Nikolaj Znaider: Summer 2009
Nikolaj
Znaider – recently selected as the “Top Choice” in the July issue of Classic FM magazine’s “Top Ten
Violinists” feature – starts his summer in Dresden playing Sir Edward Elgar’s magnificent violin
concerto in both concerts and recording sessions with the Dresden Staatskapelle
under Sir Colin Davis. Znaider is
devoting a lot of time next season to honoring the centennial of the Elgar
work, which was composed for and dedicated to the great Fritz Kreisler. Amazingly, Znaider will perform the
concerto on the same instrument Kreisler played for the world premiere – a 1734
Guarneri “del Gesù” on loan from the VELUX Foundations and the Knud Hojgaard
Foundation, and one of several instruments Kreisler owned a century ago. Rounding out the CD will be a recording
of Elgar’s Violin Sonata with Palestinian pianist Saleem Abboud Ashkar joining
Znaider. The recording will mark
the fourth concerto disc in the violinist’s growing discography on Sony
Masterworks, for which he records exclusively.
Znaider
returns to the U.S. in mid-July for a series of summer festival
performances. His first stop is on
July 18 with the Cleveland Orchestra at their summer home, the Blossom Music
Festival. Already a popular
visitor in Cleveland – when he performed there this past season, the Plain
Dealer raved about
his “commanding, Apollonian technique” – Znaider will join the orchestra for a
performance of Beethoven’s Violin Concerto under music director, Franz
Welser-Möst. Next Znaider travels
to the beautiful Napa Valley and the Festival del Sole for a performance of the
Brahms Violin Concerto on July 22.
Two days later, on July 24, he will wrap his U.S. tour at the
Bravo!-Vail Valley Music Festival, repeating the Brahms with the resident New
York Philharmonic under its next music director, Alan Gilbert.
Znaider
returns to Europe in late August for an exciting set of concerts at the
Salzburg Festival, with the Vienna Philharmonic under the baton of the incoming
Los Angeles Philharmonic music director, Gustavo Dudamel. Pairing it with Stravinsky’s Sacre
du printemps,
Znaider takes on the Tchaikovsky Violin
Concerto for an evening concert on August 27 and a matinee on August 29. These will be his first performances
with the orchestra since releasing his recording of the Brahms and Korngold
concertos with the Vienna Philharmonic under Valery Gergiev, a disc that earned this rave from Gramophone in the July 2009 issue:
“Znaider is, for me, one
of the greatest artists of his generation, and his consummate musicianship and
glorious depth and range of tone are everywhere apparent, to particular effect
in the Adagio of the Brahms…, where Znaider’s discreet portamenti make the most of the floating
lines. … The Korngold…should have seemed a mere bonbon after the Brahms,
but such is the commitment from Znaider, Gergiev, and the orchestra that it’s a
wonder from start to finish.” [Harriet Smith]
Nikolaj
Znaider rounds out his summer season with appearances at the Jerusalem
International Chamber Music Festival on September 1 and 2 and Northeast
Germany’s region-wide Festival Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, where he will play the
Brahms concerto with the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields. Finally, Znaider will end the summer in
the Swiss Alps at the Ascona Festival, conducting the Lugano Orchestra in a
concert featuring Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 3 and Mozart’s Violin Concerto No.
2, which he will lead from the violin.
Nikolaj Znaider – Engagements, Summer 2009
July 5–7, Dresden, Germany
Dresden Staatskapelle
Elgar: Violin Concerto
July 10, Bad Kissingen, Germany
Dresden Staatskapelle
Schumann: Violin Concerto
July 12, Wiesbaden, Germany
Dresden Staatskapelle
Schumann: Violin Concerto
July 18, Cuyahoga, OH
Cleveland Orchestra / Welser-Möst
Beethoven: Violin Concerto
July 22, Napa Valley, CA
Festival del Sole
Brahms: Violin Concerto
July 24, Vail, CO
New York Philharmonic / Alan Gilbert
Brahms: Violin Concerto
August 27 & 29, Salzburg, Austria
Vienna Philharmonic / Gustavo Dudamel
Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto
September 1 & 2, Jerusalem, Israel
Jerusalem
International Chamber Music Festival
September 5, Redefin, Germany
Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
Brahms: Violin Concerto
September 10, Ascona,
Switzerland
Lugano Orchestra
(conducting)
Mozart: Violin Concerto
No. 2; Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 3
For more information on Nikolai Znaider, visit www.znaider.com.
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© June 2009, 21C Media Group