsuke, also known as Namiki Senryū, was a prominent Japanese playwright who wrote for both kabuki and bunraku. He produced around 47 bunraku plays, nearly 40 of them composed for jōruri, a particular form of musical narrative, and 10 kabuki plays. He is considered the second greatest Japanese playwright after Chikamatsu Monzaemon.

Tōsha Rosen VI is a Japanese percussionist in the tradition of traditional Japanese dance and drama, the sixth iemoto (head) of the Tōsha school. He specializes in the taiko and tsuzumi, and performs as a member or leader of the hayashi in the kabuki theatre, as well as in a variety of other traditional contexts.

Valéria Szervánszky is a Hungarian classical pianist, born in Budapest and now a resident of the United Kingdom.

Adrienne Krausz is a Hungarian pianist.

Balázs Fülei, started to learn music at the age of eight, his first teacher was Katonáné Szabó Judit. In the Bartók Conservatory, Budapest, his professors were Gábor Eckhardt and Balázs Réti, then he made his diploma with honours at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music, Budapest, 2008 in György Nádor, Márta Gulyás and Balázs Réti's class. Balázs Fülei was an active participant in prof. Amadeus Webersinke, Florent Boffard, Ferenc Rados, Gábor Csalog, Norma Fischer, Zoltán Kocsis, Bertrand Ott, Jan Marisse Huizing, Jan Wijn, Boris Berman and György Kurtág's piano and chamber music courses. Balázs Fülei is living an active musical life as a concert pianist, he gave several concerts almost in every country in Europe, in China, Japan, Australia and in the United States. He was an artist of the International Miami Piano Festival, and the Ferruccio Busoni Festival. He won the 1st prize on the 10th Hungarian National Piano Competition, and in the Andor Földes Piano Competition of Liszt Academy of Music in 2003. He was the winner of the 43. "Arcangelo Speranza" International Piano Competition in Taranto Italy, May 2005, 3rd prize winner of the 25. International Piano Competition „Ettore Pozzoli” in Milan-Seregno in 2007. In 2007 Balázs Fülei got a special prize in the 13. International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow. He was selected twice to the New Masters On Tour by The International Holland Music Sessions in The Netherlands and played in 2007 in the Concertgebouw, Diligentia Den Haag and other capitals in Europe. He performed in a DVD recording in May 2006 in Tokyo, Japan with the ballades of Chopin and Liszt, then made his New York debut in Carnegie Hall, 2008. Balázs Fülei plays chamber and contemporary music many times, he played world prémieres of Hungarian composers. He is an artist of the Starlet Music Management.

<i>Kōchiyama Sōshun</i> (film) 1936 Japanese film

Kōchiyama Sōshun (河内山宗俊), also known in English as Priest of Darkness, is a 1936 Japanese jidaigeki film directed by Sadao Yamanaka. It is one of three surviving films by the director.

Játékok is an ongoing collection of "pedagogical performance pieces" by György Kurtág. He has been writing them since 1973. Ten volumes had been published as of 2021. Volumes I, II, III, V, VI, VII, IX and X are for piano solo. Volumes IV and VIII are for piano 4-hands or two pianos.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Onoe Kikugorō V</span>

Onoe Kikugorō V was a Japanese Kabuki actor, one of the three most famous and celebrated of the Meiji period, along with Ichikawa Danjūrō IX and Ichikawa Sadanji I. Unlike most kabuki actors, who specialize in a particular type of role, Kikugorō, as a kaneru yakusha, played both tachiyaku and onnagata (women) roles and was best known for his roles in plays by Kawatake Mokuami. Kikugorō was also known as one of the chief actors in the "modern" subgenre of kabuki plays known as zangirimono, featuring Western-style clothes and hairstyle.

<i>Hayashi</i> (music) Performers who accompany a Noh or Kabuki theater

A hayashi (囃子) is a group of performers who provide musical accompaniment for Japanese or kabuki theatre, yose performances of rakugo, or a festival.

Rebecca Penneys is an American-born pianist of Russian-Ukrainian-Jewish descent. She is a recitalist, chamber musician, orchestral soloist, educator, and adjudicator. In 1965, she was the youngest contestant to enter the International Chopin Competition in Warsaw.

Ralph van Raat is a Dutch classical pianist.

Andres Carciente is a Venezuelan pianist. He was born and graduated in Caracas as a Performer Professor of Piano. In Venezuela he studied with the American/Venezuelan pianist Harriet Serr and chamber music with Judit Jaimes. His debut as a soloist was playing Mendelssohn's Piano Concerto Nr. 1 with the Simon Bolivar Orchestra. Soon after that he won First Prize at the Young Soloist Competition organized by the Symphonic Orchestra of Venezuela.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Márta Kurtág</span> Hungarian pianist and teacher (1927–2019)

Márta Kurtág was a Hungarian classical pianist and academic piano teacher. She was the wife of György Kurtág, with whom she performed for 60 years, including at international festivals. They often played from his collection Játékok, which they also recorded together.

References

The Times Newspapers, London;

Hawai'i University Press;

Kodansha International, Tokyo, Japan;

Shinchosha Publishers, Tokyo, Japan;

K.K. Earphone Guide Co. Ltd. Tokyo, Japan – Earphone Guide  – The English language Earphone Guide

Shochiku Co. Ltd., Tokyo, Japan – Kabuki Web  – Shochiku Official Kabuki Website in English

Steinway Pianos, London