Monday, October 3
Ursuline Church, 7 p.m.
MONIKA LESKOVAR, violoncello
Programme:
A selection from Bach’s Suite for Solo Cello
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685.-1750.)
Suita u G-duru, BWV 1007
Prelude
Allemande,
Courante
Sarabande
Menuet 1
Menuet 2
Gigue
Suita u d- molu, BWV 1008
Prelude
Allemande
Courante
Sarabande
Menuet 1
Menuet 2
Gigue
Suita u C-duru, BWV 1009
Prelude
Allemande
Courante
Sarabande
Bourree 1
Bourree 2
Gigue
About
Croatian cellist Monika Leskovar (born Kreutztal, Germany, 1981), studied with Dobrila Berkovic-Magdalenic at Elly Bašic Music School in Zagreb and later with Valter Dešpalj. In 1996 she became a student of David Geringas at the Hanns Eisler Hochschule für Musik in Berlin, where – from 2006 to 2011 – she was an assistant. From October 2012 she teaches cello at Lugano Conservatory of Music in Switzerland.
In masterclasses, she worked together with Mstislav Rostropovitch and Bernard Greenhouse. Winner of several prizes at international cello competitions – International Tchaikovsky for Young Musicians (Sendai, 1995), Antonio Janigro (Zagreb, 1996), Rostropovich (Paris, 1997), Eurovision Grand Prix (Vienna, 1998), Roberto Caruana “Stradivari” (Milano, 1999), International ARD (Munchen 2001), 5th Adam (New Zealand, 2003). Sofia Gubaidulina says of her: “Monika perfectly performed my Preludes for solo violoncello… She is truly remarkable, and simply I adore her… Monika is the sort of talent that only appears by the Grace of God”. She performed as soloist with many orchestras and conductors, in solo recitals, chamber music projects and noted festivals. Since 2005, she collaborates with the cellist and composer Giovanni Sollima, with whom she recorded the album “We Were Trees”, recently published by Sony/BMG.
In 2008, she recorded the G-major Cello Concerto of Stamitz and the Danzi Variations on a theme from “Don Giovanni” for the label OEMHS classics.
Monika Leskovar plays a cello by Vincenzo Postiglione 1884 loaned to her by the City of Zagreb and Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra. (MIC Quercus, 2014.)