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Russian-born violinist Ilya Kaler will perform a Jean Sibelius violin concerto with the New Mexico Philharmonic.
Jean Sibelius’ only violin concerto, Violin Concerto in D minor, Op. 47, has a checkered history. Its premiere performance in 1904 was considered a disaster. Sibelius went back to the studio and made substantial revisions to the piece, deleting a lot of material he felt didn’t work. The new version premiered in 1905 with Richard Strauss conducting the Berlin Court Orchestra.
“The first recognized recording of the concerto was made by (Jascha) Heifetz in the 1930s,” explained violinist Ilya Kaler. “The piece then became popular. We violinists are quite lucky to have this piece. Sibelius was a well-trained violinist. It has a perfect structure. It’s a virtuosic piece that allows the violinist to demonstrate his or her tonal qualities.
“Many of the bowing markings in the score are Sibelius’ markings. It’s also written so well for the orchestra that I see it as another Sibelius symphony with a violin soloist.”
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If you go WHAT: New Mexico Philharmonic with violin soloist Ilya Kaler WHEN: 6 p.m. Saturday, March 23 WHERE: Popejoy Hall, UNM Center for the Arts HOW MUCH: $19.50-$68.50. Call 925-5858 for tickets or go to www.unmtickets.com |
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The New Mexico Philharmonic presents Kaler playing Violin Concerto in D minor by Sibelius during Saturday’s concert in Popejoy Hall.
Born in Moscow, Kaler studied at the Central Music School of the Moscow Conservatory and the Moscow Conservatory, where he earned both master’s and doctorate degrees. He won gold medals in the Tchaikovsky, Sibelius and Paganini violin competitions.
Kaler has appeared with major orchestras throughout the world and is in demand as a teacher.
He has served as a distinguished professor at Indiana University School of Music in Bloomington and Eastman School of Music in Rochester, N.Y. He is currently a professor of violin at DePaul University School of Music in Chicago.
Saturday’s concert is conducted by another alum of the Moscow Conservatory. Victor Yampolsky studied violin at the Moscow Conservatory and conducting at Leningrad Conservatory. He was a member of the Moscow Philharmonic as both a violinist and an assistant conductor before emigrating to the United States in 1973.
Yampolsky has conducted more than 80 professional and student orchestras around the world. In 2011 he returned to his native Russia to conduct the Svetlanov State Academic Orchestra and give conducting master classes at the St. Petersburg Conservatory and Kirov College of Music.
Currently, Yampolsky serves as professor in music performance at Northwestern University Bienen School of Music and music director of the Peninsula Music Festival in Wisconsin.
The New Mexico Philharmonic also plays Sibelius’ “Alla Marcia” from “Karelia Suite” as well as Dmitri Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5.
Composed in 1937, Symphony No. 5 is one of 15 Shostakovich symphonies. Shostakovich was under pressure to simplify his music in 1936 and worked diligently to create a symphony, his fifth, that would satisfy the critics and the Russian party officials. He succeeded. At the end of the premiere performance, the audience cheered for more than 30 minutes.
