Daniel Hope releases The Romantic Violinist

An exclusive DG recording artist, Hope has seen his discs on the famed Yellow Label reap critical hosannas.  His 2009 DG Vivaldi album earned a Grammy Award nomination, and his 2010 release, Air. a baroque journey, is among the most celebrated in his sizable discography.  Of that album, which features Bach, Handel and such lesser-known Baroque composers as Westhoff, Matteis, and Falconieri, Gramophone magazine declared: “This is an exciting disc, with a heady, pied-piper power over the listener that comes from realizing that the bright sense of discovery once felt by these composers is being experienced just as much by their modern-day interpreters.  You can’t ask for much more than that.”  Hope’s next DG album, to be released in the U.S. on March 22, is The Romantic Violinist: A Celebration of Joseph Joachim, a homage to the great 19th-century Austro-Hungarian violin virtuoso who was a friend and trusted collaborator of Brahms and the first interpreter and dedicatee – and reviser/editor – of works by Bruch and Dvorák.
 
The Romantic Violinist features both famous pieces and lesser-known works associated with Joachim, including Bruch’s ever-popular Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor and two of Joachim’s own compositions, the Notturno for violin and orchestra and the Romance for violin and piano.  The album includes Joachim’s arrangements of Brahms’s Hungarian Dances Nos. 1 and 5 in new versions for violin and strings, as well as an arrangement for violin and orchestra by mid-20th-century film composer Franz Waxman of Dvorák’s Humoresque, Op. 101, No. 7.  The orchestral works feature the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic conducted by Sakari Oramo.  There are also chamber pieces by Clara Schumann (a Romanze dedicated “in deep friendship” to Joachim) and Brahms (the Scherzo from the “F-A-E” Sonata, the multi-composer tribute based on Joachim’s motto, “free but lonely”), performed with pianist Sebastian Knauer.  Hope adds his own transcription of Schubert’s song “Auf dem Wasser zu singen,” which he was inspired to include after discovering that it was performed in recital by Joachim’s wife, a contralto.  Finally, Hope switches from violin to viola for Brahms’s “Wiegenlied” (the Brahms lullaby), joined by mezzo Anne Sofie von Otter and pianist Bengt Forsberg.
 
In his liner notes to The Romantic Violinist, Hope writes:
 
“For as long as I can remember, the name Joseph Joachim has intrigued me.  I first saw it on the title page of Brahms’s Violin Concerto – which he dedicated to Joachim – when I was a boy studying the piece, then again in the score of the Bruch Violin Concerto in G minor, which Joachim edited.  Some of the first records I owned were of ‘vintage’ violinists, including Ysaÿe and Sarasate, but it was Joachim’s unique sound that especially captivated me and put a musical face to the mysterious name.  Then one night after a concert in Munich, a lady gave me a book she had written about Joachim.  I began to research this fascinating figure, and was struck by his creativity and the breadth of his influence on Romantic composers.  With this album, I have tried to paint a musical picture of this extraordinary violinist and visionary.”
 
This spring, Hope will serve his eighth season as associate artistic director of Georgia’s multi-genre Savannah Music Festival, where he will perform in a series of chamber and orchestral concerts from March 24 to April 5.  Several of the concerts will feature rare and popular repertoire associated with Joseph Joachim – including Bruch’s First Violin Concerto, which Hope will perform with the Atlanta Symphony under Roberto Abbado, on April 3.
 
Always on the web…
 
When not making music, Hope is an enthusiastic writer and broadcaster, and he keeps a wide-ranging video blog on his web site: danielhope.com.  Hope’s vblog has featured discussions with the rock icon Sting (on the nexus of popular and classical music), mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter (on music composed in the Nazi concentration camp Theresienstadt), and veteran conductor-scholar Christopher Hogwood (on Mendelssohn).  Hope’s vblog also includes an entry on one of his “Tu Was!” (Do Something!) series of benefit concerts in summer 2010 that aimed to raise awareness of climate protection and the need to end rainforest destruction.
 
As adept with old media as with new, Hope has written three German-language books, including the acclaimed family memoir-investigation Familienstücke (Family Album), a bestseller in Germany.  In 2009, he published his second book in German, Wann darf ich klatschen? (When Do I Applaud?), for which foreign language rights have been sold to Korea, Japan, Croatia, and Russia.  His third book in German, Toi, toi, toi! (Break a Leg: Mishaps and Disasters in the World of Music) will be published by Rowohlt on March 11.
 
 
Daniel Hope’s 2011 spring engagements
 
 
March 18
Brussels, Belgium
Orchestre National de Belgique / Walter Weller
Bruch: Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor
Le Palais des Beaux-Arts
 
March 19
Ostend, Belgium
Orchestre National de Belgique / Walter Weller
Bruch: Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor
Kursaal Oostende
 
March 20
Brussels, Belgium
Orchestre National de Belgique / Walter Weller
Bruch: Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor
Le Palais des Beaux-Arts
 
March 24
Savannah, GA
Savannah Music Festival
Simon Crawford-Phillips, piano
Sebastian Knauer, piano
Benny Kim, violin
Eric Kim, cello
Carla-Maria Rodrigues, viola
Brahms: Piano Quartet in G minor, Op. 25 
Joachim: Hebrew Melodies
Joachim: Romance for violin and piano 
Schumann: Piano Quintet in E-flat, Op. 44
Telfair Academy
 
March 25
Savannah, GA
Savannah Music Festival
“Sound Dialogue”: Daniel Hope interviews Wu Han
Charles H. Morris Center
 
March 26
Savannah, GA
Savannah Music Festival
Lorenza Borrani, violin
Simon Crawford-Phillips, piano
Benny Kim, violin
Sebastian Knauer, piano
Beethoven: Sonata for violin and piano, No. 6 in A, Op. 30
Beethoven: Sonata for violin and piano, No. 7 in C minor, Op. 30
Beethoven: Sonata for violin and piano, No. 8 in G, Op. 30
Unitarian Universalist Church
 
March 27
Savannah, GA
Savannah Music Festival
Benny Kim, violin
Eric Kim, cello
Sebastian Knauer, piano
Catherine Leonard, violin
Patrick Messina, clarinet
Carla-Maria Rodrigues, viola
Brahms: Clarinet Trio in A minor, Op. 114
Mendelssohn: Piano Trio in D minor, Op. 49
Beethoven: Judas Maccabeus
Mozart: Clarinet Quintet in A, K. 581
Telfair Academy
 
March 31
Savannah, GA
Savannah Music Festival
Lorenza Borrani, violin
Simon Crawford-Phillips, piano
Catherine Leonard, violin
Sebastian Knauer, piano
Beethoven: Sonata for violin and piano, No. 2 in A, Op. 12
Beethoven: Sonata for violin and piano, No. 10 in G, Op. 96
Beethoven: Sonata for violin and piano, No. 9 in A, “Kreutzer,” Op. 47
Unitarian Universalist Church
 
April 1
Savannah, GA
Savannah Music Festival
Kristian Bezuidenhout, piano
Lorenza Borrani, violin
Hans-Kristian Kjos Sorensen, percussion
Baroque program featuring works by Bach, Handel, Leclair, Falconieri, Ortiz, Von Westhoff, Matteis, Vivaldi, and Uccellini
Charles H. Morris Center
 
April 3
Savannah, GA
Savannah Music Festival
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra / Roberto Abbado
Bruch: Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor, Op. 26
Lucas Theatre for the Arts
 
April 5
Savannah, GA
Savannah Music Festival
Benny Kim, violin
Keith Robinson, cello
Patrick Messina, clarinet
Philip Dukes, viola
Simon Crawford-Phillips, piano
Tracy Silverman, violin
Vivaldi: The Four Seasons
Shostakovich: String Quartet No. 8 in C minor, Op. 110
Marc Neikrug: Death Cell Memoirs of an Extraterrestrial (World Premiere)
Lucas Theatre for the Arts
 
April 9
Dresden, Germany
Orchestre National de Belgique / Walter Weller
Bruch: Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor
Stiftung Frauenkirche Dresden
 
April 10
Erlangen, Germany
Orchestre National de Belgique / Walter Weller
Bruch: Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor
Heinrich-Lades-Halle
 
April 11
Stuttgart, Germany
Orchestre National de Belgique / Walter Weller
Bruch: Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor
Kultur- und Kongresszentrum Liederhalle
 
April 12
Düsseldorf, Germany
Orchestre National de Belgique / Walter Weller
Bruch: Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor
Tonhalle Düsseldorf
 
April 13
Hamburg, Germany
Orchestre National de Belgique / Walter Weller
Bruch: Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor
Laeiszhalle Hamburg
 
April 26
Zurich, Switzerland
Orchestre National de Belgique / Walter Weller
Bruch: Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor
Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich
 
April 27
St. Gallen, Switzerland
Orchestre National de Belgique / Walter Weller
Bruch: Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor
Tonhalle
 
April 28
Basel, Switzerland
Orchestre National de Belgique / Walter Weller
Bruch: Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor
Casino Basel
 
April 29
Geneva, Switzerland
Orchestre National de Belgique / Walter Weller
Bruch: Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor
Victoria Hall
 
May 3
Berlin, Germany
Stuttgarter Kammerorchester
Bach: Concerto for two violins in D minor, BWV 1043
Vivaldi: Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 8, RV 315, “L’estate” (Summer) from The Four Seasons
Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto in D minor 
Ravi Shankar: Improvisation
Brahms: Two Hungarian Dances (arr. violin and strings)
Kammermusiksaal der Philharmonie
 
May 5
Hildesheim, Germany
Stuttgarter Kammerorchester
Bach: Concerto for two violins in D minor, BWV 1043
Vivaldi: Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 8, RV 315, “L’estate” (Summer) from The Four Seasons
Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto in D minor 
Ravi Shankar: Improvisation
Brahms: Two Hungarian Dances (arr. violin and strings)
Stadttheater Hildesheim
 
May 6
Hamm, Germany
Stuttgarter Kammerorchester
Bach: Concerto for two violins in D minor, BWV 1043
Vivaldi: Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 8, RV 315, “L’estate” (Summer) from The Four Seasons
Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto in D minor 
Ravi Shankar: Improvisation
Brahms: Two Hungarian Dances (arr. violin and strings)
Kurhaus Bad Hamm
 
May 8
Stuttgart, Germany
Stuttgarter Kammerorchester
Bach: Concerto for two violins in D minor, BWV 1043
Vivaldi: Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 8, RV 315, “L’estate” (Summer) from The Four Seasons
Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto in D minor 
Ravi Shankar: Improvisation
Brahms: Two Hungarian Dances (arr. violin and strings)
Liederhalle, Hegelsaal
 
May 9
Tübingen, Germany
Stuttgarter Kammerorchester
Bach: Concerto for two violins in D minor, BWV 1043
Vivaldi: Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 8, RV 315, “L’estate” (Summer) from The Four Seasons
Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto in D minor 
Ravi Shankar: Improvisation
Brahms: Two Hungarian Dances (arr. violin and strings)
Festaal der Neuen Aula der Universität
 
May 12
Paris, France
Orchestre National de France / James Conlon
Britten: Violin Concerto
El Khoury: Unfinished Journey
Théatre des Champs-Elysées
 
May 13
Vienna, Austria
Stuttgarter Kammerorchester
Bach: Concerto for two violins in D minor, BWV 1043
Beethoven: Romance No. 2 in F, Op. 50
Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto in D minor
Mozart: Adagio for violin and orchestra in E, K. 261
Mozart: Violin Concerto No. 3 in G, K. 216
Brahms: Two Hungarian Dances (arr. violin and strings)
Musikverein
 
May 15
Vienna, Austria
“Wann darf ich klatschen?”
Schubert-Saal – Wiener Konzerthaus
 
May 22
Hohenems, Austria
Recital
Sebastian Knauer, piano
 
May 31
London, UK
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra / Andrew Litton
Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto No. 2 in E minor, Op. 64 (original version)
Royal Festival Hall
 
www.danielhope.com