Prone to Violins

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Prone to Violins

About violinists, violins, and the violence that occurs between the two.

Saturday, September 4, 2021 Linus Roth

LinusRoth is a German violinist born (in Ravensburg, Germany) on May 31, 1977. (Ravensburg is about 100 miles west of Munich) In addition to his brilliant technique anduncompromising musicianship, he is known for having saved Polish composer MieczyslawWeinberg from oblivion. From age 15,Roth has been the recipient of many top awards at various violincompetitions. Roth has also won the ECHOKLASSIK Award twice for his recordings under the EMI and Challenge Records labels. (The ECHO KLASSIK is Germanys top classicalmusic award.) In 2013, Roth receivedGramophone music magazines Editors Choice honors for his recordings ofWeinbergs violin concerto, the Concertino for violin and chamber orchestra,and the complete works for violin and piano.Every Roth recording is easy to find on the internet. Among many other works, Weinberg alsocomposed three sonatas for solo violin which Roth has also recently recorded. Although he has spent most of his career inEurope, Roth has played in venues across the world, including North and SouthAmerica and the Far East. As iscustomary for many classical concert artists, he also plays chamber music (inconcert) with a wide variety of world class musicians. Roth began violin lessons at age 5. He received his first instruction from hismother, who is a cellist. At age 6, hemade his first public appearance. Hisfirst solo performance with orchestra, at which he played the Mendelssohnconcerto (the one in e minor), took place at age 11. The following year, he began lessons inZurich with Ukrainian-Polish violinist Nicolas Chumachenco, well-known violinpedagogue. Four years later, at age 16,he began studying with Russian violin Professor Zakhar Bron, in Lubeck, Germany. (Bron was also the teacher of Vadim Repin,Maxim Vengerov, Mari Samuelsen, and Daniel Hope.) Beginning at age 20, he started lessons withsomeone who would become his most influential teacher, Ana Chumachenco, firstin Zurich, then in Munich. (AnaChumachenco is Nicolas Chumachencos sister.)In 2012, Roth was appointed violin professor at the Leopold Music Centerof Augsburg University where he still teaches.In 2018, he established the Ibiza (Spain) music festival called IbizaConcerts. (Ibiza is an island off theeastern coast of Spain a very short trip by airplane, but a long trip byferry.) Toward that end, he is learningSpanish he already speaks German, English, and Italian. He also was appointed Artistic Director, in2020, of the Spring Music Festival at Ochsenhausen, Germany. (Ochsenhausen is about 60 miles west ofMunich.) I believe all of their concertswill be streamed live in 2021, although Im not absolutely sure aboutthat. Up until the end of 2019, Rothmaintained an incredibly busy concert schedule.However, his schedule was disrupted by events which took every artist aroundthe world by surprise. Not one singleartist was spared the consequences of the worldwide events which resulted fromthe severe Covid-19 pandemic. However, Rothwisely spent some of his time off doing a lot of recording that does notrequire an orchestra, including the six works for solo violin by Bach. I do not know if any of those CDs have beenissued yet. Fortunately, as his websiteshows, an upcoming concert tour with Anne-Sophie Mutter as partner willrelaunch his concert itinerary. In arecent interview, Roth was asked which two musicians from the past he wouldmost like to meet; his choices were composer Ludwig Van Beethoven and conductorCarlos Kleiber. Beethoven is not anunusual choice, but Carlos Kleiber is.As far as I know, Kleiber never appeared with or conducted for anysoloists on stage. His concerts wereall-orchestral concerts or operas; same as his recordings. Nevertheless, many widely-respected musicians(and many music critics) regard him as the best conductor of the twentiethcentury. Roth has stated that he wouldntwant to discuss anything musical with him; rather, I would ask him about hisviews on life, spiritual things, and about the aura of certain other people heworked with. Im sure he felt theseintensely. In case we would have managedto have some glasses of wine together, I would ask him about his youth in SouthAmerica, the atmosphere there, and his feelings about coming back to Munich in1952 to be Korrepetitor [an opera singers coach and accompanist] at theGärtnerplatz Theater München. As forWeinberg, Roth first discovered his music in 2010 (one source says 2011.). He has championed Weinbergs music ever sinceand founded (in 2015) the International Mieczyslaw Weinberg Society whichpromotes Weinbergs music. Weinbergsviolin concerto was dedicated to Leonid Kogan, who recorded it in 1959 or 1960. Here is a YouTube video with Roth speaking brieflyabout the concerto, including footage of his recording session in Berlin inAugust, 2013. Unlike most concertviolinists, Roth is not a chess player (he prefers backgammon), but in a matterof a few months, he will join Kristof Barati and Jeremy Constant as being oneof the extremely rare people who are both concert violinists and airplanepilots. Roth maintains his mental andphysical stamina by regularly working out at a gymnasium. (Arabella Steinbacher practices Yoga but, asfar as I know, never sets foot in a gym.)Here is a YouTube video with Roth playing the Bach E majorconcerto. Be prepared to experience avery special and unexpected ending to that video. Here is another fascinating video showing arehearsal for the recording session of the Tchaikovsky concerto with the LondonSymphony. Since 1997, Roth has playedthe 1703 Dancla Stradivarius, although he played many other violins beforethat, including a Landolfi of unknown date.The photo is courtesy of Belgian Photographer Diego Franssens.

Posted byMUSEat9:52 PM2 comments: Labels:Ana Chumachenco,Carlos Kleiber,Charles Dancla,Dancla Strad,German violinists,Ibiza Concerts,Linus Roth,Mieczyslaw Weinberg,pilots,Tchaikovsky concerto,Weinberg concerto Sunday, December 6, 2020 Maria DueñasMaría Dueñas (Maria Dueñas Fernandez) is a Spanish violinist and composer, born(in Granada) on December 4, 2002. She is very likely the best Spanish violinistsince Pablo Sarasate (1844-1908.) She is also known as a former child prodigy.She has been winning violin competitions since she was 14 years old, includingthe Zhuhai (China), the Vladimir Spivakov (Russia), the G.P Telemann (Poland),the Yankelevitch (Russia), the Leonid Kogan (Belgium), and the Luigi Zanuccoli(Italy) violin competitions. * (see comments below) Since she is also a composer, she writes her owncadenzas for each concerto she plays. As a member of the Hamamelis Quartet, shealso won first prize at the Fidelio Chamber Music Competition in Vienna in 2017.She began her violin studies at age 5 in Spain. I do not know who her firstteacher was. At age 7, she entered the Granada Conservatory. She made her localdebut with the Granada Symphony at age 11, playing the first concerto of Mozart.Andrea Marcon was on the podium. When she was 12 years old, her family moved toVienna so that she could study with Boris Kuschnir (well-known violin pedagogue)at the University for Music and Art in Graz and at the Music and Arts Universityin Vienna, Austria. (Graz is about a two-hour drive from Vienna, driving south.)In this effort, she was assisted by Russian violinist, Vladimir Spivakov.(Spivakovs Moscow Virtuosi chamber orchestra has a very strong connection toSpain.) In September of 2019, she was named Artist of the Month by MusicalAmerica being only 16 years old. Dueñas has already concertized in manycountries around the world (including the U.S.) and has played in some of themost prestigious concert halls but, since she is still a student at theUniversity, understandably spends most of her time in Europe. Here is one of hermany YouTube video performances. You can judge her virtuosity and style foryourself. Dueñas speaks four languages fluently German, English, French, andSpanish. She is also currently studying the Russian language. Two of her violinshave been a Nicolo Gagliano (1764), on loan from the German Musical LifeFoundation and the Muntz Guarneri (1736) on loan from the Nippon MusicFoundation. I do not know if she is still using either one of those fineviolins. The photo is courtesy of David Ausserhoffer.Posted byMUSEat6:50 AM3 comments: Labels:Boris Kuschnir,child prodigies,Granada,Hamamelis Quartet,Maria Duenas,Maria Duenas Fernandez,Nippon Music Foundation,Pablo Sarasate,Spanish violinists,violin competitions,Vladimir Spivakov Sunday, December 15, 2019 Orlando BareraOrlando Barera was an Italian (some would sayAmerican) violinist and conductor born (in Bologna, Italy) on February 6,1907. Two sources say he was born inFerrara, Italy in 1908. (Ferrara isabout 25 miles north of Bologna.) Hebegan his career as a concert violinist but is best known for being theconductor of the El Paso (Texas) Symphony from the fall of 1951 to the springof 1970. Prior to that he was theconductor of the Baton Rouge (Louisiana) Symphony for one year and just beforethat, he was the concertmaster and Assistant Conductor (for one year also) ofthe Houston Symphony. Before those twoposts, he had served as concertmaster of the Kansas City (Missouri) Symphonyand the Havana Symphony (prior to Fidel Castros political revolution.) Barera is one of many violinists who turnedfrom concertizing to conducting Jaap Van Zweden, Eugene Ormandy, DavidZinman, Alan Gilbert, Neville Marriner, Pierre Monteux, Peter Oundjian, JacquesSinger, Charles Munch, and Theodore Thomas are among them. He began his studies with his father, who wasa professor at the conservatory of music in Bologna. He graduated at age 15 with diplomas inviolin, composition, and piano. Immediatelythereafter, he added an additional two years of study before embarking on asolo career. His concertizing began inItaly but then later included France, Germany, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Russia,and the Netherlands. His firstappearance in the U.S. took place at Town Hall in New York on February 10, 1936. He was 29 years old. He later played at the Library of Congress inWashington D.C. that same year but returned to play in Europe in the latter part of that year. On November 11, 1936, he played LalosSymphonie Espagnol with the Prague Radio Symphony. Karl Ancerl was on the podium. I do not know if the performance wasrecorded. Upon his return to the U.S., he gave a second recital at Town Hall on December 27, 1936. He playedMozarts fourth concerto with the Boston Symphony on February 21, 1937. Serge Koussevitzky conducted. On December 3, 1938, he was guest artist withthe New York Philharmonic. This time, heplayed the Mendelssohn concerto, the one in e minor. John Barbirolli conducted. When war broke out, he enlisted in the U.S.Army and served a tour of duty until the wars end. His career - which he took up again when hewas appointed concertmaster in Kansas City was thus interrupted. An interesting detail in his career is that betweenJuly 11 and November 10, 1950, he participated (as assistant principal secondviolinist) in 14 recording sessions which Leopold Stokowski conducted in NewYork. At many of these recordingsessions, Victor Aitay, the soon-to-be concertmaster of the Chicago Symphony,was Bareras stand partner Aitay was, at that time, a section violinist inthe Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. Beingthe well-known figure he was on the east coast and beyond, Barera was able tointroduce many world class string players to El Paso audiences. Among them were Ruggiero Ricci, Zvi Zeitlin,Isaac Stern, Berl Senofsky, Zino Francescatti, Pierre Fournier, Mischa Elman,Michael Rabin, Zara Nelsova, Arturo Delmoni, Salvatore Accardo, and TossySpivakovsky. Of his association withBarera, Michael Rabin once said Barera is very good and a hell of a niceguy. Believe me, I wish every conductorwould be as easy to work with as he is.He takes away all the tightness and strain and just lets me enjoymyself. Barera owned and played aGagliano violin from a year and specific maker unknown to me the Gaglianoviolin-making family produced several good makers. Barera died on March 26, 1971, at age64.Posted byMUSEat7:47 AM1 comment: Labels:El Paso Symphony,Gagliano violins,Houston Symphony,Italian violinists,John Barbirolli,Leopold Stokowski,Michael Rabin,old Italian violins,Orlando Barera,Salvatore Accardo,Victor Aitay Sunday, November 17, 2019 Ilya GringoltsIlya Gringolts is a Russian violinist,teacher, conductor, and composer born (in Leningrad) on July 2, 1982. He is known for being immersed inperiod-instrument performance as well as contemporary playing styles. Ever since he won the 1998 PaganiniCompetition at age 16, his virtuosity has become well-known. (The following year, Sayaka Shoji won thecompetition she also was 16 years old.)As is customary with almost all contemporary violinists, Gringoltsparticipates in many music festivals around the world. (The production of music festivals seems tohave exploded after 1950 and festivals of one kind or another can now be foundin every corner of the planet.) Gringoltsbegan studying the violin at age five. Ido not know who his first teacher was. Atage 8, he began studying violin and composition in the St Petersburg (formerlyknown as Leningrad) Special Music School with Tatiana Liberova and JeannaMetallidi, two teachers of whom I had never heard. In 1994, he made his debut with the MoscowSymphony Orchestra. He was 12 yearsold. I dont know which piece he playedat that concert. In 1995, he made hisEuropean orchestral debut in Finland, playing Bruchs first concerto. After winning the Paganini competition, herelocated to New York (in 1999) and studied at Juilliard with Dorothy Delay and Itzhak Perlmanfor three years. During the latter partof those same three years, he was spending a lot of time in London, studyingand giving concerts. Gringolts made hisCanadian debut (in Ottawa) in 1999 (one source says 2002) Pinchas Zukermanwas on the podium. He was 17 yearsold. He has been very busy ever since,playing all over the world with every important conductor and in every prestigiousvenue. In 2013, he recorded the 24Paganini Caprices. A usually-reliablesource states that Gringolts now teaches at the Advanced School for the Arts (akaZurich Academy of the Arts) in Zurich, Switzerland. Another source says he teaches (or hastaught) at the Basel Hochschule. When Ichecked, neither school would confirm his position as violin professor. Regarding his teaching, he has stated contrary to universally-accepted dogma - that being a motivator is not part ofhis job. In his own words: I think thateveryone is his or her own motivator.You should know why you do something, otherwise you shouldnt doit. In 2008, he founded the GringoltsQuartet. He maintains a busy schedulewith the quartet. It also allows him tospend more time with his wife, who is the quartets second violinist. His discography is not extensive by anymeasure but the recordings he has under his belt have been highly praised andhave received awards. Among thoserecordings are the Arensky and the Taneyev concertos, two works which are very(very) seldom heard. You might want toobtain his recording of the first Paganini concerto since it is prettyoutstanding it was released in March of 1999.It is not yet available on YouTube.A current project in progress is his recording of all of IgorStravinskys works for violin. Among theviolins he has played are the Kiesewetter Stradivarius (1723), the ProvignyStradivarius (1716), and a Guarneri Del Gesu dated 1742.Hereis one of Gringolts YouTube videos aconcerto by the mysterious and enigmatic violinist Pietro AntonioLocatelli.Posted byMUSEat6:39 AM1 comment: Labels:Gringolts Quartet,Igor Stravinsky,Ilya Gringolts,Juilliard,Kiesewetter Strad,Locatelli,Paganini competition,Russian violinists,Violin Pedagogue Sunday, October 27, 2019 Rodney FriendRodney Friend is an English violinist,teacher, and author born (in Bradford, England) in 1939. He is best known for being the concertmasterof three of the worlds best orchestras the New York Philharmonic, the LondonPhilharmonic, and the BBC Symphony. Hebegan his violin studies at age seven. I do not know who his first teacher was. At 12, he received a scholarship tostudy at the Royal Academy of Music in London.His main teacher was Frederick Grinke, a Canadian violinist who playedfor Churchill, Truman, and Stalin at the famous Potsdam Conference in thesummer of 1945. Friend later studiedwith Endre Wolf, Yehudi Menuhin, and Henryk Szeryng. One usually-reliable source says he alsolater studied at the Royal Manchester College of Music. In September, 1964, Friend became the concertmaster ofthe London Philharmonic. He was 24 yearsold. He played the Britten concerto inhis first solo appearance with this orchestra.However, by then, he had made his London debut playing the Sibeliusconcerto with the Halle Orchestra (in 1961) at the Festival Hall with John Barbirolli on the podium. Friend played with the London Philharmonic for 12 years. In 1975, he was invited to be the New YorkPhilharmonics concertmaster. He was 35years old. He had already made hisAmerican debut with this orchestra playing the Britten concerto. He probably began his tenure as concertmasterin New York in the fall of 1976. OnMarch 10, 1977, in his new role as concertmaster, he soloed with the orchestra,this time playing Karol Szymanowskis first concerto. Erich Leinsdorf was on the podium. In 1981, Friend returned to England and becamethe concertmaster of the BBC Symphony. Inthat year also, he became professor of violin at the Royal College ofMusic. He was 42 years old. Since 1990, he has devoted his time toteaching, writing, judging international competitions, and playing and/ordirecting chamber music concerts. Heformed the Solomon Trio in 1991. In2006, Friends two-volume work entitled The Orchestral Violinist (a study guidefor orchestral players) appeared. It hasbeen acclaimed by many critics. In 2010,he founded the Cambridge International String Academy at Trinity College. In 2015, he joined the Royal Academy of Musicfaculty. In 2019, his pedagogic workentitled The Violin in Fifths was published.Many sources say it is a unique study guide. It is easily found on the internet. Among other violins, Friend has played (andmight still be playing) a Giuseppe (Battista) Guarneri violin dated 1696 (not aDel Gesu.) (According to a usually-reliable source, for a time, he also played a Guarneri Del Gesu dated 1731.) Needless to say, he hasrecorded (as an orchestral violinist) practically the entire orchestral repertoire. He has also appeared in every importantconcert hall in the world and worked alongside the most eminent conductors andsoloists of the twentieth century. Hereis a very charming YouTube audio file of one of his commercial recordings assoloist.Posted byMUSEat7:28 AMNo comments: Labels:BBC Symphony,Concertmasters,English violinists,Frederick Grinke,London Philharmonic,music books,New York Philharmonic,Rodney Friend,Royal Academy of Music,writers Sunday, September 29, 2019 Amihai GroszAmihai Grosz is an Israeli violist and teacherborn (in Jerusalem) in 1979. He is well-knownas the Principal violist of the Berlin Philharmonic. Nevertheless, he is also in great demand as asoloist. He began, as most violists do,as a violin student at age 5. He beganto play and study the viola at age 11. Mostof his studies took place in Israel and in Germany. In 1995, he founded the Jerusalem Quartetwith three other student-colleagues from the Jerusalem Music Center. He was 16 years old. The quartet (which comprised the majority ofhis professional activity between 1995 and 2009) subsequently won severaldistinguished awards and prizes from various organizations. As a viola soloist, Grosz has also won topprizes in several competitions. In 2010,Grosz was appointed Principal violist of the Berlin Philharmonic. Although orchestral players are for the mostpart anonymous to the general public, principal players enjoy slightly higherprofiles. Grosz continues to perform asa soloist and as a member of various chamber groups involved with musicfestivals all over the world. Hisinstrument is one by Gaspar Da Salo, constructed in 1570. Posted byMUSEat7:06 AMNo comments: Labels:Amihai Grosz,Berlin Philharmonic,Concertmasters,Gaspar da Salo,German violists,Israeli violinists,Jerusalem Music Center,Jerusalem Quartet,orchestral musicians Sunday, August 18, 2019 Arkadi FuterArkadi Futer (Arkadi Naumovitch Futer) was aRussian violinist and teacher born (in Moscow) on September 6, 1932. He is known for his impressive recording ofWieniawskis first violin concerto in F sharp minor, but he is also known forhaving spent a large part of his career in Spain. For some time, he was concertmaster ofVladimir Spivakovs Moscow Virtuosi, which was founded in 1979. I do not know if he was the initialconcertmaster he probably was. TheMoscow Virtuosi later resided in Spain for nine years (1990-1999.) When the Moscow Virtuosi left Spain, Futerstayed behind. He then becameconcertmaster of the Oviedo Symphony Orchestra.He was 67 years old. (Oviedo isthe small capital city of the principality of Asturias, located in northern Spain,next to the Bay of Biscay.) Prior to hisassociation with the Moscow Virtuosi, Futer was concertmaster of the Moscow Philharmonic,the Moscow Radio Orchestra, and the Orchestra of the Film Industry of theUSSR. He was also a member of at leasttwo string quartets. Futer began hisstudies at age 7 in Kiev, in the years of 1939 or 1940, I dont know which. His first teacher was Nina Dulova. In 1943, he returned to Moscow with hisfamily. He was 11 years old. He entered the Tchaikovsky Conservatory atage 18. Yuri Yankelevitch was one of histeachers. He later graduated from theconservatory with top honors. He wasnamed Artist of the Russian Republic in 1998.Futer died (in Gijon, Asturias, Spain) on September 5, 2011, at (almost)age 79. His granddaughter, Vera Futer,is now a professor at the University of Oviedo.Here is an audio file of Futers Wieniawski recording.Posted byMUSEat11:06 AM1 comment: Labels:Arkadi Futer,Concertmasters,Henryk Wieniawski,Moscow Virtuosi,Nina Dulova,Oviedo,Russian violinists,Vladimir Spivakov,Wieniawski,Yuri Yankelevich Older PostsHomeSubscribe to:Posts (Atom)ShareShare|UNIQUE VIEWSTOTAL PAGEVIEWSBlog Archive 2021(1) September(1)Linus Roth 2020(1) December(1) 2019(11) December(1) November(1) October(1) September(1) August(1) July(1) June(1) May(1) March(1) February(1) January(1) 2018(12) December(1) November(1) October(1) September(1) August(1) July(1) June(1) May(1) April(1) March(1) February(1) January(1) 2017(11) December(1) November(1) October(1) September(1) August(1) July(1) June(1) May(1) April(1) February(1) January(1) 2016(12) December(1) November(1) October(1) September(1) August(1) July(1) June(1) May(1) March(1) February(1) January(2) 2015(26) December(2) November(3) October(2) September(2) August(2) July(2) June(2) May(3) April(2) March(2) February(2) January(2) 2014(27) December(2) November(3) October(2) September(2) August(2) July(2) June(3) May(2) April(2) March(2) February(3) January(2) 2013(51) December(5) November(4) October(4) September(5) August(3) July(4) June(5) May(4) April(4) March(5) February(4) January(4) 2012(61) December(9) November(3) October(4) September(4) August(5) July(5) June(3) May(5) April(5) March(2) February(7) January(9) 2011(73) December(8) November(5) October(2) September(6) August(6) July(3) June(5) May(6) April(6) March(10) February(7) January(9) 2010(59) December(6) November(10) October(6) September(3) July(4) June(2) May(3) April(1) March(5) February(3) January(16) 2009(204) December(18) November(13) October(21) September(22) August(25) July(13) June(15) May(13) April(11) March(7) February(14) January(32)FASCINATING BOOKS PLUSCRIME NOVEL By violinist Natasha KorsakovaTHE VIOLIN by David SchoenbaumSponsors and PatronsFollowersLINKSEdward Gaut ViolinsTodd Goldenberg violinsSTRINGWORKS - stringsNew MELO Classic violin CDsBook: The Music of the TemporalistsAbout music and period instrumentsMARCO ANEDDA - Italian LuthierThe World's Finest Dulcimer ShopClassical Notes by Peter GutmannThe Green Violin by Marie TarisANAIS GASSIN French ViolinsJOSEPH ACHRON SocietyFine blog about recordingsInstant Encore websiteDiary of a violinmakerMozart in China CDCLEMENS ViolinsPlanetUSAwe are inPlanetUSA.usunited states's directorySubscribe To PronePosts Atom PostsAll Comments Atom All Comments

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