Milenko Stefanovic
Encyclopedia
Milenko Stefanović is the most famous Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...

n and Yugoslav
Yugoslavs
Yugoslavs is a national designation used by a minority of South Slavs across the countries of the former Yugoslavia and in the diaspora...

 clarinetist: a prizewinner
Prizewinner
Prizewinner is a large variety of pumpkin. They are typically round and have a glossy, red-orange skin. Under ideal growing conditions they can grow to between 100 and 300 pounds....

 in the international competitions in Moscow, Munich, Geneva and Prague, soloist who has achieved significant international career, long-time principal clarinetist of the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra and Professor of Clarinet at the University of Priština and University of the Arts in Belgrade.

Education

Born in a family of amateur musicians, he began his musical studies at the age of five (violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....

, piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...

 and, later, clarinet
Clarinet
The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...

). Stefanović graduated from the Belgrade Music Academy (later named The Faculty of Music in Belgrade), as a student of renowned Professor Bruno Brun
Bruno Brun
Bruno Brun was a Yugoslavian clarinetist and professor at the Academy of Music in Belgrade.-Education:...

, the founder of modern Serbian school of clarinet playing (1957). He completed there, with the same teacher, his postgraduate studies and was awarded the Magister of Arts degree (1971). Additionally, he studied chamber
Chamber music
Chamber music is a form of classical music, written for a small group of instruments which traditionally could be accommodated in a palace chamber. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small number of performers with one performer to a part...

 and orchestra
Orchestra
An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...

l playing in Salzburg
Salzburg
-Population development:In 1935, the population significantly increased when Salzburg absorbed adjacent municipalities. After World War II, numerous refugees found a new home in the city. New residential space was created for American soldiers of the postwar Occupation, and could be used for...

, Austria in the class of Igor Markevich, Erich Leinsdorf
Erich Leinsdorf
Erich Leinsdorf was a naturalized American Austrian conductor. He performed and recorded with leading orchestras and opera companies throughout the United States and Europe, earning a reputation for exacting standards as well as an acerbic personality...

 and Fernand Oubradous.

Awards and honors

Stefanović was a top-prize winner or finalist in the major Yugoslavian and international competitions, including the competition
Competition
Competition is a contest between individuals, groups, animals, etc. for territory, a niche, or a location of resources. It arises whenever two and only two strive for a goal which cannot be shared. Competition occurs naturally between living organisms which co-exist in the same environment. For...

s in Sarajevo
Sarajevo
Sarajevo |Bosnia]], surrounded by the Dinaric Alps and situated along the Miljacka River in the heart of Southeastern Europe and the Balkans....

 (1952), Skopje
Skopje
Skopje is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Macedonia with about a third of the total population. It is the country's political, cultural, economic, and academic centre...

 (1954), Ljubljana
Ljubljana
Ljubljana is the capital of Slovenia and its largest city. It is the centre of the City Municipality of Ljubljana. It is located in the centre of the country in the Ljubljana Basin, and is a mid-sized city of some 270,000 inhabitants...

 (1956), Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...

 (1957), Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...

 (1957), Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...

 (1957) and Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...

 (1959). Additionally, he was honored with the Award of the Yugoslavian Radio-Television (Ohrid
Ohrid
Ohrid is a city on the eastern shore of Lake Ohrid in the Republic of Macedonia. It has about 42,000 inhabitants, making it the seventh largest city in the country. The city is the seat of Ohrid Municipality. Ohrid is notable for having once had 365 churches, one for each day of the year and has...

, 1972), awards of the City of Belgrade for the best concert in the previous concert season (1976, 1981, 1986), with 7 July Award (1962) - the state’s highest award for the arts, as well as with many other honors. In 2007, upon recommendation of the Expert Committee of the Serbian Ministry of Culture
Government of Serbia
Officially the Government of the Republic of Serbia is the executive branch of government in Serbia.-Current government:The current government was elected on 7 July 2008 by the majority vote in the National Assembly of Serbia and restructured on 14 March 2011...

, he was awarded Special Acknowledgment for the Highest Contribution to the National Culture in the Republic of Serbia. In 2010 he was awarded with The Lifetime Achievement Award by the Association of Musical Artists of Serbia
Association of Musical Artists of Serbia
The Association of Musical Artists of Serbia is an association which gathers together musicians from Serbia who dedicated themselves to performing actively classical music....

.

Performance career

Stefanović was the principal clarinetist of the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra
Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra
The Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra is an orchestra in Serbia, regularly considered as one of the finest in the country. Its home base is in Belgrade.- History :...

 (1954–1976).
Apart from holding that position, he also achieved a huge international success as a soloist
Solo (music)
In music, a solo is a piece or a section of a piece played or sung by a single performer...

 and chamber music
Chamber music
Chamber music is a form of classical music, written for a small group of instruments which traditionally could be accommodated in a palace chamber. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small number of performers with one performer to a part...

 player.

During his extensive career, Stefanović has played in Europe, North America and Africa. As a soloist, chamber and orchestral musician he has collaborated with distinguished Yugoslavian and international artists, including: Herbert von Karajan
Herbert von Karajan
Herbert von Karajan was an Austrian orchestra and opera conductor. To the wider world he was perhaps most famously associated with the Berlin Philharmonic, of which he was principal conductor for 35 years...

, Lorin Maazel
Lorin Maazel
Lorin Varencove Maazel is an American conductor, violinist and composer.- Early life :Maazel was born to Jewish-American parents in Neuilly-sur-Seine in France and brought up in the United States, primarily at his parents' home in Pittsburgh's Oakland neighborhood. His father, Lincoln Maazel , was...

, Leopold Stokowski
Leopold Stokowski
Leopold Anthony Stokowski was a British-born, naturalised American orchestral conductor, well known for his free-hand performing style that spurned the traditional baton and for obtaining a characteristically sumptuous sound from many of the great orchestras he conducted.In America, Stokowski...

, Kirill Kondrashin, Bernard Keeffe, Francesco Mander
Francesco Mander
Francesco Mander, was an Italian conductor and composer.-Biography:Francesco Mander was the only son of Pietro Mander, a film producer and owner of Mander Film, and Lucia Mercadante...

, Jerzy Katlewicz, Jovan Šajnović
Jovan Šajnovic
Jovan Šajnović was a renowned Yugoslavian conductor and university professor.-Education:Šajnović started to study music with eminent Yugoslav musicians - Emil Hajek , Ljubica Marić and Mihajlo Vukdragović...

, Uroš Lajovic
Uroš Lajovic
-Education:Uroš Lajovic graduated composition and conducting from the Music Academy of Ljubljana and received his master’s degree at the Music Academy in Vienna where he studied under the tuition of Hans Swarowsky. Lajovic also attended master classes at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, where he...

, Anton Kolar, Anton Nanut
Anton Nanut
Anton Nanut, born September 13, 1932, is the best known Slovenian conductor of classical music. He was a professor of conducting at the Ljubljana Academy of Music and the artistic leader of the Slovene Octet in its most productive years....

, Vančo Čavdarski, Živojin Zdravković
Živojin Zdravkovic
Živojin Zdravković , a Serbian conductor, served as chief conductor of the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra and professor of conducting at the Music Academy in Belgrade. He was also a member and president of the Association of Musical Artists of Serbia.-References:*Ikonomova, V...

, Oskar Danon
Oskar Danon
Oskar Danon was a Bosnian Jewish composer and conductor.-Early life and education:Oskar Danon was born in 1913 in Sarajevo, then in the Austria-Hungarian Empire but now in Bosnia and Herzegovina. He studied music in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and Prague, Czechoslovakia, where he obtained his Ph.D...

, Dušan Skovran, Djura Jakšić, Mladen Jagušt, Julio Marić, Franc Klinar, Roman Skrepek, Eric Hope
Eric Hope
Eric Hope was a British pianist.Born in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, of Baltic descent, he was a pupil at Warwick School between 1931 and 1934...

, Evgeni Korolyov, Michel Dussault, Andreja Preger, Aleksandar Pavlović
Aleksandar Pavlovic
Aleksandar "Sasha" Pavlović is a professional basketball player who last played for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association . He began his NBA career with the Utah Jazz in 2003.-2000-2001:...

, Viktor Jakovčić, Zorica Dimitrijević-Stošić
Zorica Dimitrijevic-Stošic
Zorica Dimitrijević-Stošić is a Serbian pianist and accompanist and professor of piano at the Faculty of Music in Belgrade.-Education:...

, Mirjana Kršljanin, Aleksandar Lekovski, Zbigniew Chwedczuk, Josef Daniel, Oivin Fjeldstad, Bogo Leskovic, Petr Vronsky
Petr Vronský
-External links:**...

, Freddy Došek, Bogdan Babić, Vojislav Simić
Vojislav Simic
Vojislav Simić , better known as "Bubiša", is a Serbian musician, conductor, composer and the pioneer of Serbian Ethno-Jazz....

, The Zagreb Soloists, The Belgrade Trio, The Serbian String Quartet, The Zagreb Quartet and many others.

Stefanović was one of the few artists honored to perform Copland’s Clarinet Concerto
Clarinet Concerto (Copland)
Aaron Copland's Clarinet Concerto was written between 1947 and 1949, although a first version was already available in 1948. This composition is also sometimes referred to as the Concerto for Clarinet, Strings and Harp...

 under the baton of Maestro Aaron Copland
Aaron Copland
Aaron Copland was an American composer, composition teacher, writer, and later in his career a conductor of his own and other American music. He was instrumental in forging a distinctly American style of composition, and is often referred to as "the Dean of American Composers"...

 (1961).

Stefanović was also a jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

 musician - soloist, composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...

 and member of the Belgrade Jazz Trio
Belgrade Jazz Trio
The Belgrade Jazz Trio was a jazz trio founded in Belgrade, Serbia, then Yugoslavia.Its members were Milenko Stefanović - clarinet, Vojislav Đonović - guitar and Aleksandar Nećak - bass.-External links:...

 and Markićević Quintet.

He has recorded for the radio and television stations in Yugoslavia and abroad (Moscow, Rome, Paris, London, Berlin, etc.).

Distinguished Yugoslav composers Aleksandar Obradović
Aleksandar Obradovic
Aleksandar Obradović was a Serbian 20th century composer and professor at the Faculty of Music in Belgrade. He was a Chancellor of the University of Arts in Belgrade .-External links:***...

, Petar Bergamo
Petar Bergamo
Petar Bergamo graduated from the Belgrade Music Academy , where hestudied composition with Stanojlo Rajičić and conducting with Živojin Zdravković...

, Dušan Radić, Miodrag Ilić, Petar Ozgijan, Dejan Despić
Dejan Despic
Dejan Despić is an internationally acclaimed Serbian composer, music theoretician, writer and pedagogue. He studied composition with Marko Tajčević and conducting with Mihajlo Vukdragović at the Belgrade Music Academy , where he later became a professor . He composed more than 170 works in all...

, and others dedicated to him their works.

Milenko Stefanović has been esteemed by the critics very much. Despite the great number of his appearances, he has the honor to be one of the very few musicians who have never been reviewed negatively by the critics.

Stefanović has served on the juries in numerous Yugoslavian and international competitions.

Teaching career

Stefanović has been very successful as a teacher, too. His former students hold teaching positions in music schools and universities and play in orchestras in Europe, Asia, Australia and North America. Many of them were prizewinners in various competitions in the country and abroad.

He began his teaching career as a clarinet teacher at the Josip Slavenski
Josip Štolcer-Slavenski
Josip Štolcer-Slavenski was a Yugoslav composer and professor at the Music Academy in Belgrade.-Early life:...

 School of Music (1967–1993).

He had been teaching at the University of the Arts in Belgrade since 1976, when he was appointed upon recommendation of the previous teacher, Professor Brun
Bruno Brun
Bruno Brun was a Yugoslavian clarinetist and professor at the Academy of Music in Belgrade.-Education:...

, until his retirement in 1995.

Stefanović has taught at the University of Priština Faculty of Arts since 1975, when he was one of the founders of its Music Division.

He was also a Vice-Chancellor (1985–1989) and member of the Board of Trustees of the University of the Arts in Belgrade.

Stefanović wrote several textbook
Textbook
A textbook or coursebook is a manual of instruction in any branch of study. Textbooks are produced according to the demands of educational institutions...

s for the clarinet students.

Affiliations

He is an honorary member and former president of the Association of Musical Artists of Serbia
Association of Musical Artists of Serbia
The Association of Musical Artists of Serbia is an association which gathers together musicians from Serbia who dedicated themselves to performing actively classical music....

.

Selected recordings

  • Baird
    Tadeusz Baird
    Tadeusz Baird was a Polish composer.He was born in Grodzisk Mazowiecki, to Scottish immigrant parents. He studied composition, piano and musicology in Warsaw with, among others, Kazimierz Sikorski. In 1956, with Serocki, he founded the Warsaw Autumn international contemporary music festival...

    : Two Caprices
    Capriccio (music)
    A capriccio or caprice , is a piece of music, usually fairly free in form and of a lively character...

  • Baronijan: Divertimento
    Divertimento
    Divertimento is a musical genre, with most of its examples from the 18th century. The mood of the divertimento is most often lighthearted and it is generally composed for a small ensemble....

     for Clarinet
    Clarinet
    The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...

    , Flute
    Flute
    The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...

    , Strings
    String instrument
    A string instrument is a musical instrument that produces sound by means of vibrating strings. In the Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification, used in organology, they are called chordophones...

     and Percussion
  • Bećiri: Sonata
  • Berg
    Alban Berg
    Alban Maria Johannes Berg was an Austrian composer. He was a member of the Second Viennese School with Arnold Schoenberg and Anton Webern, and produced compositions that combined Mahlerian Romanticism with a personal adaptation of Schoenberg's twelve-tone technique.-Early life:Berg was born in...

    : Four Pieces
  • Bergamo
    Petar Bergamo
    Petar Bergamo graduated from the Belgrade Music Academy , where hestudied composition with Stanojlo Rajičić and conducting with Živojin Zdravković...

    : Concerto Abbreviato
    Concerto Abbreviato
    Concerto Abbreviato is a musical composition for solo clarinet written by Petar Bergamo, for Milenko Stefanović, who gave its first performance on March 16, 1966, on his tour in UK, and recorded it, the same year, for PGP-RTB.-Analysis:...

     for Clarinet Solo (dedicated to M. Stefanović)
  • Beethoven: Duo No.2, Op. 147 for Clarinet and Bassoon
    Bassoon
    The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family that typically plays music written in the bass and tenor registers, and occasionally higher. Appearing in its modern form in the 19th century, the bassoon figures prominently in orchestral, concert band and chamber music literature...

    )
  • Bjelinski
    Bruno Bjelinski
    Bruno Bjelinski was a Croatian composer.Bjelinski was born into a Jewish family. He doctored in law at the University of Zagreb and later studied music at the Zagreb Academy of Music under Blagoje Bersa and Franjo Dugan. Bjelinski started composing in 30's with two sonatas for violin and piano...

    : Rondo
  • Brahms: Sonata No. 1
  • Brahms:Sonata No. 2
  • Brahms: Quintet in B minor
    Clarinet Quintet (Brahms)
    Johannes Brahms's Clarinet Quintet in B minor, Op. 115 was written in 1891 for the clarinettist Richard Mühlfeld. It is widely regarded as Brahms's supreme achievement in chamber music.The piece is known for its autumnal mood...

     (with the Zagreb
    Zagreb
    Zagreb is the capital and the largest city of the Republic of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb lies at an elevation of approximately above sea level. According to the last official census, Zagreb's city...

     Quartet
    Quartet
    In music, a quartet is a method of instrumentation , used to perform a musical composition, and consisting of four parts.-Western art music:...

    )
  • Copland
    Aaron Copland
    Aaron Copland was an American composer, composition teacher, writer, and later in his career a conductor of his own and other American music. He was instrumental in forging a distinctly American style of composition, and is often referred to as "the Dean of American Composers"...

    : Concerto
    Clarinet Concerto (Copland)
    Aaron Copland's Clarinet Concerto was written between 1947 and 1949, although a first version was already available in 1948. This composition is also sometimes referred to as the Concerto for Clarinet, Strings and Harp...

     (with Aaron Copland
    Aaron Copland
    Aaron Copland was an American composer, composition teacher, writer, and later in his career a conductor of his own and other American music. He was instrumental in forging a distinctly American style of composition, and is often referred to as "the Dean of American Composers"...

    )
  • Debussy: Premiere Rhapsodie
    Première Rhapsodie
    The Première rhapsodie by Claude Debussy is a piece for clarinet and piano. Composed between December 1909 and January 1910, it was dedicated to the French clarinet professor Prosper Mimart....

  • Despić
    Dejan Despic
    Dejan Despić is an internationally acclaimed Serbian composer, music theoretician, writer and pedagogue. He studied composition with Marko Tajčević and conducting with Mihajlo Vukdragović at the Belgrade Music Academy , where he later became a professor . He composed more than 170 works in all...

    : Concertino for Clarinet, Bassoon & Orchestra
  • Despić: Nine Dance
    Dance
    Dance is an art form that generally refers to movement of the body, usually rhythmic and to music, used as a form of expression, social interaction or presented in a spiritual or performance setting....

    s for Clarinet Solo (dedicated to M. Stefanović)
  • Frajt: Odd Player
  • Hindemith: Sonata
  • Honegger: Sonatine
    Sonatine
    is a 1993 Japanese film by Japanese filmmaker Takeshi Kitano. It won numerous awards and became one of Kitano's most successful and praised films, garnering him a sizable international fan base.-Plot:Kitano plays Murakawa, a Tokyo yakuza tiring of gangster life...

     (with Eric Hope)
  • Kalčić: Musica Concertante for Clarinet and Strings
  • Kessel
    Barney Kessel
    Barney Kessel was an American jazz guitarist born in Muskogee, Oklahoma, USA. Generally considered to be one of the greatest jazz guitarists of the 20th century, he was noted in particular for his vast knowledge of chords and inversions and chord-based melodies...

    : Bernardo
    Bernardo
    Bernardo may refer to:People;First name* Bernardo Bellotto, Venitian urban landscape painter or vedutista* Bernardo Corradi, Italian footballer...

  • Kotlić: Pesma
  • Lutoslawski: Dance Preludes
  • Milhaud
    Darius Milhaud
    Darius Milhaud was a French composer and teacher. He was a member of Les Six—also known as The Group of Six—and one of the most prolific composers of the 20th century. His compositions are influenced by jazz and make use of polytonality...

    : Concerto
  • Milhaud: Sonatina
  • Mozart: Concerto in A major
    Clarinet Concerto (Mozart)
    Mozart's Clarinet concerto in A major, K. 622 was written in 1791 for the clarinetist Anton Stadler.It consists of the usual three movements, in a fast–slow–fast form:# Allegro# Adagio# Rondo: Allegro...

     K. 622
  • Mozart: Trio in E-flat major, K. 498 (Kegelstatt Trio
    Kegelstatt Trio
    The Kegelstatt Trio , also referred to as the Trio for Clarinet, Viola and Piano in E-flat, is a classical chamber music composition by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.-History:...

    )
  • Mozart: Quintet in A major
    Clarinet Quintet (Mozart)
    Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Quintet for Clarinet and Strings, K. 581, was written in 1789 for the clarinetist Anton Stadler. A clarinet quintet is a work for one clarinet and a string quartet . Although originally written for basset clarinet, it is almost always played on a clarinet in A or B-flat...

    , K.581 (with the Zagreb
    Zagreb
    Zagreb is the capital and the largest city of the Republic of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb lies at an elevation of approximately above sea level. According to the last official census, Zagreb's city...

     Quartet
    Quartet
    In music, a quartet is a method of instrumentation , used to perform a musical composition, and consisting of four parts.-Western art music:...

    )
  • Obradović
    Aleksandar Obradovic
    Aleksandar Obradović was a Serbian 20th century composer and professor at the Faculty of Music in Belgrade. He was a Chancellor of the University of Arts in Belgrade .-External links:***...

    : Concerto for Clarinet and String Orchestra
    String orchestra
    A string orchestra is an orchestra composed solely or primarily of instruments from the string family. These instruments are the violin, the viola, the cello, the double bass , the piano, the harp, and sometimes percussion...

     (dedicated to M. Stefanović)
  • Obradović: Microsonata for Clarinet Solo (dedicated to M. Stefanović)
  • Penderecki: Three Miniatures
  • Rabaud
    Henri Rabaud
    Henri Rabaud was a French conductor and composer, who held important posts in the French musical establishment and upheld mainly conservative trends in French music in the first half of the twentieth century....

    : Solo de Concours
  • Radić
    Radic
    Radić or Radic is a common South Slavic surname. It may refer to:* Dejan Radić , Serbian footballer* Gabrijel Radić , Serbian volleyball player* Indira Radić , Serbian pop-folk singer...

    : Concertino
    Concertino (composition)
    A concertino is a short concerto freer in form. It normally takes the form of a one-movement musical composition for solo instrument and orchestra, though some concertinos are written in several movements played without a pause....

     (dedicated to M. Stefanović)
  • Rossini: Introduction, Theme and Variations
  • Schumann
    Robert Schumann
    Robert Schumann, sometimes known as Robert Alexander Schumann, was a German composer, aesthete and influential music critic. He is regarded as one of the greatest and most representative composers of the Romantic era....

    : Fantasy-Pieces
  • Saint-Saëns
    Camille Saint-Saëns
    Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns was a French Late-Romantic composer, organist, conductor, and pianist. He is known especially for The Carnival of the Animals, Danse macabre, Samson and Delilah, Piano Concerto No. 2, Cello Concerto No. 1, Havanaise, Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso, and his Symphony...

    : Sonata
    Sonata
    Sonata , in music, literally means a piece played as opposed to a cantata , a piece sung. The term, being vague, naturally evolved through the history of music, designating a variety of forms prior to the Classical era...

  • Shaw
    Artie Shaw
    Arthur Jacob Arshawsky , better known as Artie Shaw, was an American jazz clarinetist, composer, and bandleader. He was also the author of both fiction and non-fiction writings....

    : Concerto
  • Stamitz
    Johann Stamitz
    Jan Václav Antonín Stamic was a Czech composer and violinist. Johann was the father of Carl Stamitz and Anton Stamitz, also composers...

    : Concerto in B flat major
  • Stefanović
    Milenko Stefanovic
    Milenko Stefanović is the most famous Serbian and Yugoslav clarinetist: a prizewinner in the international competitions in Moscow, Munich, Geneva and Prague, soloist who has achieved significant international career, long-time principal clarinetist of the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra and...

    : Romance
  • Stefanović: Grotesque
    Grotesque
    The word grotesque comes from the same Latin root as "Grotto", meaning a small cave or hollow. The original meaning was restricted to an extravagant style of Ancient Roman decorative art rediscovered and then copied in Rome at the end of the 15th century...

  • Vauda: Sonata Brevis
  • Weber
    Carl Maria von Weber
    Carl Maria Friedrich Ernst von Weber was a German composer, conductor, pianist, guitarist and critic, one of the first significant composers of the Romantic school....

    : Concertino (with the BBC
    BBC
    The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

     Orchestra)
  • Weber: Concerto No. 1
    Clarinet Concerto No. 1 (Weber)
    Carl Maria von Weber wrote his Clarinet Concerto No. 1 in F minor, Op. 73 for the clarinettist Heinrich Bärmann in 1811. The piece is considered a gem in the instrument's repertoire. It is written for clarinet in B-flat. The work consists of three movements in the form of fast, slow,...

  • Weber: Concerto No. 2
    Clarinet Concerto No. 2 (Weber)
    Carl Maria von Weber wrote his Clarinet Concerto No. 2 in E flat major, Op. 74, in 1811. It is composed of three movements:# Allegro# Andante con moto# Alla PolaccaA typical performance lasts 23 minutes...

  • Živanović: Spring Landscape
  • Živanović: Rhapsody
    Rhapsody (music)
    A rhapsody in music is a one-movement work that is episodic yet integrated, free-flowing in structure, featuring a range of highly contrasted moods, colour and tonality. An air of spontaneous inspiration and a sense of improvisation make it freer in form than a set of variations...

     for Clarinet and Jazz Orchestra

Reviews

" The brilliant Yugoslav clarinettist Milenko Stefanovic" (The Guardian Journal)

" Yugoslav clarinetist number one Milenko Stefanovic has played his solo part in Obradovic's Concerto with technical brilliancy and deep expression." (Politika)

" Clarinettist of sensitive gifts

It was a pleasure to hear the Yugoslav clarinettist again last night...he showed a quite outstanding technical facility. Listening to his performances... one realised that he is not just another fine player but an artist endowed with unusually comprehensive and sensitive gift of interpretation." (The Daily Telegraph)

" Outstanding clarinet

...the musical event of the evening was Milenko Stefanovic's performance of Mozart's
Clarinet Concerto. The soloist's breath control, tonal quality and mastery of phrase and paragraph were such that the work seemed to be taking shape on the spot. I have heard a few outstanding performances of this work, but never one so inspired as this." (Music and Musicians)

" Romanticism flowed at full tide... exciting" (The Guardian Journal)

" Brilliant virtuosity" (Music and Musicians)

" A magnificent...strong and brilliant." (The Yorkshire Post)

" Listening Milenko Stefanovic performing we have considered the confirmed estimation which put him among the most talented clarinetists of now days." (Pro musica)

"The middle items of the concert were Debussy's Rhapsody for Clarinet and Copland's Concerto for Clarinet, Strings, Harp and Piano. In those works we recognized again Milenko Stefanovic as an excellent clarinetist and interpreter. Even better than in Debussy was the young master in Copland's work. This interesting fresh and original work he played with all technical virtuosity and with a radiant tone." (Delo)

" Virtuosity with the clarinet

Milenko Stefanovic, the clarinettist, must be a tremendous asset to the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra for he is a remarkably virtuoso performer... he seemed to be performing on an instrument which was at times akin to the trumpet at others to whispering oboe... breadth and humanity in Schumann's 'Phantasiestucke' where the clarinet's tone took on a sunny tinge, and the long, voluptuous phrases of Brahms's sonata in E flat were generously produced.Debussy's first Rhapsody was always diverting and a sensuous tone increased its romantic elements. An unaccompanied work 'Concerto Abbreviato'... was technical tour the force." (The Daily Telegraph)

" Clarinet player of a wide range

...Mr. Stefanovic has a tone of enormous range and power... He has - what so many clarinet players lack - the best asset of all: a stout pair of lungs. But his breathing into the instrument, its warmth of tone especially in lowest registers and his impeccable phrasing, stamp him more particularly as an outstanding musician." (The Yorkshire Post)

"The interpretation of the Brahms' Quintet was remarkable in the sense of perfection sinking into the refined texture of the strings, which was due to clarinetist Milenko Stefanovic who has given in his performing almost a dematerialized vocal line in which Brahms' musical lyricism has gained a new poetical and sounding dimension." (Politika)

"Milenko Stefanovic's last recital confirmed his renome of a perfect artist of his instrument. He exhibited his highest technical and musical quality. With much taste and invention his well constructed programme enabled him to point out his exceptional affinity towards twentieth century music, and in the same time to stress its variety..." (Borba)

"...the most outstanding Yugoslavian clarinet professor of our day.“ (The Clarinet)

Trivia

Two members of Stefanović's family are also well-known musicians: his son Predrag is a clarinetist and his daughter-in-law Jovana is a composer. Both of them have built significant music careers. Beside that, they are also very esteemed as pedagogues. They have been teaching at the Josip Slavenski School of Music in Belgrade.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK