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A FEAST FOR THE VIOLIN

16 December 2022 @ 20:00

"You can hardly play the violin more expressively, more uncompromisingly than Gringolts," writes Harald Eggebrecht in the Süddeutsche Zeitung about this exceptional musician. At the age of 16, Ilya Gringolts already won the renowned Paganini Competition. Since then he has put his virtuosity at the service of subtle interpretations. Together with the Camerata Bern, he presents a programme from the end of the 17th century to the beginning of the 19th century, when the art of violin playing in Italy reached its zenith: while violin makers were creating the most valuable and best-sounding instruments to this day, musicians were advancing their playing techniques.

Arcangelo Corelli (1653-1713) and Pietro Antonio Locatelli (1695-1764) were highly influential throughout Europe as masters of their instruments, orchestra conductors, composers and teachers. The famous Pastorale from the Concerto in G minor by Corelli, who lived in the cultural capital of Rome and with whom Locatelli also took lessons, was premiered on Christmas Eve 1690 in the presence of the Pope. Locatelli's impressive caprices and concertos in turn left their mark on works by Niccolò Paganini (1782-1840). His moving 1st Violin Concerto also demonstrated his seemingly superhuman technical abilities, for which he was admired as a soloist on tours throughout Europe. Ilya Gringolts and the Camerata Bern perform the concerto in the original version in E-flat major, which - because it is even more technically challenging than the common version in D major - is rarely heard in the concert hall.

 

Programme

Arcangelo Corelli (1653-1713)
Concerto grosso in sol minore, op. 6 No. 8

Pietro Antonio Locatelli (1695-1764)
Violin Concerto D major op. 3 No. 12

Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (1809-1847)
Symphony movement in C minor MWV N 14

Niccolò Paganini (1782-1840)
Violin Concerto No. 1 in original version E flat major op. 6

 

Camerata Bern
Ilya Gringolts, violin and conductor

Performers

A FEAST FOR THE VIOLIN

Ilya Gringolts

Violin

One can hardly play the violin more expressively, more uncompromisingly than Gringolts. (Süddeutsche Zeitung, Harald Eggebrecht)

The Russian violinist Ilya Gringolts convinces with highly virtuosic playing and subtle interpretations, always seeking new musical challenges. As a sought-after soloist, he dedicates himself not only to the large orchestral repertoire but also to rarely performed and contemporary works; in addition, Ilya Gringolts is interested in historical performance practice. Thus virtuoso early repertoire by Locatelli or Leclair as well as Paganini's solo works and orchestral concertos adorn his concert programs. New works by Peter Maxwell Davies, Christophe Bertrand, Bernhard Lang, Beat Furrer and Michael Jarrell were launched by him. In 2020 Ilya Gringolts and Ilan Volkov founded the I&I Foundation for the promotion of contemporary music, which awards commissions to young composers.

Ilya Gringolts started the 2022/23 season at the Musikfest Berlin together with Nicolas Altstaedt and Lawrence Power on the occasion of Wolfgang Rihm's 70th birthday. Other invitations take him to the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the ORF Radio Symphony Orchestra Vienna, the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra under Andrey Boreyko, the Helsinki Philharmonic and Radio Filharmonisch Orkest under Hannu Lintu, the Oslo Philharmonic under Klaus Mäkelä and the National Symphony Orchestra Taiwan. He leads the Camerata Bern from the violin at the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, and reunites with the Australian Chamber Orchestra for an extensive tour of Australia.

Ilya Gringolts has performed with renowned orchestras such as the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, NHK Symphony Orchestra, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Singa¬pore Symphony Orchestra, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, St. Petersburg Philharmonic, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin and Mahler Chamber Orchestra. Recent highlights include projects with the Santa Cecilia Orchestra, the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, the SWR Symphonieorchester, the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the Budapest Festival Orchestra and the Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire. Play-lead projects have recently brought him together with the Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana, the Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra, the Camerata Bern and the Ensemble Resonanz.

For his Diapason d'Or and Gramophone Editor's Choice Award-winning recording of Locatelli's Il labirinto armonico (2021), Ilya Gringolts led the Finnish Baroque Orchestra from the podium. This was followed in the same year by the solo CD Ciaccona with works by Bach, Pauset, Gerhard and Holliger, which also received the Gramophone Editor's Choice Award. His extensive discography of highly acclaimed CD productions for Deutsche Grammophon, BIS and Hyperion, among others, also includes the critically acclaimed recording of Paganini's 24 Caprices for solo violin and the recording of the complete violin works of Stravinsky (2018), recorded with the Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia under Dima Slobodeniouk and awarded the Diapason d'Or.

As primarius of the Gringolts Quartet, he has enjoyed success at the Salzburg Festival, the Lucerne Festival, the Edinburgh Festival, the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, the Philharmonie Luxembourg, the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, and the Teatro La Fenice in Venice, among others. A highly regarded chamber musician, Ilya Gringolts regularly collaborates with artists such as Nicolas Altstaedt, Alexander Lonquich, James Boyd, Itamar Golan, Peter Laul, Aleksandar Madzar, Christian Poltera, Lawrence Power and Jörg Widmann.

After first studying violin and composition in St. Petersburg, Ilya Gringolts continued his studies with Itzhak Perlman at the Juilliard School. He is still the youngest winner of the international violin competition Premio Paganini (1998) and was a BBC New Generation Artist of the first hour. In addition to being a professor at the Zurich University of the Arts, Ilya Gringolts has been appointed to the prestigious Accademia Chigiana in Siena from 2021. He plays a violin by Stradivari (1718 "ex-Prové").

A FEAST FOR THE VIOLIN

CAMERATA BERN

Orchestra

Camerata Bern's performances come across with fiery spirit. (BBC Music Magazine, February 2021)

CAMERATA BERN stands for innovation and quality at the highest level. And for breaking new ground again and again, exploring boundaries and inspiring audiences with courageous programs.

Founded in 1962 with the idea of performing as a flexible formation without a conductor, CAMERATA BERN is today an internationally sought-after chamber orchestra whose 15 members are all also outstanding soloists. Since 2018, Patricia Kopatchinskaja has been associated with the ensemble as Artistic Partner. The CAMERATA BERN cultivates a broad repertoire from baroque to contemporary and always plays standing up. Their innovative programs juggle epochs and styles and range from classical concert programs to staged concerts, chamber music projects and children's concerts.

Rooted in Bern with her own concert series, she regularly performs at international festivals and in leading concert halls in Switzerland, Europe and North and South America. She works with renowned artists such as Antje Weithaas, Sergio Azzolini, Steven Isserlis, Ilya Gringolts, Anna Prohaska and Kristian Bezuidenhout. Each season it also invites one composer in residence, in 2022/23 the German composer Jan Dvořák.

The ensemble's recordings have won several international awards, such as the Grand Prix du Disque, the German Record Critics' Prize and the Echo Klassik. The last two CDs "Time & Eternity" with Patricia Kopatchinskaja and "Plaisirs illuminés" with Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Sol Gabetta and a commissioned work by Francisco Coll (Composer in Residence 2018/19) were each nominated for a Gramophone Award. "Plaisirs illuminés" also received a BBC Music Magazine Award in 2022.

CAMERATA BERN has been making an important contribution to music education for children since 2010 with its regular school concert tours in the canton of Bern. Since then, around 18,000 schoolchildren have been able to experience music at the highest level directly in their classrooms, free of charge and at low cost, in over 250 concerts.

The CAMERATA BERN Foundation is subsidized by the City of Bern, the Canton of Bern and the Regional Conference Bern-Mittelland. It receives funding from the Burgergemeinde Bern, the Ursula Wirz-Stiftung and other foundations, partners and sponsors. In 2022, CAMERATA BERN will celebrate its 60th anniversary.

PROMOTER

A FEAST FOR THE VIOLIN

Details

Date:
December 16, 2022
Time:
20:00
Event category:

Venue

Elbphilharmonie - Great Hall
Hamburg, Germany

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