Violinist.com

For the Record, Op. 164: Brieuc Vourch; cellist Emmanuelle Bertrand

July 23, 2021, 12:22 PM · Welcome to "For the Record," Violinist.com's weekly roundup of new releases of recordings by violinists, violists, cellists and other classical musicians. We hope it helps you keep track of your favorite artists, as well as find some new ones to add to your listening!

Sonatas by Strauss & Franck
Brieuc Vourch, violin
Guillaume Vincent, piano

French violinist Brieuc Vourch, 25, and pianist Guillaume Vincent call their new recording of sonatas by Strauss and Franck a "radical quest for authenticity." Vourch, who has studied with both Itzhak Perlman and Boris Kuschnir, said that "Guillaume and I worked day and night on both pieces and tried to do justice to every phrase, to give it contour and depth. During this radical quest for authenticity, we went to our utmost limits and beyond to comprehend these scores as profoundly as possible, to extract the composers' substance, in order to penetrate the endless musical universe of Strauss and Franck. This is because we know that we have to make 'a strong statement' amid the ocean of legendary recordings. We believe that we have achieved this and hope our listeners can feel and hear it." BELOW: A trailer for the new album, with musical excerpts and commentary in both German and English:

Keep reading...

Live and In-Person, from Bravo! Vail, Colorado: New York Phil Quartet Review

Laurie Niles

July 22, 2021, 11:47 AM · VAIL, Colo. - Greetings from Vail, Colorado! For the next few days I'm going be exploring the Bravo! Vail Music Festival, a summer event that has been bringing together fine orchestras and artists from all over the world to this ski town in Colorado's Rocky Mountains for some 34 years.

After last year's limits due to the pandemic, this year brings a full schedule of in-person concerts, and they have quite a prestigious and impressive lineup. Bravo! Vail kicked off in June with a week-long visit from The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra and Joshua Bell, followed by the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. After that came the Philadelphia Orchestra, and this week I'm lucky enough to be here for the New York Philharmonic. Guest artists this summer have included some of the best, with violinists Joshua Bell, James Ehnes, Gil Shaham and Augustin Hadelich; as well as pianists Conrad Tao, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Daniil Trifonov, and Yefim Bronfman.

If you want to watch a little of what I'm watching, you can see Friday's New York Philharmonic concert with cellist Carter Brey (playing the Haydn Cello Concerto in C major) via livestream -- click here for information.

I actually arrived here late Tuesday afternoon and -- before even checking into my hotel -- went straight to a concert that featured the New York Philharmonic String Quartet, with concertmaster Frank Huang, associate concertmaster Sheryl Staples, and and principal players violist Cynthia Phelps and cellist Carter Brey. Keep reading...

The Week in Reviews, Op. 313: Rachel Barton Pine, Gil Shaham, Nicola Benedetti

Laurie Niles

July 20, 2021, 11:21 AM · In an effort to promote the coverage of live violin performance, Violinist.com each week presents links to reviews of notable concerts and recitals around the world.

Rachel Barton Pine performed Prokofiev Concerto No. 1, filling in at the last minute for Midori, with the Chicago Symphony at Ravinia.

Chicago Classical Review: "Pine did not disappoint....She spun the seemingly endless opening melody of the Andantino in an elevated narrative fashion, and was commanding as the solo writing grew knottier and more technical throughout the movement. The Andantino’s close found Pine floating in her highest register with the CSO flutes supporting, creating a genuinely celestial effect Friday night."
WTTW News: "With close partnership from Alsop and the orchestra, Pine launched into the Prokofiev with all its seamless mix of haunting, edgy, mournful riffs, its breaks into frenzied dancelike sequences, its moody interjections beautifully played by the winds, and the use of much plucking and “sliding” by the strings."

Keep reading...

Comments (9)

Vijay Gupta: When the Violin Plays in South Central Los Angeles

Laurie Niles

July 19, 2021, 5:39 PM · Los Angeles violinist Vijay Gupta has a way of using his considerable talents to promote other kinds of change in the world, rather than to promote himself. So when I learned he would be giving a little concert to celebrate the release his new recording, When the Violin, I knew this would be no ordinary event.

I was right - Gupta used the occasion to inaugurate a newly-created performance and common space at an affordable housing project, the Paul Williams Apartments in Historic South Central Los Angeles. This fall, that space (formerly the Angelus Funeral Home) as well as a new 5,000 square-foot ground floor complex at the next-door Florence Mills Apartments, will open as a music and media arts facility for the surrounding community, providing tuition-free music instruction and access to technology and recording labs, through the Young Musicians Foundation and Hollywood Community Housing Corporation. As part of this new program, Gupta will curate a concert and workshop series for the community, which includes low and very-low income residents.

In introducing Gupta on Friday, Young Musicians Foundation Executive Director Walter Zooi said, "Vijay brought the music down off the hill and into the community." Keep reading...

News