Browsing: Strings

by Paul E. RobinsonStory by Lewis CarrollAdaptation for the stage by James ReaneyDirector: Jillian KelleyChoreographer: Dayna TekatchDesigner: Bretta GereckeComposer: Jonathan MunroSound Designer: John GzowskiAlice: Trish LindströmRed Queen: Cynthia DaleWhite Queen: Sarah OrensteinHumpty Dumpty: Brian TreeStratford Festival Avon TheatreJune 21, 2014It is one of the great mysteries of genius how a shy, stammering Oxford mathematics professor came to create the most enchanting children’s books in the history of the genre; not only that, but how these same stories about a young girl and her adventures with a vast panoply of absurd characters are so intellectually clever as to continue to challenge great…

Share:

by Paul E. RobinsonLiszt: Les PréludesKorngold: Violin ConcertoDvořák: Symphony No. 7 in d Minor Op. 70Gil Shaham, violinAustin Symphony/Peter BayLong Center for the Performing ArtsAustin, TexasWhen the still boyish Gil Shaham comes bounding on stage, violin in hand, with a huge smile on his face, you know you are in for a special kind of music-making. Shaham, now 43, still seems the charming prodigy he was when he first came to international attention. Before playing so much as a note, he has the audience in the palm of his hand. This is clearly a young man who loves music and…

Share:

Flash version here. Mozart: Piano Concertos No. 12 in A major K. 414 & No. 13 in C major K. 415 Karin Kei Nagano, piano; Cecilia String Quartet Analekta AN2 8765  (51 m) Is it in the genes? No, but genes play a major role in the creation of musical talent, especially so in the case of 15-year-old Karin Kei Nagano. Her father, Kent Nagano, has been the music director of the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal since 2006 and recently renewed his contract until 2020. Karin’s mother, Mari Kodama, is herself a fine pianist with an international reputation. Against this background,…

Share:

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…

Share:

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…

Share:

by Paul E. Robinson(Left to right): Gordon Back (Artistic Director of the Menuhin Competition);Stephen Waarts (Winner); and Jury Chair Pamela Franks Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto in e minor Op. 64Finalist: Christine Seohyun Lim (Age 19; American-Korean)Prokofiev: Violin Concerto No. 1 in D major Op. 19Finalist: Stephen Kim (Age 18; American)Prokofiev: Violin Concerto No. 2 in g minor Op. 63Finalist: Stephen Waarts (Age 17; American-Dutch)Prokofiev: Violin Concerto No. 1 in D major Op. 19Finalist: In Mo Yang (Age 18; Korean)Austin Symphony Orchestra/Peter BayLong Center for the Performing ArtsAustin, TexasMarch 1, 2014After eight days of grueling competition, four young violinists between the ages of…

Share:

by Paul E. RobinsonMenuhin Competition Austin 2014 Winners (Junior Division)(Left to right) Ludwig Gudim (3rd Prize); Daniel Lozakovitj (2nd Prize); Rennosuke Fukuda (1st Prize);Jaewon Wee (5th Prize); Alex Zhou (4th Prize)Friday night at the Butler School of Music in Austin, TX, seven young violinists between the ages of 12 and 14, competed for prizes in the Junior Section of the Menuhin Competition Austin 2014. Among the countries represented were the United States, Korea, Japan, Sweden, and Norway. In this final round the contestants chose one 10-minute piece from a list of four works by Sarasate, Saint-Saëns, Waxman and Wieniawski. Each…

Share:

by Paul E. RobinsonSenior Finalists in Menuhin Competition Austin 2014(Left to right): In Mo Yang (18, Korean); Stephen Kim (18, American); Stephen Waarts (17, American/Dutch); Christine Seohyun Lim (19, American/Korean)The excitement is mounting as the Menuhin Competition Austin 2014 heads towards the finish line. In the senior division (16-21 years old) nine young violinists competed yesterday in the semi-finals; each one performed brilliantly, but by late in the evening only four remained in the hunt for prizes.In these semi-finals each performer was required to take the first violinist’s chair in the Miró Quartet and lead several movements of a Haydn quartet. Then followed…

Share:

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…

Share:

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…

Share:
1 30 31 32 33 34 35