Gil Shaham plays world premiere on recital tour, Brahms with LA Phil

Gil Shaham’s winter programming is marked once again by his trademark versatility. In December he wowed audiences at the New York Philharmonic with his “vivid and sensitive performance” (New York Times) of the Barber Violin Concerto, one of many highlighted in his multi-season “Violin Concertos of the 1930s” project. Now February takes the master violinist on a four-city duo recital tour, showcasing the world premiere of a new commission from William Bolcom alongside classics by Bach, Beethoven, and Schubert – plus contemporary works by Avner Dorman and Julian Milone that, like the Bolcom suite, were composed especially for him. Then the Avery Fisher Prize-winner reunites with his longtime friend and collaborator Gustavo Dudamel for performances of the Brahms Violin Concerto – a cornerstone of the violin repertory – with the Los Angeles Philharmonic (Feb 21-24).
 
World premiere on duo recital tour
A champion of contemporary music, Shaham has inspired a number of new commissions. The centerpiece of his upcoming duo recital tour is the world premiere of Suite No. 2 by William Bolcom (b.1938), whose numerous honors include the Pulitzer Prize, the National Medal of Arts, and two Grammy Awards. As the composer notes, the suite “distantly refers to the Baroque dance-suite form”; Shaham describes it as “a nine-movement work filled with brilliant musical ideas and emotions: a masterpiece with the profundity and craftsmanship that is characteristic of Bill’s music.” The premiere will take place at the Aspen Winter Festival on February 5, with additional performances in San Diego (Feb 7), San Francisco (Feb 8), and Boston (Feb 10).
 
Bolcom’s suite will be heard alongside one of the masterpieces of the period that inspired it: J. S. Bach’s E-major Partita. Shaham’s unaccompanied Bach is distinguished by his thoughtfulness and willingness to take interpretative risks, while his innate musicianship and warmth – what Musical America calls his “special kind of humanism” – ensure that his performances bring out the partitas’ dancing rhythms along with their harmonic depth, achieving what the San Francisco Classical Voice dubbed “a combination of fast-with-soul.” After a recent solo Bach recital, Opus One Review amplified:
 
“Mr. Shaham’s performance was encyclopedic – he seemed to pull it all together – the throbbing, human intensity; the serene, celestial overview; the devil in every technical detail. Personally, I felt humbled by the joy of this performance, and…the audience…went a bit out of their minds.”
 
The violinist also revisits two more of the works composed for him in recent years: Julian Milone’s In the Country of Lost Things… (2012) and Avner Dorman’s Niggunim (2011). According to the New York Times, his world premiere performance of the Dorman at the 92nd Street Y was “dynamic”:
 
“Mr. Shaham plunged into the virtuosic thickets of the Scherzo with aplomb, revealing its improvisatory melodies with flair. The concluding Presto unfolded in a kaleidoscopic blaze, a frenzy of jazzy rhythms and explosive energy.”
 
Like Bolcom’s Suite and the Bach Partita, Niggunim will be presented at all four tour stops. In Aspen and Boston, In the Country of Lost Things… and Schubert’s Sonatina in A minor will complete the program; in San Diego and San Francisco, Shaham will instead undertake Beethoven’s beloved “Kreutzer” Sonata. He will be joined on tour by pianist Akira Eguchi, first prize winner at the Gina Bachauer International Competition, whose “extraordinary artistry, maturity, and intelligence” impressed the New York Times. The two reunite for a similar duo recital program in Nagoya, Japan on March 1; the violinist performs Bach’s first three partitas in Tokyo two days later.
 
Brahms Violin Concerto at LA Philharmonic and more
Shaham rejoins another longtime friend and musical partner when he performs the Brahms Violin Concerto with Gustavo Dudamel, the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s music director, who has just been named Musical America’s 2013 Musician of the Year. Their close affinity is such that it was the conductor who was chosen to surprise Shaham on stage during a “Live From Lincoln Center” concert, and present him – wholly unexpectedly – with his hugely prestigious Avery Fisher Prize. As the AF Artist Program reported:
 
“Gil Shaham was presented with a complete surprise. His friend and colleague, conductor Gustavo Dudamel, emerged through the invited audience, interrupting the festivities on air to present him with the coveted Avery Fisher Prize for 2008. Calling out, ‘Hola, Gil, I have a message for you,’ the ebullient Dudamel presented the Avery Fisher Prize to Gil Shaham before the invited audience of 100 people, and a television audience of millions.”
 
The musical connection they share is equally intimate, as has been observed on a number of their collaborative engagements. As Classical Source commented after one such performance, “There was clearly the closest rapport between Gil Shaham and Gustavo Dudamel. … Shaham is a near-ideal soloist.”
 
The opportunity to work together on the Brahms Violin Concerto – which Shaham believes “could well be the greatest violin concerto ever written” – is therefore a precious one. Shaham remains second to none in the masterworks of the violin literature, and his rendition of the concerto has already made waves. According to the Seattle Times, his Brahms is “fueled by the sort of energy and passion that lifts a performance far above the notes on the page,” resulting in “ravishing playing.” Likewise, the Denver Post judged that:
 
“Gil Shaham delivered the finest performance of the Brahms Violin Concerto I’ve ever experienced. … He seemed to play from the soul, probing every nuance of Brahms’s Romanticism and making his Stradivarius sing with a beauty that hovered between joy and tears. From the serene lyricism of the slow movement to the rustic lift of the dancing finale, his control of dynamics and subtle use of rubato were mesmerizing.”
 
The concerto figures prominently in Shaham’s programming this season, with winter performances with the Cincinnati Symphony (Jan 25-26) and Germantown’s IRIS Orchestra (Feb 16) – on top of multiple dates with Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic in Walt Disney Concert Hall (Feb 21-24).
 
“Violin Concertos of the 1930s”
Dubbed “one of the most imaginative programming concepts in years” (Musical America), Shaham’s long-term exploration of iconic “Violin Concertos of the 1930s” was conceived when he realized how many outstanding 20th-century violin concertos sprang from that fateful decade. Now in its fourth season, the project has spawned collaborations with the world’s foremost orchestras in a wide range of concertos – seven in 2012-13 alone.
 
Most recently, the violinist returned to his hometown orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, to play Samuel Barber’s offering from 1939 under the direction of Alan Gilbert. According to the New York Times:
 
“In this vivid and sensitive performance the Barber sounded wonderfully fresh. Mr. Shaham played the main theme of the first movement, one of those soaring, majestic Barber melodies, with plush sound and affecting restraint. He brought warmth touched with impetuosity to the contemplative slow movement, and his dazzling account of the perpetual-motion finale had flawless precision and gleeful command.”
 
Earlier this month, Shaham played the Stravinsky Violin Concerto (1931) with the Orchestre de Paris under Nicola Luisotti. Further 1930s concerto performances scheduled this winter include Prokofiev’s Second (1935) on a Japanese tour with the NHK Symphony (March 7-11) and Bartók’s Second (1937-8) with the Orchestre de Paris led by Paavo Järvi (March 20-21).
 
 
Gil Shaham – upcoming engagements
 
Jan 25-26; Cincinnati, OH
Music Hall
Brahms: Violin Concerto
Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra
 
Feb 5; Aspen, CO
Wheeler Opera House
Aspen Winter Festival
Schubert: Sonatina in A minor
Bach: Partita No. 3 in E, BWV 1006
Bolcom: Suite No. 2 for solo violin
Milone: “In the Country of Lost Things…” (2012)
Dorman: Niggunim (2011)
Akira Eguchi, piano
 
Feb 7; San Diego, CA
Copley Symphony Hall
Bach: Partita No. 3 in E, BWV 1006
Dorman: Niggunim (2011)
Bolcom: Suite No. 2 for solo violin
Beethoven: Violin Sonata No. 9 (“Kreutzer”)
Akira Eguchi, piano
 
Feb 8; San Francisco, CA
Davies Symphony Hall 
Bach: Partita No. 3 in E, BWV 1006
Dorman: Niggunim (2011)
Bolcom: Suite No. 2 for solo violin
Beethoven: Violin Sonata No. 9 (“Kreutzer”)
Akira Eguchi, piano
 
Feb 10; Boston, MA
Jordan Hall
Celebrity Series of Boston
Schubert: Sonatina in A minor
Bach: Partita No. 3 in E, BWV 1006
Bolcom: Suite No. 2 for solo violin
Milone: “In the Country of Lost Things…” (2012)
Dorman: Niggunim (2011)
Akira Eguchi, piano
 
Feb 16; Germantown, TN
Germantown Performing Arts Centre
Brahms: Violin Concerto
IRIS Orchestra
 
Feb 21-24; Los Angeles, CA
Walt Disney Concert Hall
Brahms: Violin Concerto
Los Angeles Philharmonic / Gustavo Dudamel
 
March 1; Nagoya, Japan
Kioi Hall
Program TBD
Akira Eguchi, piano
 
March 3; Tokyo, Japan
Musashino Civic Cultural Hall
Solo Bach – Partita No. 3 in E; Partita No. 1 in B minor; Partita No. 2 in D minor
 
March 7, 9, 10, 11; (Japan Tour)
Prokofiev: Violin Concerto No. 2
NHK Symphony Orchestra / Diego Matheuz
 
March 20-21; Paris, France
Bartók: Violin Concerto No. 2
Orchestre de Paris / Paavo Järvi
 
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© 21C Media Group, January 2013