BEETHOVEN ’ S FIFTH SYMPHONY & AUGUSTIN HADELICH
Academy , he was appointed assistant conductor of the Hallé Orchestra , where he was mentored by Sir Mark Elder , and became Music Director of the Hallé Youth Orchestra . In 2023 , he became a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Music .
Jonathon is committed to education and community outreach work , as well as to including new music within his imaginative concert programs .
Augustin Hadelich
Ravishing tone , the finest bow arm , a technique far beyond all norms , a sensual and transparent sound , deep insight into each work – this is Augustin Hadelich , one of the greatest violinists of our time .
As a soloist , he appears with top international orchestras such as the Vienna Philharmonic , the Berlin Philharmonic , London Philharmonic Orchestra , the Concertgebouw Orchestra , the Orchestre National de
Augustin Hadelich
France , Boston Symphony , the Cleveland Orchestra , Los Angeles Philharmonic , New York Philharmonic , the Philadelphia Orchestra , San Francisco Symphony , Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra , and the NHK Symphony Orchestra .
Augustin Hadelich , now both an American and German citizen , was born in Italy in 1984 to German parents . He studied with Joel Smirnoff at New York ’ s Juilliard School . His current standing is the result of a development that is as continuous as it is consistent .
Suxiao _ Yang
Celebrated at the beginning of his career in the USA after winning the International Violin Competition in Indianapolis in 2006 , he has since made debuts at all the major festivals in Europe and is now one of the world ’ s most sought-after soloists .
In 2016 , Hadelich was awarded a GRAMMY Award for his recording of Henri Dutilleux ’ s violin concerto L ’ Arbre des songes . Since 2018 he has been an exclusive artist of Warner Classics . His most recent release , American Road Trip , explores the spirit of a nation that speaks all conceivable musical languages , from jazz and blues to Romanticism and the avant-garde .
Not only a passionate performer , he is an equally committed teacher , and was appointed to the faculty of the Yale School of Music as professor in 2021 .
Augustin Hadelich plays the Leduc , ex Szeryng violin by Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesù from 1744 , on loan from the Tarisio Trust .
NOTES ON THE PROGRAM
By Jacob Jahiel
Alban Berg
Born February 9 , 1885 in Vienna , Austria Died December 24 , 1935 in Vienna , Austria
VIOLIN CONCERTO [ 1935 ]
So notoriously slow was Alban Berg ’ s composition process that he eventually abandoned the practice of assigning opus numbers to his music . It therefore came as some surprise — including to the Viennese composer himself — that he would write his Violin Concerto with such uncharacteristic expediency between late April and August 11 , 1935 . As Louis Krasner , the Russian-American violinist who had commissioned the work , would later recall , “ Refusing to stop for food or sleep , he drove his hand relentlessly and in fever . ‘ I must continue ,’ Berg responded to his wife ’ s pleadings , ‘ I cannot stop — I do not have time .’”
Berg died shortly after on December 24 , 1935 — the result of sepsis stemming from complications of a minor insect bite — having never heard the concerto that some later supposed was intended to serve as his requiem . It was a somewhat absurd end to a life made difficult by chronic psychological distress , acutely heightened in his final years by the terrifying rise of the Nazi party in Austria , who among other things deemed his work “ degenerate art ,” blacklisted him from numerous venues , and forced his former teacher , Arnold Schoenberg , into exile in America .
The score of the Violin Concerto bears a double dedication . Atop the title page reads , in honor of its aforementioned patron , “ For Louis Krasner .” Below , Berg wrote , “ To the Memory of an Angel ,” referring to Manon Gropius , daughter to architect Walter Gropius and Alma Mahler ( widow to Gustav Mahler and close friend to Berg ), who died of polio at only 18 years old .
The Violin Concerto consists of two movements , each in two parts . The violin ’ s
first four notes ( G , D , A , E ) are also the pitches of its open strings , and it is from these pitches that the concerto ’ s 12-note melody , or “ tone row ,” is derived ( G , B-flat , D , F-sharp , A , C , E , G-sharp , B , C-sharp , E-flat , F ). The special significance of this arrangement is that the row encompasses all twelve pitches of the Western diatonic scale , and moreover does not repeat any pitch within the course of the melody .
The Andante ( Allegretto ) begins with nocturnal stillness as harp and clarinet quietly dialogue with solo violin in spacious arpeggios . The texture quickens , unleashing the violin ’ s technical brilliance before relaxing into an Allegretto whose kaleidoscopic moods , so precisely notated , range from silliness to outright perversity . Here emerges a distinct and capricious personality , said perhaps to be that of Manon Gropius .
If the first movement is a portrait of Manon while alive , the Allegro – Adagio conveys her death and transcendence . Struggle , confusion , and blind rage lead to a moment of sudden release , prompting a
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