Znaider plays Beethoven’s Violin Concerto in Chicago (May 14-16)
Rave Reviews for Recent
Performances with Cleveland Orchestra and Pittsburgh Symphony
Danish-born violinist
Nikolaj Znaider returns to the Chicago Symphony on May 14-16 for three
performances of Beethoven’s Violin Concerto under guest conductor Osmo
Vänskä. Znaider’s most recent US
appearances – in Miami with the Cleveland Orchestra and the Brahms concerto,
and with the Pittsburgh Symphony in the less-frequently performed Korngold
concerto – earned the kind of reviews most artists only dream about.
In March, Andrew
Druckenbrod, music critic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, wrote:
“No one person should have the range
of ability that Znaider possesses.
A ravishing tone across the complete register, virtuosity for the quick
and the nuanced, and artistic soul that allows him to sing out in the most
compelling fashion. At 33, he
already stands in an elite class of violinists worldwide.”
Znaider’s April performance
of the Brahms concerto, with the Cleveland Orchestra at Miami’s stunning new
Adrienne Arsht Center, prompted the Miami Herald’s critic to observe: “the undisputed star of the
evening was Nikolaj Znaider.”
The Danish violinist will
perform Beethoven in Chicago, a city where he has long been a favorite. Znaider’s recording of the Beethoven
concerto with the Israel Philharmonic and Zubin Mehta is described in American
Record Guide as “the best
performance of Beethoven’s Violin Concerto I’ve heard in over a decade.” The reviewer continues:
“[I had to re-hear] some incredibly
played passages to try to figure out just exactly how Znaider did that. The supreme musicality of this
performance comes partly from the consummate partnership between Znaider and Mehta. … Part comes from the utterly gorgeous
instrument Znaider plays, and part from his awesome technique, particularly how
he can nail pitches brightly and perfectly.”
The Washington Post wrote of Znaider’s performance of the Beethoven with
the National Symphony under Iván Fischer:
“Znaider
… shaped [Beethoven’s Violin Concerto] in the manner of a storyteller, starting
off nearly inaudibly and then building and climbing before taking off into an
inspired and beautifully ornamented narrative. … He combines his near-superhuman technique with a very
human sense of song.”
After his
Chicago performances, Znaider returns to London’s Barbican Hall for the Brahms
Concerto with the London Symphony Orchestra and Sir Colin Davis (May 24), and,
a week later, plays string sextets by Brahms and Schoenberg with the LSO
Chamber Ensemble (May 31). He and
Sir Colin will then give centennial performances of Elgar’s lush Violin
Concerto with the Dresden State Orchestra (Staatskapelle) in Dresden and on
tour to Bad Kissingen and Wiesbaden.
Znaider plays a famous “del Gesù” violin that once belonged to the great
Fritz Kreisler, who first performed the Elgar concerto – which was dedicated to
him – nearly 99 years ago.
Znaider’s recording of the work (one of the longest of Elgar’s creation)
– with Sir Colin Davis and the Dresden State Orchestra – should be released
just in time for the concerto’s centennial next November.
# # #
Nikolaj
Znaider’s spring highlights:
May 14, 15,
& 16
Chicago, IL – Orchestra Hall
Chicago Symphony Orchestra / Osmo Vänskä
Beethoven: Violin Concerto
May 24
London, England – Barbican Hall
London Symphony Orchestra / Sir Colin Davis
Brahms: Violin Concerto
May 31
London, England – Barbican Hall
London Symphony Orchestra Chamber Ensemble
Brahms & Schoenberg: String Sextets