Violinist Anna Štube and pianist Kevin Ahfat of Canada’s ARC (Artists of the Royal Conservatory) Ensemble perform Ernest Kanitz’s Violin Sonata, op.10.
The work features on the new album Chamber Works of Ernest Kanitz, released on 31 October. It is the ninth recording in the ARC Ensemble’s ’Music in Exile’ series, spotlighting composers who have been neglected and marginalised due to the impacts of war, anti-Semitism and bigotry.
Kanitz (1894-1978) was a Jewish Austrian-born composer. He was a prominent musician in Vienna during the 1920s and 30s, with frequent concerts and radio broadcasts.
Forced to flee after the Nazis’ annexation of Austria in 1938, Kanitz eventually established a career in the US, as an admired pedagogue and composer, but with his death his modest renown evaporated, and his music disappeared from the concert stage.
The Violin Sonata was completed in 1921, and highlights the composer’s music prior to his move to America. For this recording, the ARC Ensemble invited 19-year-old Latvian violinist Štube to perform as a guest, making her recording debut.
Štube is a student at the Royal Conservatory’s Glenn Gould School, and plays on a 1667 Andrea Guarneri violin.
’The inclusion of outstanding young musicians like Anna is absolutely critical if we are to guarantee the survival of these new additions to the repertoire,’ says ARC Ensemble’s artistic director, Simon Wynberg.
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