Robert Schumann: Piano Quartet in E flat major, & Piano Quintet in E flat major | Johann Sebastian Bach: Five Fugues from Das Wohltemperierte Klavier, Vol. 2, arrangement for string quartet by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – Isabelle Faust, Anne-Katharina Schreiber, Antoine Tamestit, Jean-Guihen Queyra, Alexander Melnikov (HD 1080p)

Isabelle Faust (violin), Anne-Katharina Schreiber (violin), Antoine Tamestit (viola), Jean-Guihen Queyra (cello), and Alexander Melnikov (period piano), play Robert Schumann's Piano Quartet in E flat major, Op.47, and Piano Quintet in E flat major, Op.44, and Johann Sebastian Bach's Five Fugues from Das Wohltemperierte Klavier, Vol. 2, arrangement for string quartet by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, KV.405. Recorded at the 17th Chopin and his Europe International Music Festival, at Warsaw Philharmonic Concert Hall, on August 18, 2021.

Robert Schumann (1810-1856)

♪ Piano Quartet in E flat major, Op.47 (1842) [7:06]*

i. Sostenuto assai - Allegro ma non troppo 

ii. Scherzo. Molto vivace

iii. Andante cantabile

iv. Finale. Vivace

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

♪ Five Fugues from Das Wohltemperierte Klavier, Vol. 2, arrangement for string quartet by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791), KV.405 (1782) [38:56]

i. Fugue in C minor, KV.405 No.1 (after BWV 871)

ii. Fugue in E flat major, KV.405 No.2 (after BWV 876)

iii. Fugue in E major, KV.405 No.3 (after BWV 878)

iv. Fugue in D minor, KV.405 No.4 (after BWV 877)

v. Fugue in D major, KV.405 No.5 (after BWV 874)

Robert Schumann

♪ Piano Quintet in E flat major, Op.44 (1842) [54:45]

i. Allegro brillante

ii. In modo d'una marcia: Un poco largamente – Agitato

iii. Scherzo: Molto vivace

iv. Allegro, ma non troppo

Encore:

Szymon Laks (1901-1983)

♪ Piano Quintet on Popular Polish Themes (1945) [1:28:15]

iii. Vivace non troppo

* Start time of each work

Isabelle Faust, violin

Anne-Katharina Schreiber, violin

Antoine Tamestit, viola

Jean-Guihen Queyra, cello

Alexander Melnikov, period piano

17th Chopin and his Europe International Music Festival, Warsaw Philharmonic Concert Hall, August 18, 2021

(HD 1080p)

Isabelle Faust fascinates audiences with her outstanding musical interpretations, imbued with profundity and intense playing. She dives deep into every piece, considering its historical context and suitable instruments. She complements this sense of authenticity with the need to approach a composition from the present.

After winning the renowned Leopold Mozart Competition and the Paganini Competition at a very early age, she began appearing regularly with the world's major orchestras, including the Berlin Philharmonic, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the NHK Symphony Orchestra Tokyo, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra. Close and sustained collaborations with conductors including Claudio Abbado, Giovanni Antonini, Frans Brüggen, John Eliot Gardiner, Bernard Haitink, Daniel Harding, Philippe Herreweghe, Andris Nelsons and Robin Ticciati have likewise evolved.

Isabelle Faust's artistic curiosity embraces all eras and forms of musical collaboration. As well as performing the major symphonic violin concertos, she also plays works such as Schubert's Octet on historical instruments, Kurtág's Kafka-Fragmente with Anna Prohaska and Stravinsky's L'Histoire du soldat with Dominique Horwitz. She is also committed to contemporary music and will give the premieres of works by Peter Eötvös, Brett Dean, Ondřej Adámek and Oscar Strasnoy over the coming seasons.

Her recordings have been unanimously praised by critics, as well as being awarded the Diapason d'Or, the Gramophone Award, the Choc de l'année du Monde de la Musique and various other prizes. Her most recent recordings include Bach's violin concertos with the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin and Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto in E minor Op.64 with the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra and Pablo Heras-Casado. In 2018 a recording of Bach's sonatas for violin and harpsichord was released in collaboration with Kristian Bezuidenhout. Isabelle Faust's other acclaimed recordings include Bach's solo violin sonatas and partitas, as well as the Beethoven and Berg violin concertos with Claudio Abbado. She enjoys a long-standing collaboration with pianist Alexander Melnikov and their recordings include sonatas for piano and violin by Mozart, Beethoven and Brahms.

This season, Isabelle Faust is artist in residence at the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels.

During her studies in Freiburg with Rainer Kussmaul, violinist Anne Katharina Schreiber became a member of the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra in 1988, with whom she has given concerts around the world and recorded numerous CDs. She also continues to be active as a soloist, concertmaster and director of her own projects. She collaborates regularly with ensembles in both the Baroque and modern repertoire, including ensemble recherche, the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, the Basel Chamber Orchestra and Collegium Vocale Gent under conductors such as René Jacobs, Pablo Heras-Casado, Marcus Creed and Philippe Herreweghe.

She also has a great love of chamber music. For over 20 years, she has been a member of Trio Vivente, with whom she has recorded numerous highly acclaimed recordings. As well as works by Haydn and Schubert, her discs include piano trios by Fanny and Felix Mendelssohn, released in 2013, and a 2017 CD of piano trios by the long-forgotten Romantic composer Emilie Mayer, which demonstrated the Trio’s commitment to rediscovering neglected repertoire, as well as contemporary music. Anne Katharina Schreiber is also a sought-after chamber music partner for various other groups, collaborating with musicians such as Isabelle Faust, Jean-Guihen Queyras, Daniel Sepec and Roel Dieltiens.

Anne Katharina Schreiber is frequently asked to conduct guest projects with the Basel Chamber Orchestra, Ensemble Resonanz and the Norsk Barokkorkester Oslo. She is also the concertmaster of the Orchestra of Collegium Vocale Gent. She has been teaching at the University of Music in Freiburg since 2007.

Antoine Tamestit is recognized internationally as one of the most important viola players. As a soloist and a chamber musician, he is known for his unsurpassed technique and the beauty of his sound. His broad repertoire ranges from the Baroque to the present day. His engagement with contemporary music is reflected in numerous world premieres and recordings, including Thierry Escaich's La Nuit des chants, Bruno Mantovani's Concerto pour deux altos et orchestre and Olga Neuwirth's Remnants of songs... an Amphigory and Weariness heals Wounds. One of the works commissioned by Antoine Tamestit is Jörg Widmann's Viola Concerto and he gave the premiere in 2015 with the Orchestre de Paris and Paavo Järvi. He has appeared as a soloist with such renowned orchestras as the Czech Philharmonic, the Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra, the WDR Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, the Orchestre National de France, the Philharmonia Orchestra and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, working with well-known conductors including Valery Gergiev, Riccardo Muti, Daniel Harding, Marek Janowski, Antonio Pappano, François-Xavier Roth, Emmanuel Krivine and Franz Welser-Möst.

In the 2020-2021 season Antoine Tamestit has been invited to perform with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Orquestra Simfònica de Barcelona i Nacional de Catalunya, the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestre National de France and the Orchestre de Paris.

He founded the Trio Zimmermann with Frank Peter Zimmermann and Christian Poltéra. Other chamber music partners include Nicholas Angelich, Gautier Capuçon, Martin Fröst, Leonidas Kavakos, Nikolai Lugansky, Emmanuel Pahud, Francesco Piemontesi, Christian Tetzlaff, Cédric Tiberghien, Yuja Wang, Jörg Widmann, Shai Wosner as well as the Quatuor Ébène and the Hagen Quartet.

Antoine Tamestit records for harmonia mundi and recently released a CD of works by Brahms with Cédric Tiberghien. Other notable recordings include Jörg Widmann's Viola Concerto with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and Daniel Harding, which was released in February 2018.

He plays a viola by Antonio Stradivari from 1672, loaned by the Habisreutinger Foundation.

The work of cellist Jean-Guihen Queyras is characterized by his curiosity, diversity and firm focus on the music itself, whether on the concert platform or on record. He learned his interpretative approach from Pierre Boulez, with whom he established a long artistic partnership.

He is as thorough in his approach to early music, including continuing collaborations with the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra and the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, as he is to contemporary music. He has given the world premieres of works by composers such as Ivan Fedele, Gilbert Amy, Bruno Mantovani, Michael Jarrell, Johannes Maria Staud, Thomas Larcher, Tristan Murail and Peter Eötvös.

The versatility of his music-making has led to invitations to be artist in residence at many concert halls and festivals, including the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Festival d'Aix-en-Provence, the TivoliVredenburg in Utrecht, the De Bijloke Music Centre in Ghent and the Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg.

Jean-Guihen Queyras was a founding member of the Arcanto Quartet and forms a celebrated trio with Isabelle Faust and Alexander Melnikov. He also works frequently with Alexandre Tharaud.

Jean-Guihen Queyras is a regular guest with such renowned orchestras as the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, the Orchestre de Paris and the London Symphony Orchestra, as well as the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra and the Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra. He has worked with conductors such as Iván Fischer, Philippe Herreweghe, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, François-Xavier Roth, John Eliot Gardiner and Roger Norrington.

Jean-Guihen Queyras's discography comprises many acclaimed recordings, including performances of cello concertos by Elgar, Dvořák, Philippe Schœller and Gilbert Amy. His CDs of works by C.P.E. Bach and Vivaldi was released in 2018. Jean-Guihen Queyras records exclusively for harmonia mundi.

Highlights of the 2020-2021 season include performances with the Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo and the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra, as well as concerts with the Belcea Quartet, Tabea Zimmermann, Alexander Melnikov and Isabelle Faust. He was also artist in residence at Radio France.

Jean-Guihen Queyras holds a professorship at the University of Music in Freiburg and is artistic director of the Rencontres Musicales de Haute-Provence Festival. He plays a 1696 instrument by Gioffredo Cappa, made available by the Mécénat Musical Société Générale.

Alexander Melnikov graduated from the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory, where he studied with Lev Naumov. His most formative musical moments include an early encounter with Sviatoslav Richter, who regularly invited him to festivals in Russia and France.

Known for his unusual musical and programmatic decisions, Alexander Melnikov developed a career-long interest in historically-informed performance practice early on. His major influences in this field include Andreas Staier and Alexei Lubimov, with whom he has worked on numerous projects. He regularly performs with well-known early music ensembles including the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, musicAeterna and the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin.

As a soloist, Alexander Melnikov has performed with the Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra, the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Munich Philharmonic, the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra and the BBC Philharmonic. He has worked with conductors such as Mikhail Pletnev, Teodor Currentzis, Charles Dutoit, Paavo Järvi, Thomas Dausgaard and Valery Gergiev.

Together with Andreas Staier, Alexander Melnikov recorded an all-Schubert programme of four-hand pieces, which they have also performed in concert. Another essential part of his work is his intensive chamber music collaborations with partners such as cellist Jean-Guihen Queyras.

Concerts with his long-standing duo partner Isabelle Faust are also extremely important to him. Their complete account of the Beethoven violin sonatas on harmonia mundi has become a benchmark recording and was awarded the Gramophone Award and nominated for a Grammy. Their recording of the Brahms violin sonatas was released in 2015, followed by the Mozart sonatas in 2018.

During the 2021-2022 season Alexander Melnikov presents his Many Pianos project, a solo recital performed on different instruments that reflect the periods in which the works were written. Other highlights include appearances at the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, recitals in Dortmund and Tokyo and concerts with the Cuarteto Casals, Isabelle Faust and Jean-Guihen Queyras.

Biographies, Source: salzburgerfestspiele.at

More photos


See also

Johann Sebastian Bach: Sonata No.3 in C major for Solo Violin, BWV 1005 – Isabelle Faust (HD 1080p)

Johann Sebastian Bach: Partita No.2 in D minor for Solo Violin, BWV 1004 – Isabelle Faust (HD 1080p)

Read More

Johann Sebastian Bach: Sonata No.3 in C major for Solo Violin, BWV 1005 – Isabelle Faust (HD 1080p)

On Palm Sunday, April 5, 2020, the exceptional violinist plays Johann Sebastian Bach's Sonata No.3 in C major for Solo Violin, BWV 1005, in the empty St Thomas Church in Leipzig. In these unusual and challenging times, her Bach interpretation exudes calm and confidence.

"In her concentration, the violinist acts like a medium through which this unique music reaches us today", says the NZZ about Isabelle Faust's interpretation of the Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin by Johann Sebastian Bach. "What Faust is searching for on the inside is [...] a truthfulness that results not only from the study of passed down conceptions of aesthetics, but also from today's attitude towards life. Such a positioning between the fronts makes Faust's violin playing as interesting as it is unique." 

Source: accentus.com

✻

Bach had an easy solution for the problem of combining the violin with the keyboard: he simply dispensed with the keyboard and wrote six sonatas and partitas (three of each) for violin alone. He did the same for the cello with six suites for that instrument without accompaniment.

All 12 works were composed during the time he was conductor of the court orchestra at Anhalt-Cöthen, where his patron, young Prince Leopold, was a skilled musician. Bach himself was a violinist of no small attainment, yet it seems likely that the solo cello and violin pieces were written, around 1720, for Leopold – high tribute indeed to the Prince for his musical taste and, if he could negotiate the demonic pieces, for his performing ability. For these bold works are difficult in ways that most other virtuosic string pieces are not: they demand not only unfaltering facility in matters of digital and rhythmic dexterity and preciseness of pitch, particularly in the multiple stoppings, but also the keenest musical insights and inner-ear sensitivity to implied polyphonic and harmonic textures. In short, they strip a performer naked, as it were, forcing the executant to recreate incredibly diverse Bachian worlds with only a wooden box, four lengths of string, and a bow.

Of the six violin works, the present one stands alone on a lofty summit, and this by virtue of the towering Chaconne that is its final movement. Preceding this finale are four dance movements that comprise the traditional Baroque suite: allemande, courante, sarabande, and gigue. Although they are splendid examples of their genre, they end by being an introduction to the monumental Chaconne, which is a set of more than 60 variations on a simple bass theme.

In a lengthy description of the Chaconne, the great Bach scholar Philipp Spitta ends with these memorable words, "This Chaconne is a triumph of spirit over matter such as even Bach never repeated in a more brilliant manner". Enough said.

Source: Orrin Howard (laphil.com)

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

♪ Sonata No.3 in C major for Solo Violin, BWV 1005 (1720)

i. Adagio [00:17]*

ii. Fuga. Alla breve [05:44]

iii. Largo [16:23]

iv. Allegro assai [19:38]

Isabelle Faust, violin

St Thomas Church Leipzig, April 5, 2020

(HD 1080p)

* Start time of each movement

The German violinist Isabelle Faust (b. 1972, Esslingen, Baden-Württemberg) received her first violin lessons at the age of 5. Her father, then a 31 year old secondary school teacher, decided to learn the violin. He took his young daughter along: the father's talent was not especially stellar, but his infant daughter was able to learn the technical fundamentals of violin playing correctly and at an unusually early age, quickly herself becoming the star pupil. Shortly after that her brother also began to take lessons and when Isabelle was 11 the parents created a family string quartet for which several masterclasses were later organised with some of the leading string players of the time. The early start was, for both the children, the basis for musical careers; Boris Faust has become a viola professional.

By the time she was in her teens, she studied with Christoph Poppen and Dénes Zsigmondy. After winning the Paganini Competition, and keen to broaden her experience, she moved in 1996 to Paris where she lived for the next 9 years. She began entering major international competitions and in 1987 won the International Leopold Mozart Competition of Augsberg (Leopold Mozart's hometown). Although she was the youngest entrant, she won the First Prize. In 1990, the City of Rovigo granted her its Premio Quadrivio Prize. In 1993, she entered the Paganini Competition of Genoa and took First Prize, becoming the first German violinist ever to win it. busy concert career ensued.

It was in France that her first CD appeared, featuring music by Béla Bartók. Isabelle Faust attracted plaudits as an interpreter of Gabriel Fauré. Faust later commented ruefully that it probably did no harm to her career that, because of her French first name, many French listeners assumed she was French. It was also in France that she met her husband.

Isabelle Faust is one of the most impressive violinists of the generation that emerged in the 1990's. She is known for exceptional technique and strong interpretive instincts. She captivates her listeners through her insightful and faithful interpretations, based on a thorough knowledge of the historical context of the works as well as her attention to current scholarship. She has performed as guest soloist with most of the world's major orchestras., including the Philharmoniker Hamburg under Lord Yehudi Menuhin, Berliner Philharmoniker, Radio-Symphonie-Orchester-Berlin, Münchener Kammerorchester, Württembergisches Kammerorchester Heilbronn, Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, Freiburger Barockorchester, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, Camerata Salzburg, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart, WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Radio Symphony Orchestra of Hannover, Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Saarbrücken, Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Salzburg Mozarteum Orchester, Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg, Prague Philharmonia, Weiner-Szász Chamber Symphony, NHK Symphony Orchestra Tokyo. She made her USA debut in 1995 with the Utah Symphony Orchestra under Joseph Silverstein. 2016 marks her first year as Artistic Partner with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra. Over the course of her career,she has regularly performed or recorded with world-renowned conductors including John Eliot Gardiner, Philippe Herreweghe, Daniel Harding, Bernard Haitink and Andris Nelsons. During recent years Isabelle Faust developed a close relationship with the late Claudio Abbado and performed and recorded under his baton.

Isabelle Faust performs a wide-ranging repertoire, from J.S. Bach all the way through to contemporary composers such as Ligeti, Lachenmann and Widmann. To highlight this versatility, in addition to her mastery of the great symphonic violin concertos, she also performs works such as György Kurtág's Kafka Fragments with the soprano Anna Prohaska, and Schubert’s Octet on historical instruments. She is a proponent of new music and has given world premieres of works by, among others, Olivier Messiaen, Werner Egk, and Jörg Widmann. She will premiere several new works for violin and orchestra during the upcoming seasons, including concerti by the composers Ondrej Adamek, Marco Stroppa, Oscar Strasnoy and Beat Furrer.

Isabelle Faust is also an avid recitalist and chamber musician and has performed in Berlin, Stuttgart, Munich, Paris, Bonn, Bratislava, Brussels, Zürich, Milan, Tokyo, London, and Osaka and locations in the United States and Israel. Among her recital partners have been Clemens Hagen, Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Bruno Canino, Steven Isserlis, Bruno Giuranna, Boris Pergamenschikov, and Joseph Silverstein. One of her regular partners – both in performance and in recordings – is pianist Alexander Melnikov.

Isabelle Faust has appeared at several major music festivals, including the Lockenhaus, Bad Kissingen, Berlin, Delft, Colmar, Schleswig-Holstein, the Rheingau Music Festival of Wiesbaden, Schwetzingen, Lyon, Sarasota (Florida), and Lanaudière Canada.

In 2004 Isabelle Faust was appointed Professor of violin at the Berlin University of the Arts. She lives in Berlin and is the mother of a teenage son. Since 1996, she has performed on the "Sleeping Beauty" Stradivarius violin of 1704, on loan from Landesbank Baden-Württemberg. She has also performed with Baroque-style violins and bows.

Isabelle Faust made her debut album in 1997, playing the Béla Bartók Solo Violin Sonata and Sonata No.1 for Violin and Piano, with Ewa Kupiec, on the Harmonia Mundi label. This recording won the Gramophone Award of that year for "Young Artist of the Year", citing her "combination of musical intuition and technical finesse. Harmonia Mundi followed that success by engaging her to record other Béla Bartók violin music, including the Second Violin and Piano Sonata. She recorded the complete Haydn Violin Concertos on the PAN Classics label with the Münchener Kammerorchester conducted by Christoph Poppen (her former teacher), and planned to record the complete violin sonatas of Robert Schumann. In addition to the above mentioned above and recordings listed below under "Awards and Prizes", she has recorded works of Antonín Dvořák, Franz Schubert, Johannes Brahms (including the Violin Concerto), Alban Berg, Bohuslav Martinů, André Jolivet and others. JameR. Oestreich from The New York Times counted her recording of W.A. Mozart's violin concertos among the best recordings of 2016. She has recorded many discs for harmonia mundi with her recital partner Alexander Melnikov. These include their latest album with the Johannes Brahms' Sonatas for violin and piano, as well as Robert Schumann’s piano trios. Both, her recording of W.A. Mozart violin concerti with Il Giardino Armonico and Giovanni Antonini, as well as J.S. Bach’s harpsichord sonatas with Kristian Bezuidenhout will be released in 2016-2018.

Source: bach-cantatas.com

More photos


See also

Robert Schumann: Piano Quartet in E flat major, & Piano Quintet in E flat major | Johann Sebastian Bach: Five Fugues from Das Wohltemperierte Klavier, Vol. 2, arrangement for string quartet by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – Isabelle Faust, Anne-Katharina Schreiber, Antoine Tamestit, Jean-Guihen Queyra, Alexander Melnikov (HD 1080p)

Johann Sebastian Bach: Partita No.2 in D minor for Solo Violin, BWV 1004 – Isabelle Faust (HD 1080p)

Johann Sebastian Bach: Partitas for Solo Violin – Gidon Kremer (HD 1080p)

Johann Sebastian Bach: Easter Oratorio, BWV 249 – Hannah Morrison, Meg Bragle, Nicholas Mulroy, Peter Harvey, Monteverdi Choir, English Baroque Soloists, John Eliot Gardiner (HD 1080p)

Read More

Johann Sebastian Bach: Partita No.2 in D minor for Solo Violin, BWV 1004 – Isabelle Faust (HD 1080p)

On Palm Sunday, April 5, 2020, the exceptional violinist plays Johann Sebastian Bach's Partita No.2 in D minor, BWV 1004, in the empty St Thomas Church in Leipzig. In these unusual and challenging times, her Bach interpretation exudes calm and confidence.

"In her concentration, the violinist acts like a medium through which this unique music reaches us today", says the NZZ about Isabelle Faust's interpretation of the Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin by Johann Sebastian Bach. "What Faust is searching for on the inside is [...] a truthfulness that results not only from the study of passed down conceptions of aesthetics, but also from today's attitude towards life. Such a positioning between the fronts makes Faust's violin playing as interesting as it is unique." 

Source: accentus.com

✻

Bach had an easy solution for the problem of combining the violin with the keyboard: he simply dispensed with the keyboard and wrote six sonatas and partitas (three of each) for violin alone. He did the same for the cello with six suites for that instrument without accompaniment.

All 12 works were composed during the time he was conductor of the court orchestra at Anhalt-Cöthen, where his patron, young Prince Leopold, was a skilled musician. Bach himself was a violinist of no small attainment, yet it seems likely that the solo cello and violin pieces were written, around 1720, for Leopold – high tribute indeed to the Prince for his musical taste and, if he could negotiate the demonic pieces, for his performing ability. For these bold works are difficult in ways that most other virtuosic string pieces are not: they demand not only unfaltering facility in matters of digital and rhythmic dexterity and preciseness of pitch, particularly in the multiple stoppings, but also the keenest musical insights and inner-ear sensitivity to implied polyphonic and harmonic textures. In short, they strip a performer naked, as it were, forcing the executant to recreate incredibly diverse Bachian worlds with only a wooden box, four lengths of string, and a bow.

Of the six violin works, the present one stands alone on a lofty summit, and this by virtue of the towering Chaconne that is its final movement. Preceding this finale are four dance movements that comprise the traditional Baroque suite: allemande, courante, sarabande, and gigue. Although they are splendid examples of their genre, they end by being an introduction to the monumental Chaconne, which is a set of more than 60 variations on a simple bass theme.

In a lengthy description of the Chaconne, the great Bach scholar Philipp Spitta ends with these memorable words, "This Chaconne is a triumph of spirit over matter such as even Bach never repeated in a more brilliant manner". Enough said.

Source: Orrin Howard (laphil.com)

 

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

♪ Partita No.2 in D minor for Solo Violin, BWV 1004 (1717-1720)

i. Allemanda [00:00]*

ii. Corrente [05:32​]

iii. Sarabanda [08:10​]

iv. Giga [13:09]

v. Ciaccona [17:04]

Isabelle Faust, violin

St Thomas Church Leipzig, April 5, 2020

(HD 1080p)

* Start time of each movement

Isabelle Faust, a true musician

A Conversation With Our Artist in Residence

Interview by Luc Vermeulen — October 2020

Isabelle Faust is a true musician. The eminent German violinist, approaches a piece of music by delving into the aesthetic and the writings of its composer, so she can hear its beating heart. The records released by this outstanding soloist and chamber musician, who is as much at home with Bach or Beethoven as she is with Kurtág, have been consistently hailed by the public and the press. We met her on 14 December 2019, when she gave a concert at BOZAR, accompanied by Ivan Fischer, Tabea Zimmermann and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. Speaking flawless French, tinged with a delightful accent, Isabelle Faust spoke to us about the programme of her residency here this season.

What a pleasure to hear you perform in the Henry Le Bœuf Hall! How do you feel there?

I really enjoy playing in this venue. The acoustics are generous, but not overly so: it's ideal for playing with an orchestra. I was afraid the acoustics would be too dry for solo playing, but the truth is, it works well. I also like the hall's particular aesthetic; its ovoid shape is very harmonious.

We will see you perform there three times during the 2020-2021 season. What surprises do you have in store for us?

I don't think I've ever played a solo with gut strings [i.e. on a period instrument] in this hall. I'll probably have a go at it with Bach's Sonatas and Partitas.

What's the difference between playing on a period instrument and on a modern violin?

It's all about timbre, resonance and articulation. On an antique violin you can create a dry or transparent sound, according to the desired texture. But unlike the piano, where the ancient and the modern versions are fundamentally different, the difference in the violin lies in the strings, which are made of gut for early music, or metal for music from the Romantic period to the present day.

You switch effortlessly from ancient to modern, both in terms of the instrument and the repertoire. How do you manage to be so free and yet be consistent?

It's a good question... some repertoires, like that of Mozart, are easier to play on period instruments. I rarely perform this repertoire on a modern instrument. With Mozart, I find that the rhetoric that drives the music is easier to express with an orchestra performing on period instruments. Il Giardino Armonico is an excellent example: this ensemble thinks in a line from Baroque towards Mozart and not from Romanticism back to Classicism. For me, I think this way of embracing Mozart's music in the "right" historical direction is fundamental.

Beethoven's piano trios are a perfect opportunity for you to reunite with your friends, the cellist Jean-Guihen Queyras and the pianist Alexander Melnikov...

That's true. We recorded an album of Beethoven's trios in 2014. Then, we were invited to perform the complete piano trios during the Beethoven year. It was an opportunity to learn and to record them. The Archduke Trio was already on our record, but the other piece programmed at BOZAR, the Kakadu Variations, Op.121a, is new to us.

The harmony of your trio is world renowned. What's your secret?

We have a common approach to music. The three of us share the same artistic idea.

Which is?

Jean-Guihen and I have very similar ways of producing sound. Imagine two string players performing together. If one creates more vibrato than the other, they have a problem: they will never be able to create a pure chord. In order for two musicians to be "in tune", their respective playing must blend well from the very start, without a need for discussion. When we approach a new work, our ways of establishing a mood sometimes differ. But we all adapt to one another; we understand each other very quickly.

And what about playing with Alexander Melnikov?

As Sacha [Alexander] is a pianist, the question of vibrato does not arise. It's more a question of rhetoric. We are attentive to the dramatic sense, to the tempo, to the accent... We examined all these aspects at the beginning of our collaboration. And that goes back 20 years! In the meantime, we have evolved together. We encourage one another, nurturing each other’s curiosity – especially about historically informed performances. We have embarked on the same path for so long that there are many aspects that we no longer have to reflect on, they simply come about. But we don't always see eye to eye. That would be boring!

The human dimension seems to be central to your understanding of music. Would you say that, for you, music is above all a question of sharing?

Rarely does music reach its full potential when the performer approaches it alone. Take Bach's Sonatas and Partitas: although these are pieces for solo violin, the instrumentalist is in constant dialogue with him or herself. The music is polyphonic. There are always several voices speaking; there are questions, answers... Other works are more of a monologue. Paganini's concertos, for instance, are impressive in their virtuosity. But that’s not my cup of tea: there's less to discover! The concertos of Mozart or Beethoven are quite unfathomable...

You will approach Brahms in nonet with a confidential group of musicians. Can you tell us more about this ensemble?

The group is magnificent! It wasn’t easy at the start, because it included musician friends, but also musicians I had never met before. In chamber music, I always tend to want to work with musicians I know to make sure the project is a success. This time, I took a risk by forming a mixed group. I have to say, the result is very convincing! I highly recommend it! [Laughter] I'm happy that this group exists. It's no small task to create an ensemble of more than five musicians to play chamber music. The programme of Brahms' Serenade is quite new. We played it in 2018-2019. Playing it at BOZAR will make everyone happy!

Source: bozar.be/en/magazine

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See also

Robert Schumann: Piano Quartet in E flat major, & Piano Quintet in E flat major | Johann Sebastian Bach: Five Fugues from Das Wohltemperierte Klavier, Vol. 2, arrangement for string quartet by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – Isabelle Faust, Anne-Katharina Schreiber, Antoine Tamestit, Jean-Guihen Queyra, Alexander Melnikov (HD 1080p)

Johann Sebastian Bach: Sonata No.3 in C major for Solo Violin, BWV 1005 – Isabelle Faust (HD 1080p)

Johann Sebastian Bach: Partitas for Solo Violin – Gidon Kremer (HD 1080p)

Johann Sebastian Bach: Easter Oratorio, BWV 249 – Hannah Morrison, Meg Bragle, Nicholas Mulroy, Peter Harvey, Monteverdi Choir, English Baroque Soloists, John Eliot Gardiner (HD 1080p)

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