Sonic Visions by Manfred A

Sonic Visions by Manfred A. Schmid The "Piaf of the violin" - this is the description frequently applied to Elena Denisova, the Russian-born violin virtuoso now living in Austria, her home for more than a decade. And even if this characterisation mainly alludes to her appearance, to her delicate physique which on first meeting you cannot help but notice, there is something to the description nonetheless. In this elegant and feminine virtuoso’s playing there is nothing of the cult of physical power and athleticism which many Russian violinists display and use to place their listeners under their spell and almost, often, under pressure. Rather, she enchants with grace and her distinctive individualism, without lacking pure concentrated energy. Despite physical fragility she is equipped with such an energetic passion that the question arises as to where she draws this power from. But here the comparison ends; Elena Denisova does not have anything in common with the French singer and the existential tragedy of her disastrous private life. Indeed, one of the major sources of the stunning energy she embodies would seem to be – alongside her talent and solid training – her evidently happy and harmonious private life.Of course this cannot take away the fact that Denisova’s playing, despite striving for harmony and perfection and showing a keen sense of proportion, always contains an element of battle, fighting. The music critic Valery Arzoumanov characterised this phenomenon well as an "extraordinary battle of a lonely female soul for the right to self-expression, to be heard and - without any glossing over - to be understood". “I’m not married to a particular violin”, she says to sum up her position, “but to a particular concept of sound.” For this reason a Guarneri del Gesu, for example, would be unsatisfactory for her as her sole instrument – no matter how much she values its unique qualities. Sound is indeed not something fixed, predetermined, unchanging, but subject to evolution. The desired tone develops from the dialogue between the musician and the work newly each time. And only from this will result the criteria that are to be considered in choosing a suitable instrument. With this in mind she has made contact with leading contemporary violinmakers. Why of all instruments should the violin have found its evolutionary end point at the time of the great classical violinmakers? Could anyone really proclaim that there is no room for improvement, not even in small nuances? Instead of aspiring exclusively to unravel the much evoked “secret” of the Stradivarius, Elena Denisova regards it as at least just as important to strike new paths as well. Copying old instruments should not be the sole aim, but a continual creative development in instrument making – not only drawing on the current level of technical possibilities, but also with regard to changing listening habits and aesthetic challenges.In holding these viewpoints – which some might consider as heretical with regard to the violin – Elena Denisova does not at all wish to criticise the merits of the periodic instruments movement and the so-called historically informed performance. These have brought far too many important insights which cannot be overlooked. But this does not change her conviction that it is a worthy endeavour to create a violin appropriate to the sonic visions of contemporary composers. In determinedly pursuing this aim, Elena Denisova not only works intensively with violinmakers but also seeks out dialogue with performing musicians. And as a consequence, being a dedicated performer herself, she finds herself in an important role, forming a link between violinmakers and composers. It is of course very common that composers and musicians get together to constructively exchange experiences. Frequently composers have a particular musician in mind when composing concert pieces, or have written especially for particular musicians and so had quite specific characteristics in mind. Alongside this, there are the countless cases in which composers have sought advice from virtuosos with regard to the instrument's possibilities and sonic finesse.A famous example of this is the close contact maintained between Johannes Brahms and the violinist Joseph Joachim. But composers joining forces with instrument-makers in order to explore new sonic horizons, or to develop suitable ways of implementing their very individual expectations, is a significantly rarer occurrence in music history, apart from the occasional performing musician who also dived into composing.Elena Denisova has been working together with the Carinthian violinmaker Thomas Adunka for some time, and a first concrete result of her collaboration with the Swiss violinmaker Karl Koch is already documented on CD. The works performed are pieces for violin and piano by Giuseppe Tartini, Edvard Grieg and Sergei Prokofiev.But not only contemporary violinmakers are inspired by Elena Denisova's lively interest. It is just as important to her to work together with composers from all over the world. She and her husband, with whom she frequently performs in various chamber music ensembles, have encouraged numerous composers to write new works.This includes for example the Dutch composer Jo Spork, whom she met in 1988 on the occasion of the Russian premiere of his first piano trio. The resulting close collaboration led in 2008 to the CD Silent Days. Chamber Music II. With its overtures, minuet, double and a connecting arioso this work exhibits a close connection to Johann Sebastian Bach's partitas for solo violin. Indeed, the revival and renewal of old, no longer fashionable musical forms is a particular concern of Denisova. A successful example from recent times is a series of new capriccios for solo violin in the style of Paganini's famous Pièces that she commissioned and premiered.Josef Matthias Hauer's student Nikolaus Fheodoroff also composed works commissioned by Elena Denisova and Alexei Kornienko. He based his 1992 composition Reminiszenzen for violin, cello and piano on the Russian folk song "Vijdi, vijdi Ivanku . .". This song not only provides the first half of the twelve-tone series used, but also determines the vertical and horizontal structure of the piece, before it is quoted literarily as a three-part canon between the violin, the cello and the piano towards the end. Previously Elena Denisova had premiered Fheodoroff's Concerto for Violin, Strings and Timpani, a piece that she later recorded with the Collegium Musicum Carinthia, directed by Alexei Kornienko. This CD is yet another example of the violinist's desire to form manifold links between music of the Classical Period and music of our time, given that it combines Fheodoroff's piece with Beethoven's Violin Concerto, including cadenzas written by Fheodoroff. Another example of her extensive concert repertoire is given by her recording of sonatas for solo violin by the St. Petersburg violin virtuoso, conductor and composer Ivan Yevstafyevich Khandoshkin (1747-1804), which were entirely unknown in Austria previously, as well as some pieces for organ and violin by the Liechtensteinian Joseph Rheinberger (1839-1901).Elena Denisova also enjoys working with Mikhail Kollontay, a composer born in Moscow in 1953. In his piano trio Ten Words of Mussorgsky on Victor Gartman's Death, which was commissioned in 1993 by the Jeunesse Musicale for Elena Denisova and Alexei Kornienko, he alludes to Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition. .

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