MUSIC SCENE: Dorian Rudnytsky's "Costa Blanca Suite" premieres in Spain (10/01/00)

MUSIC SCENE: Dorian Rudnytsky's "Costa Blanca Suite" premieres in Spain

by Natalia Lysyj

AUSTIN, Texas - The "Costa Blanca Suite," a composition for violoncello and orchestra in three movements, is a personal musical interpretation of this uniquely beautiful part of the Spanish coast focusing on the Altea/Calpe region.

Composer/cellist Dorian Rudnytsky first conceived the first movement, titled "A Portrait of Altea," as a piece for cello solo and an electronic orchestra. The second movement, "Penon de Ifach," and the final one, "Moros y Cristianos," join the towns of Altea and Calpe in a tradition of their own.

Very unusual as of yet in classical music is the approach taken in this composition suite. By taking advantage of the currently available technologies for music production, it is possible for this piece to be performed in two ways: the traditional way with a cello soloist accompanied by a live orchestra, or cello soloist accompanied by a "ghost orchestra." While the combination of cello and orchestra is well known, the combination of cello with electronic sounds produces its own unique blend of sounds.

Born in New York City, Mr. Rudnytsky is a son of composer/conductor Antin Rudnytsky and opera singer Maria Sokil Rudnytsky. He graduated from the Juilliard School of Music as a cellist, having studied with Pablo Casals' favorite pupil, Maurice Eisenberg.

In the late 1960s the lure of rock and roll was too strong to resist, and he founded a band that combined rock and classical music called the New York Rock and Roll Ensemble. The group, with six albums to its credit, made appearances on national TV shows, concertized with Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic, and the Detroit and Cleveland symphonies, among others, and toured throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico and South America.

The rock group also shared concert billing with Sly and the Family Stone, Eric Clapton, Alice Cooper, Dione Warwick and Richie Havens, headlining in places such as Carnegie Hall, the Apollo Theater, the Cow Palace and the Hollywood Bowl.

Later came a more sedate phase with solo cello concerts throughout the United States and work with the Beverly Hills and the Masters Symphony orchestras in California and the Garden State Philharmonic Orchestra in New Jersey. In the mid-1980s Mr. Rudnytsky worked in Los Angeles as a cellist for film and television orchestras, playing for such popular television shows as "Dynasty," "Hart to Hart," "Simon and Simon," "Hotel" and "Fantasy Island," as well as in films, "Best Little Whorehouse in Texas" and "Lethal Weapon," to name a few.

Since 1995 the composer/cellist has been living in Germany, where he appears in solo concerts and musicals (e.g., "Tommy"), and composes and writes music for theater productions. The first movement of the "Costa Blanca Suite - A Portrait of Altea" - has been performed with live and "ghost" orchestras in Germany and Poland.

The "Costa Blanca Suite" was performed for the first time in its entirety on April 19 of this year for the bicentennial celebration of the Spanish coastal towns it celebrates.

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