A carefully curated selection of music by Italy's premier opera composers performed by the Orchestra of the Polish National Opera under Maestro Patrick Fournillier. Along with the gems of the Italian Ottocento, the concert's programme includes a violin concerto by the great Niccolò Paganini played by another violin virtuoso, Vadim Brodski.
The violin on which Mr Bordski will play is a treat itself. The legendary Sivori violin once belonged to Paganini himself. The instrument was made in 1834 by Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume and is now held by the Musei di Strada Nuova in Genoa.
Paganini, whom some accused of selling his soul to the Devil in exchange for his extraordinary abilities, used it to play his own compositions, including 24 Caprices for Solo Violin, six of which were transcribed for piano by Liszt and Schumann. The theme of one – Caprice No. 24 in A minor, was used by Brahms, Rachmaninoff, or Lutosławski in their variations. In the end, Paganini the instrument to his favoured student nand famous virtuoso, Camillo Sivori. Currently, it is part of the collection of the Musei di Strada Nuova in Genoa together with Paganini’s 'il Cannone'.
As a composer of violin music, Paganini significantly developed its texture, using double stops, accords, fast figurations, scordatura (nonstandard tuning), combinations of bowing and pizzicato, (single or double) flageolets, and play on the G string. He left behind six violin concertos: in E-flat major, B minor (whose last movement, La Campanella, is also known from Liszt’s piano transcription), D minor, A minor, and E minor; as well as numerous cycles of variations.
Violin virtuoso Vadim Brodski won first prizes in a the Wieniawski (Poland, 1977), the Paganini (Italy, 1984), and the Tibor Varga (Switzerland, 1984) competitions. After his New York debut at the Y-Hall in 1982, Vadim Brodski signed a contract with the Musical Heritage Society and proceeded to record violin concertos by Brahms, Bartók, Paganini, Tchaikovsky, Wieniawski, Saint-Saëns, and Sibelius as well as Eugène Ysaÿe'a 6 Sonatas For Violin Solo for the label. He has performed with such excellent orchestras as the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra, Saint Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra, National Philharmonic of Ukraine, Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, Mexico National Symphony, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, New Jersey Symphony, and Orchestre de la Suisse Romande in Geneva.
Maestro Patrick Fournillier, Music Director of the Polish National Opera, has a career marked by great international prizes and experiences conducting the most important works of the symphonic and lyric repertoires with many of the world's most prestigious orchestras (Paris, Teatro alla Scala, Berlin, Zürich, Munich, Oslo, Valencia, Amsterdam, Salzburg Festival, Metropolitan Opera in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Washington, and others). He studied in Paris, the Strasbourg Conservatory, and the Mozarteum University Salzburg.
Performers:
Vadim Brodski violin
Patrick Fournillier conductor
Chorus and Orchestra of the Polish National Opera
LA MAGIA DELLA MUSICA ITALIANA CON IL VIOLINO DI PAGANINI Get a ticket
24 February, 7 p.m. Moniuszko Auditorium
The concert is held in association with the Embassy of Italy in Warsaw, Italian Cultural Institute in Warsaw, Musei di Strada Nuova in Genoa, City of Genoa, and Commune of Genoa
