Daniel Hope Celebrates His Mentor’s Centennial with DG Release of My Tribute to Yehudi Menuhin (Feb 5)

2016 marks the centennial of Yehudi Menuhin, the violin legend whose playing Einstein once cited as a reason to believe in God. To honor this anniversary, on February 5, six-time ECHO Klassik Award-winning violinist Daniel Hope will release his tenth Deutsche Grammophon recording, titled My Tribute to Yehudi Menuhin. Having grown up within the Menuhin household, Hope went on to partner with him in more than 60 concert performances, sharing a close association with the older violinist that was truly unique. His new album celebrates the rich diversity of his friend and mentor’s musical tastes, combining works by Vivaldi, Mendelssohn, Elgar, Ravel, Bartók, Tavener, Enescu, Jo Knümann, Steve Reich, Hans Werner Henze, and Bechara El-Khoury. Many of the same composers also feature in Menuhin-themed programs that Hope presents in Toronto (Jan 28), California (Feb 4–7), New York’s Lincoln Center (March 4), Istanbul (March 17) and Paris (March 22), as well as a 10-day Menuhin Festival at the Berlin Konzerthaus that Hope will curate beginning April 22. As distinguished British broadcaster and Menuhin biographer Humphrey Burton put it, “Nobody has a better claim than Daniel Hope to be the musician leading celebrations for the centenary of Yehudi Menuhin’s birth.”

Hope comments:

“Yehudi Menuhin is the reason I became a violinist. As he used to say, I fell into his lap as a baby of two. Yehudi called himself my ‘musical grandfather.’ Now, in celebration of what would have been his centenary, my friends and I can finally pay our respects to this great man, in a manner I feel certain he would have loved.”

Hope was just a toddler when his family moved to London, fleeing the apartheid regime in South Africa, which had threatened Hope’s father, writer Christopher Hope. In a last-ditch effort to remain in the UK, Hope’s mother took a part-time post as Menuhin’s secretary, later becoming his longtime manager of 24 years. Warmly welcomed into the household, it was there, at the age of four, that Hope first fell in love with the violin. Although he studied formally under other teachers, he also received occasional lessons from Menuhin himself, and when he was eleven, at the master violinist’s invitation, they performed Bartók duos together on German television. Thus began a musical partnership lasting many years during which the two musicians gave 60 concerts together, culminating with Hope’s participation in his mentor’s final concert on March 7, 1999. By then, as The Guardian recounts, Menuhin had come to serve as Hope’s “spiritual father in music.”

For the new recording, Hope put together a program that not only reflects Menuhin’s taste, but recalls key moments from their musical life together. The result, as Humphrey Burton explains in an illuminating liner note, is “a fascinating hour that cries out to be listened to at one sitting.” It was Menuhin who premiered and first recorded Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in D minor, written when the composer was still in his teens; Hope would later perform it under his mentor’s leadership. Having made the premiere recording of Elgar’s Violin Concerto with the aging composer conducting, Menuhin had, Burton remembers, “an especially soft spot for Elgar’s salon pieces such as Salut d’Amour.” Vivaldi’s Double Violin Concerto in A minor and Bartók’s Violin Duos are among the works that Hope studied and played most with Menuhin as a boy; he says: “I still have his fingerings and his markings in my part.”

George Enescu was Menuhin’s own teacher and perhaps the most profound of his musical influences; as Burton writes, Enescu’s Hora Unirii “explores very different elements in Menuhin’s musical make-up: his deep love of Gypsy music, his respect for the Roma heritage and his reverence for Enescu, his greatest teacher.” Jo Knümann’s Rumänisch also draws on the Gypsy traditions Menuhin revered, while Tavener’s Song of the Angel and Henze’s Adagio adagio are two of the many contemporary chamber works written for Menuhin. Steve Reich’s Duet was commissioned for a belated 80th birthday tribute to the violinist, and Bechara El-Khoury’s Unfinished Journey – its title taken from that of Menuhin’s autobiography – was commissioned by Hope and the Gstaad Menuhin Festival in 2009 to mark the tenth anniversary of his death. Ravel’s “Kaddish,” which Menuhin had previously recorded, is the piece Hope performed as an encore at the master violinist’s final concert, just days before his death, and it is with this that his tribute concludes.

Among Hope’s collaborators on the recording are the Kammerorchester Basel, members of the Deutsches Kammerorchester Berlin, and a stellar array of soloists that includes mandolin virtuoso Avi Avital and Israeli soprano Chen Reiss. A track listing for My Tribute to Yehudi Menuhin, and details of Hope’s upcoming Menuhin-themed North American concerts, are provided below.

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Daniel Hope: My Tribute to Yehudi Menuhin
Release date: Feb 5
Label: Deutsche Grammophon

Track listing:
Felix Mendelssohn (1809–1847): Violin Concerto in D minor
Bechara El-Khoury (b. 1957): Unfinished Journey for violin and strings
Steve Reich (b. 1936): Duet for two violins and strings
Antonio Vivaldi (1678–1741): Concerto for Two Violins and Strings in A minor, RV 522
John Tavener (1944–2013): Song of the Angel for soprano, violin and strings
Hans Werner Henze (1926–2012): Adagio adagio, a serenade for violin, cello and piano
Edward Elgar (1857–1934), arr. Christian Badzura: Salut d’amour for violin, piano and strings
Béla Bartók (1881–1945): Nos. 35, 28, & 36 from 44 Duos for Two Violins
George Enescu (1881–1955): Hora Unirii for violin and piano
Jo Knümann (1895–1952), arr. Christian Badzura: Rumänisch for violin, mandolin, piano and strings
Maurice Ravel (1895–1952): No. 1, “Kaddish,” from Deux mélodies hébraïques for violin and piano

Daniel Hope: upcoming engagements

Jan 14-15
Ottawa, ON
National Arts Centre
NAC Orchestra / Alexander Shelley
Korngold: Violin Concerto
John Williams: Theme from Schindler’s List

Jan 28
Toronto, ON
Koerner Hall
Menuhin Tribute
Bach: Violin Sonata No. 4 in C minor, BWV 1017
Enescu: Impromptu concertant
Mendelssohn: Sonata in F
Walton: Violin Sonata
Ravel: “Kaddish” from Deux mélodies hébraïques
Bartók: Romanian Folk Dances
(with Sebastian Knauer, piano)

Feb 4–7
New Century Chamber Orchestra: “Hope for Menuhin”
Feb 4: Berkeley, CA (First Congregational Church)
Feb 5: Palo Alto, CA (United Methodist Church)
Feb 6: San Francisco, CA (Herbst Theatre)
Feb 7: San Rafael, CA (Osher Marin JCC)
Bach: Concerto in D minor for 2 Violins, Strings and Basso Continuo, BWV 1043
Arvo Pärt: Darf ich… for Solo Violin, Tubular Bells and Strings
Philip Glass: Echorus for 2 Violins and Strings
Mendelssohn: Concerto in D minor for Violin and Strings
Vivaldi: Concerto in A minor for 2 Violins, RV 522
Bechara El-Khoury: Unfinished Journey – in memoriam Yehudi Menuhin
Takemitsu: Nostalghia for Solo Violin and Strings
Bartók: Six Romanian Folk Dances

March 4
New York, NY
Alice Tully Hall
Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center
Menuhin at 100
Bach: Concerto in D minor for 2 Violins, Strings and Basso Continuo, BWV 1043
Arvo Pärt: Darf ich… for Solo Violin, Tubular Bells and Strings
Philip Glass: Echorus for 2 Violins and Strings
Mendelssohn: Concerto in D minor for Violin and Strings
Vivaldi: Concerto in A minor for 2 Violins, RV 522
Bechara El-Khoury: Unfinished Journey – in memoriam Yehudi Menuhin
Shulamit Ran: Yearning for Violin and Strings
Bartók: Six Romanian Folk Dances

March 13
Magdeburg, Germany
Magdeburger Telemann-Festtage
Berlin Baroque Soloists

March 17
Istanbul, Turkey
Orchestre de Chambre de Paris
Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto in D minor
Schnittke: Sonata No. 1 for Violin and Chamber Orchestra

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Mozart: Adagio for Violin and Orchestra in E major, K. 261
Shostakovich: Chamber Symphony Op. 110a (originally String Quartet No. 8 in C minor, arr. for string orchestra by Rudolf Barschai)

March 22
Paris, France
Théâtre des Champs-Élysées
Orchestre de Chambre de Paris
“Hommage to Menuhin”
Vivaldi: Concerto in A minor for 2 Violins, RV 522
Bechara El-Khoury: Unfinished Journey – in memoriam Yehudi Menuhin
Shostakovich: Chamber Symphony Op. 110a (originally String Quartet No. 8 in C minor, arr. for string orchestra by Rudolf
Barschai)
Vivaldi: L’estate (“Summer”), Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 8
Takemitsu: Nostalghia for Solo Violin and Strings
Mendelssohn: Concerto in D minor for Violin and Strings

March 24-April 9: Savannah Music Festival

March 27
Savannah, Georgia
St. Paul’s Greek Orthodox Church
“Chamber Music II: Mozart & Dvorák” (with Patrick Messina, clarinet; Benny Kim, violin; Paul Neubauer, viola; Carla Maria Rodrigues, viola; Eric Kim, cello; Keith Robinson, cello; Sebastian Knauer, piano; Alexandre Tharaud, piano)
Mozart: Sonata for Piano Duet in C major, K. 521
Dvorák: String Sextet in A major, Op. 48
Stravinsky: “L’histoire du soldat” Suite for Violin, Clarinet and Piano
Mozart: Clarinet Quintet in A major, K. 581

March 29
Savannah, Georgia
Trinity United Methodist Church
“Chamber Music III: Musical Friendships” (with Benny Kim, violin; Carla Maria Rodrigues, viola; Eric Kim, cello; Keith Robinson, cello; Simon Crawford-Phillips, piano; Sebastian Knauer, piano)
Dvorák: Terzetto in C major, Op. 74
Brahms: Piano Quintet in F minor, Op. 34
Mendelssohn: Song Without Words in D major for Cello and Piano, Op. 109
Schumann: Piano Quintet in E-flat major, Op. 44

April 2
Savannah, Georgia
Lucas Theatre for the Arts
“The Art of the Piano Trio Featuring Marcus Roberts & Daniel Hope” (with Keith Robinson, cello; Simon Crawford-Phillips, piano; Rodney Jordan, double bass; Jason Marsalis, drums; and Marcus Roberts, piano)

April 3
Savannah, Georgia
Trinity United Methodist Church
“Orchestra I: Great Concertos” (with l’arte del mondo, chamber orchestra; Eric Kim, cello; Caterina Lichtenberg, mandolin;
Mike Marshall, mandolin)
Bach: Brandenburg concerto No. 3 in G major, BWV 1048
Vivaldi: L’inverno (“Winter”), Concerto No. 4 in F minor, Op. 8
Vivaldi: L’estate (“Summer”), Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 8
Vivaldi: Concerto for 2 Mandolins in G major, RV 532
Bach: Concerto for Violin and Oboe in C minor, BWV 1060R
Haydn: Cello Concerto No. 2 in D major, Op. 101, Hob. VIIb:2

April 5
Savannah, Georgia
Trinity United Methodist Church
“Orchestra II: All Mozart” (with l’arte del mondo, chamber orchestra; Lorenza Borrani, violin; Carla Maria Rodrigues, viola)
Mozart: Divertimento for Strings in D major, K. 136
Mozart: Sinfonia concertante for Violin, Viola and Orchestra in E-flat major, K. 364
Mozart: Symphony in B-flat major, K. 45b
Mozart: Violin Concerto No. 1 in B-flat major, K. 207

April 5
Savannah, Georgia
Lucas Theatre for the Arts
“Pericles: Recomposed” (Ben Crystal, actor; actors from the Passion in Practice Shakespeare Ensemble; l’arte del mondo, chamber orchestra)

April 6
Savannah, Georgia
Temple Mickve Israel
“Chamber Music VII: Daniel Hope & Friends with the Danish String Quartet” (with Frederik Øland, violin; Rune Tonsgaard Sørensen, violin; Asbjørn Nørgaard, viola; Carla Maria Rodrigues, viola; Daniel Geiss, cello; Fredrik Schøyen Sjölin, cello)
Nørgård: String Quartet No. 1
Mozart: String Quintet No. 2 in C minor, K. 406
Strauss: Sextet from Capriccio, Op. 85
Strauss: Metamorphosen for string septet

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© 21C Media Group, December 2015