Violin - my/maSCENA

Video of the Day – Anne Akiko Meyers Plays the Vieuxtemps Guarneri del Gesu

By Paul E. Robinson on 8 March 2014 Video of the day, Violin

Great violinists can make music out of practically any instrument. But it certainly helps if that instrument is a Strad or a Guarneri, or something comparable rather than a cigar box.Anne Akiko Meyers has been in the news lately for acquiring a violin reportedly worth $18 million: the 1741 “Vieuxtemps” Guarneri del Gesu. Not that she really needs a better instrument. She already owns two Strads. In 2012 she made a recording of the Bach Concerto for Two Violins and played both parts herself. She played the first solo part using her 1697 “ex-Molitor/Napoleon” Strad and the second part using…

Menuhin Competition Austin 2014: Closing Gala Concert

By Paul E. Robinson on 3 March 2014 Concert Reviews, Orchestral, Strings, Violin

by Paul E. RobinsonMaestro Giancarlo Guerrero and members of the Cleveland OrchestraDvořák: Carnival Overture Op. 92Kreisler: Praeludium and AllegroRennosuke Fukuda, violin (1st Prize Winner, Junior Section)Prokofiev: Violin Concerto No. 2 in g minor Op. 63 (1st movement)Stephen Waarts, violin (1st Prize Winner, Senior Section)Ravel: TziganeArabella Steinbacher, violin (Menuhin Competition Jury Member)Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 5 in e minor Op. 64The Cleveland OrchestraGiancarlo Guerrero, conductorLong Center for the Performing ArtsAustin, TXSunday, March 2, 2014It is not often that the city of Austin sees one of the “Big Five” orchestras; to conclude the Menuhin Competition Austin 2014, the organizers brought in the Cleveland…

Menuhin Competition Austin 2014: Jury Members Dazzle in Performance!

By Paul E. Robinson on 26 February 2014 Concert Reviews, Orchestral, Piano, Violin

by Paul E. Robinson Mozart: Sonata for Piano and Violin in G major K. 301Kreisler: La Gitane/Londonderry Air/Tambourin ChinoisJoji Hattori, violin/Gordon Back, pianoPiazzola: Historie du Tango and Café Joji Hattori, violin/Adam Holzman, guitarGang Chen: Sunshine in TasikuerganSaint-Saëns: Sonata for Violin and Piano Op. 75Lu Siqing, violin/Anton Nel, pianoBates Recital Hall/Butler School of MusicUniversity of TexasAustin, TexasMonday, February 24, 2014One of the many benefits of having a major music competition in town is the opportunity to hear performances by some of the jury members. In the case of the Menuhin Competition Austin 2014, these included Joji Hattori and Lu Siqing, surely two…

Video of the Day – Menuhin Competition Austin 2014

By Paul E. Robinson on 24 February 2014 Video of the day, Violin

For the first time ever the Menuhin Violin Competition is being held this year in the United States. The current competition began last Friday in Austin, Texas and continues until Sunday, March 2. Forty-two young violinists from all over the world are competing for prizes and a chance to appear with the Cleveland Orchestra in the closing gala concert. I’ll be blogging from the competition every few days. The first blog about the opening concert has already been posted on the LSM website.Yehudi Menuhin (1916- 1999 ) was one of the great violinists of his time. At the age of eleven he…

Menuhin Competition Austin 2014 Opens with UT Symphony Concert

By Paul E. Robinson on 23 February 2014 Concert Reviews, Orchestral, Violin

by Paul E. RobinsonBerlioz: Roman Carnival OvertureMendelssohn: Concerto for Piano and Violin in d minorIlya Gringolts, violin/Anton Nel, pianoWaxman: Carmen FantasyKevin Zhu, violinSchwantner: Someday MemoriesDutilleux: Sur le même accordOlivier Charlier, violinStravinsky: Firebird Suite (1919)The University of Texas (UT) Symphony OrchestraGerhardt Zimmermann, conductorLong Center for the Performing ArtsAustin, TexasFriday, February 21, 2014I guess it’s fate that a mere conductor in a violin competition should have his name left off the program; sad to say, that was indeed the case for Maestro Gerhardt Zimmermann at the Opening Concert of the Menuhin Competition Austin 2014. But it wasn’t quite as bad as all…

Bay/ASO and Jonathan Biss: Under the Influence

By Paul E. Robinson on 12 February 2014 Concert Reviews, Orchestral, Piano, Romantic, Violin

by Paul E. RobinsonVaughan Williams: The Lark AscendingSchumann: Piano Concerto in a minor Op. 54Brahms: Symphony No. 2 in D major Op. 73Jessica Mathaes, violinJonathan Biss, pianoAustin Symphony Orchestra/Peter BayLong Center for the Performing ArtsAustin, TXFebruary 8, 2014I have been spending a lot of time lately with Jonathan Biss – not the man himself, but his website. Mr. Biss is a 33-year-old American pianist of great distinction who also writes well about music. Biss has been particularly eloquent on the subjects of Beethoven and Schumann. He is recording all the Beethoven sonatas and has written a book (Beethoven’s Shadow) about…

Video of the Day – Jansen and Gergiev Play Szymanowski

By Paul E. Robinson on 14 October 2013 Contemporary, Orchestral, Video of the day, Violin

Valery Gergiev recently wowed audiences in Montreal and Toronto with his Mariinsky Orchestra. He is also music director of the London Symphony. With the LSO last month at the Barbican in London he collaborated with violinist Janine Jansen in the Violin Concerto No. 1 by Karol Szymanowski (1883-1937). To judge by this video it was a beautiful performance of a neglected masterpiece. The work was composed in 1917 when Szymanowski was 34.Note that Gergiev appears to be using the shortest baton ever used by a major conductor. Why bother with any baton at all?Paul E. Robinson

Video of the Day – Joshua Bell & the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields

By Paul E. Robinson on 5 August 2013 Romantic, Video of the day, Violin

The legendary chamber orchestra the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields made a surprising choice recently when it chose Joshua Bell to be its next music director. Bell had little or no experience as a conductor so how could he be the right man for the job that Sir Neville Marriner long held with such distinction?But the ASMF is a very special kind of chamber orchestra and Joshua Bell is a very special sort of musician. Like Bell Marriner was a violinist although he did not have an important career as a soloist. And for a time Marriner led…

Video of the Day – Geoff Nuttall at the Spoleto Festival

By Paul E. Robinson on 9 June 2013 Chamber Music, Video of the day, Violin

The St. Lawrence String Quartet is probably the finest quartet ever produced in Canada. It was founded in 1989, it is currently in residence at Stanford University and tours internationally. But the first violinist of the SLSQ, Geoff Nuttall, is also the director of chamber music at the Spoleto Festival USA. In just a few years he has made a great impact on the festival both for his programming and for his quirky and entertaining introductory comments (see this recent NY Times article: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/26/arts/music/geoff-nuttall-the-jon-stewart-of-chamber-music.html?pagewanted=allGeoff’s colleagues in the SLSQ are also in residence in Spoleto and they are joined by some of…

This week in Montreal: May 20 – 26

By La Scena Musicale Team on 20 May 2013 Chamber Music, Orchestral, Romantic, Scena Jazz, This Week in Montreal, Violin

Montreal Chamber Music Festival (MCMF/FMCM)The musical festival season opens with the MCMF. The 18th edition takes place from May 9 to June 1 at St. George’s Anglican Church. True to tradition, artistic director Denis Brott spares us no surprises. Performers include the Emerson and Fine Arts Quartets, the Swingle Singers, and pianists Jean-Philippe Collard and Oliver Jones, to name a few. This year’s four-hour marathon is dedicated to Tchaikovsky. www.festivalmontreal.org- Renée Banville Jules Massenet’s Manon at the Opéra de MontréalFor the final production of the 2012-13 season, the Opéra de Montréal presents Jules Massenet’s Manon. After an acclaimed performance of the…

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