Beethoven: Violin Concerto [Liza Ferschtman]

Accompanied by the Kammerakademie Potsdam (Chamber Academy of Potsdam), Dutch classical violinist Liza Ferschtman performs Ludwig van Beethoven’s Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 61. Conductor: Antonello Manacorda. Recording: The Sunday Morning Concert of April 23, 2017, in The Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. Published by the AVROTROS Klassiek channel.

The piece is composed in 1806, and it is the only violin concerto that Beethoven wrote. Its first performance by Franz Clement (November 17 or 18?, 1780 – November 3, 1842, the Austrian violinist, pianist, composer, conductor of Vienna’s Theater an der Wien and friend of Ludwig van Beethoven) was unsuccessful and for some decades the work languished in obscurity until revived in 1844 by the Hungarian violinist, conductor, composer and teacher Joseph Joachim (28 June 1831 – 15 August 1907). Since then it has become one of the best-known violin concertos.

Joseph Joachim (28 June 1831 – 15 August 1907) was a Hungarian violinist, conductor, composer and teacher. A close collaborator of Johannes Brahms, he is widely regarded as one of the most significant violinists of the 19th century.
After revived in 1844 by Joseph Joachim, Beethoven’s Violin Concerto has become one of the best-known violin concertos.
Photo: wikipedia

The work is in three movements:

Allegro ma non troppo (D major)
Larghetto (G major)
Rondo. Allegro (D major)

It is scored, in addition to the solo violin, for flute, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, two horns, two trumpets, timpani, and strings.

Isabelle Faust performs Beethoven Violin Concerto

Liza Ferschtman

Dutch violinist Liza Ferschtman is known for her passionate performances, interesting programs and communicative qualities on stage. The daughter of Russian musicians, Liza Ferschtman grew up constantly surrounded by music. One of her earliest major influences was the violinist Philipp Hirschhorn, a close family friend. She received her formal training from Herman Krebbers at the Amsterdam Conservatory, Ida Kavafian at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia and David Takeno in London. In 2006 she received the highest accolade awarded to a musician in the Netherlands, the Dutch Music Award.

Liza Ferschtman’s worldwide appearances include: BBC National Orchestra of Wales and London Philharmonic, Dallas and San Francisco Symphony Orchestras, Essen Philharmonic, Staatskapelle Weimar and Schleswig-Holstein Festival Orchestra, Orchestre National de Belgique and Flanders Symphony Orchestra, Radio Symphony Orchestra of Prague, Malmö Symphony and Bergen Philharmonic, Yomiuri Nippon Orchestra, Malaysian Philharmonic, Hong Kong Philharmonic as well as virtually every Dutch orchestra, including the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and the Rotterdam Philhamonic. Amongst the Conductors with whom she has worked are: Stefan Blunier, Frans Brüggen, Christoph von Dohnányi, Claus Peter Flor, Neeme Järvi, Yakov Kreizberg, Zdeněk Macál, Jun Märkl, Gianandrea Noseda, Marc Soustrot, Leonard Slatkin, Thomas Søndergård, Karl-Heinz Steffens, Mario Venzago, Jan Willem de Vriend and Jaap van Zweden.

An avid chamber musician, Liza Ferschtman has collaborated regularly with artists such as Jonathan Biss, Nobuko Imai, Elisabeth Leonskaja, Christian Poltera, Lars Anders Tomter and Alisa Weilerstein, counting as her duo partners Enrico Pace and Inon Barnatan. Appearing at venues such as Alice Tully Hall (New York), Wigmore Hall (London), Musikverein (Vienna), Concertgebouw (Amsterdam), Liederhalle (Stuttgart) and Beethoven Haus (Bonn), she is also present at major international Chamber Music festivals. Moreover, Ms. Ferschtman has been the artistic director of the Delft Chamber Music Festival since 2007, one of the most admired festivals in the Netherlands.

Arabella Steinbacher plays Ludwig van Beethoven's Violin Concerto

Recent highlights have been the performance of Bach’s complete solo works in Amsterdam and a concert tour with the Budapest Festival Orchestra under Iván Fischer of which The New York Times wrote: “…with Dutch violinist Liza Ferschtman bringing refined beauty and character to the solo part of the Bernstein [Serenade] …the concert was nothing short of revelatory”. In 2015/16 she will be looking forward to concerts with the Residentie Orkest The Hague, the Nuremberg Symphony, Staatskapelle Weimar, and Bremen Philharmonic. She will further perform a tour with the Concertgebouw Chamber Orchestra through Germany. Chamber music projects with different partners take her to the Schumannfest Düsseldorf, to Utrecht, Amsterdam, and the Norwegian Risør Festival.

Liza Ferschtman’s recording of the Beethoven Concerto and Romances was received with great critical acclaim, as were other recordings with concertos by Dvořák and Röntgen, solo works by Bach and Ysaÿe (STRAD CD choice of the month), and duo works by Beethoven and Schubert. Her latest CD features solo works by Bach, Biber, Bartók, and Berio (Challenge Classics).

Hilary Hahn performs Beethoven Violin Concerto

Antonello Manacorda

Antonello Manacorda is currently Artistic Director of Kammerakademie Potsdam, a position he has held since 2010, and Principal Conductor of Het Gelders Orkest in The Netherlands since 2011. He was Principal Conductor of I Pomeriggi Musicali in Milan from 2006-10.

A prolific opera and symphonic conductor, Manacorda has worked with many of the leading ensembles and opera houses. Recent highlights have included Frankfurt Radio Symphony, Gothenburg Symphony, Helsinki Philharmonic, BBC Philharmonic, Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana, Teatro la Fenice, Swedish Chamber Orchestra and his debut at the Salzburg Mozartwoche with the Mozarteumorchester in a performance Schubert’s Alfonso und Estrella. In February 2014 he conducted a Beethoven Cycle over four consecutive days in Potsdam with Kammerakademie Potsdam, and is also a regular guest every year at the Concertgebouw with Het Gelders Orkest.

The 2015-16 season included an acclaimed debut at the Theater an der Wien conducting Rossini’s Otello with the Wiener Symphoniker and in August 2016 he conducted Berlioz Beatrice et Benedict with the London Philharmonic Orchestra for his Glyndebourne Festival debut. Symphonic highlights of the current season include debuts with the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra, and Camerata Salzburg.

Manacorda recently completed a Schubert Symphony cycle for Sony Classical with the Kammerakademie Potsdam, which was met with high praise, including one being listed in Die Welt’s top ten CDs of 2013. The recordings were also awarded an ECHO Klassik in 2015 for Ensemble/Orchestra of the year. He has also recently recorded a CD of Mahler’s 4th Symphony with Het Gelders Orkest and soprano Lisa Larsson, which was released in November 2014 by Challenge Records. Manacordas’ next recording project for Sony Classical will be a Mendelssohn Symphony cycle with the Kammerakademie Potsdam, the first CD was released in August 2016.

With a strong experience in opera, December 2014 saw Manacorda conduct the Kammerakademie Potsdam’s Winter Opera production of Mozart’s La Betulia Liberata to great critical acclaim. He also has a long-standing relationship with Teatro La Fenice, and the director Damiano Michieletto, and returned to La Fenice in November 2015 to conduct The Magic Flute. Future opera collaborations include La Monnaie, Bayerische Staatsoper, Komische Oper, and Frankfurt Opera.

A founder-member of the Mahler Chamber Orchestra Antonello Manacorda was its vice-president and concertmaster for eight years. A scholarship from De Sono in his hometown of Turin allowed him to pursue his goal of becoming a conductor by enabling him to study with Jorma Panula for two years in Helsinki. From 2003-06 he was Artistic Director for chamber music at the Académie Européenne de Musique du Festival d’Aix en Provence.