October 2019
Repertoire
Violin Concerto, Op. 64
Symphony No. 1, “Titan”
Performers
Liviu Prunaru, violin
Orquestra Simfònica Camera Musicae
Tomàs Grau, conductor
Programme notes
SIMMERING
Mendelssohn had promised his friend, the violinist Ferdinand David, that he would write a concerto for him. It took him six years to keep his word (in 1844) but it was worth it. The considered “most classic of all the romantics” included some novelties in this concerto that later composers were influenced by: it is the violin, and not the orchestra, which introduces the first theme of the first movement and the cadence is not at the end. The soloist also acts as an accompanist of the orchestra on many occasions.
Mahler also took time to write his first symphony (1884 to 1888). It is inspired by the work of Jean Paul, entitled Titan. It is not a symphonic poem but a reflection of the emotions, humour and drama that he lived with his reading. The sound of a cuckoo that introduces the clarinet in the first movement as well as the waltz rhythm of the second portray his love for nature and the memories of childhood and youth. The funeral march of the third with a reworking of the song Frere Jacques musically draws the picture of Callot, in which some animals attend the burial of a hunter. The energetic fourth movement serves as a triumphant finale.
CONCERT DATES
Titan Symphony by Mahler
Biography Liviu Prunaru
Liviu Prunaru studied with Alberto Lysy at the Menuhin Music Academy in Gstaad, Switzerland and with Dorothy DeLay in New York. He was appointed principal violinist of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in September 2006. Between 2010 and 2012 he was also Artistic Director of the Menuhin Music Academy.
In 1993, he won the Prix International Eugène Ysaÿe, the Audience Prize and second prize at the Queen Elisabeth International Music Competition. Winning the Juilliard Mendelssohn Competition in 1999 led to his New York solo debut at Lincoln Center with the Juilliard Symphony. Prunaru has since given solo performances with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the London Symphony Orchestra. In addition, he has given recitals throughout the world.
Liviu Prunaru made his first solo appearance with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in May 2008 in a performance of Saint-Saëns’s Violin Concerto No. 3. He returned as a soloist in the Dvořák Violin Concerto in December 2012 and in Piazzolla’s Four Seasons of Buenos Aires in June 2014.
Liviu Prunaru bespeelt de “Paschoud” van Stradivari uit 1694, eigendom van Stichting Instituut Gak. Deze stichting heeft de viool aan Stichting Koninklijk Concertgebouworkest in bruikleen heeft gegeven “
Prunaru plays the Stradivarius ‘Paschoud’ from 1694, owned by the Stichting Instituut Gak. This stichting (foundation) gave the violin on loan to Stichting Koninklijk Concertgebouworkest.