Orchestre de la Suisse Romande Suisse la de Orchestre The 2 Violin Concertos Violin 2 The Arabella SteinbacherMarek Janowski HYBRID MUL TICHANNEL Béla Bartók (1881-1945) hilst unfulfilled passion and unre- Basel, under the baton of Paul Sacher, with Wquited love have driven many to Hansheinz Schneeberger as soloist. Violin Concerto No. 2 (1938) depression, Béla Bartók was able to subli- The early violin concerto is clearly 1 Allegro non troppo 16. 39 mate such personal disappointment into intended as a double portrait of the 2 Andante tranquillo 10. 35 exuberant creativity. In February 1908, after dedicatee. Bartók characterised the first 3 Allegro molto 12. 21 his passionate courting attempts had been movement as “a musical picture of Stefi rejected by the Swiss violinist, Stefi Geyer, Geyer in idealised form, celestial and deeply Violin Concerto No. 1, Bartók wrote her: “Having read your letter, felt.” Correspondingly, the Andante soste- Op. Posth. (1907-08) I sat down at the piano – and had the sad nuto, introduced by the above-mentioned 4 Andante sostenuto 9. 21 premonition that, in life, music is to be my leitmotiv in unaccompanied form, is a lyri- 5 Allegro giocoso 12. 03 only consolation.” He illustrated these lines cal outburst characterised both by profound with a musical quotation which included emotion and inner peace, with a quality not Arabella Steinbacher, Violin the broken major-seventh chord, c-sharp far removed from late-romantic sweetness. – e – g-sharp – b-sharp, adding the words: In complete contrast, the Allegro giocoso, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande “This is your leitmotiv.” It will have been written in sonata form, presents a “joyous, conducted by particularly bitter for the composer that witty, entertaining portrait of the vivacious he had completed the score of the violin Stefi Geyer”; its character is dance-like and Marek Janowski concerto, which had been written for Stefi, rhythmic, but above all, virtuosic. And the and into which he had poured his profound movement is filled with autobiographical Recording venue: Victoria Hall, Geneva, Switzerland (June/July, 2009) Executive Producer: Job Maarse feelings for her, just a few days before her allusions to experiences shared with the Recording Producer: Job Maarse rejection. It is also to her that he dedicated beloved Stefi. Here, compositional innova- Balance Engineer: Erdo Groot the concerto, which, as in “a narcotic dream” tions, viz., the craggy textures, dissonances, Recording Engineer: Roger de Schot (Römer), had been inspired a year earlier by variational developments and polytonal Editing: Roger de Schot his intoxicating love for her, but he did not combinations of a much later Bartók, are Total playing time: 61.12 do so without adding a tragic poem by Béla already presaged. And thus, the First Violin Balázs to the autograph score. Stefi Geyer Concerto is in two senses a farewell, taking Biographien auf Deutsch und Französisch kept the score until her death in 1956, with- leave both from a composer’s late-romantic finden Sie auf unserer Webseite. out every performing the concerto publicly. period and a young man’s unfulfilled love. Pour les versions allemande et française des biographies, It was not until 30 May 1958, thirteen years In contrast with the First Violin veuillez consulter notre site. after Bartók’s death, that the concerto Concerto, which had been born largely of www.pentatonemusic.com finally had its first public performance, in an inner expressive need, the Second was composed as a result of a commission, tury? Bartók establishes his variational idea Arabella Steinbacher major orchestras, including the Bavarian namely, from renowned violinist, Zoltán both at the level of overall form and that of Radio Symphony Orchestra under Sir Székely, who personally asked Bartók to motivic detail. The third movement is a free rabella Steinbacher made her interna- Colin Davis, the NDR Symphony Orchestra write the work. Bartók worked on the con- variation of material from the first move- Ational breakthrough in Paris in March under Christoph von Dohnányi, the certo from August 1937 until 31 December ment (a treatment which even extends 2004 with the Orchestre Philharmonique of Gewandhausorchester Leipzig under 1938. The world première, with Székely as down to the smallest of elements); the Radio France, under conductor Sir Neville Riccardo Chailly, the WDR Symphony soloist, took place in Amsterdam on 23 second, in contrast, is an independent vari- Marriner. She was given a tumultuous recep- Orchestra Cologne under Andris Nelsons, March 1938, albeit without the composer ation cycle with six variations on an original tion from the audience and the press wrote the hr-Sinfonieorchester (= radio orchestra being present. Whilst superficially comply- theme. Bartók’s monumental achievement as follows: “A superior and fully mature of the Hessischer Rundfunk) under Yakov ing with Székely’s express desire for a work with the Second Violin Concerto consists performing artist, whose beauty of tone Kreizberg, the Berlin Radio Symphony in three movements and thus adhering to in the attainment of a synthesis of all of is overwhelming.” Her career then took off Orchestra under Marek Janowski, the the outer form of the traditional concerto, his compositional advances thus far, which rapidly, with concert performances under Bavarian State Orchestra under Fabio Luisi for the inner structure of his last composi- in turn yields a balanced, dialectical rela- world-famous conductors such as Vladimir and the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie tion prior to emigrating to the United States, tionship between modern techniques Fedossejev, Valery Gergiev, Fabio Luisi, Bremen (= German Chamber Philharmonic) Bartók clearly chose a path all his own: and traditional approaches. This explains Neeme Järvi, Sakari Oramo, Yuri Temirkanov, under Herbert Blomstedt. Moreover, in one of continuous variation. This ‘artistic why one encounters in the concerto both Lorin Maazel, Charles Dutoit, Christoph von 2008 she was the soloist for the opening disobedience’ notwithstanding, Bartók on romantic horn writing and a dodecaphonic Dohnányi and Marek Janowski. concert of the Schleswig-Holstein Music several occasions sought Székely’s opinion (albeit entirely tonal) theme, and why the In addition, she has given concerts Festival. During this performance, which whilst composing the piece, in particular work features a traditional formal structure with internationally reputed orchestras was broadcast live on television, she was with regard to the solo part (cf. Brahms’ with strict motivic-thematic work juxta- such as the Vienna Symphonic Orchestra, again accompanied by the NDR Symphony consulting of Joseph Joachim concerning posed with quarter-tone structures and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestra under Christoph von Dohnányi. his violin concerto, or Stravinsky’s seek- free melodic digressions. Put succinctly: London Philharmonic Orchestra, the City Significant international appearances ing advice from Paul Hindemith about modernity and tradition are here in perfect of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the include various débuts: e.g. at the London his). Aesthetically speaking, the work is equilibrium, to a degree seldom found in Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Proms in July 2009 with the Bamberg situated in a line with the great concerti the great works of musical history. the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra, Symphony Orchestra under Jonathan of Beethoven and Brahms: the orchestra the Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra Nott; the Philharmonia and Philadelphia is treated in a relatively conventional man- Franz Steiger of Moscow Radio, the NHK Symphony Orchestras, at the time under Charles ner; the approach to violin technique is in Orchestra, and the Pittsburgh Symphony Dutoit; the London Symphony Orchestra the tradition of the latter 19-century works. Orchestra. under Sir Colin Davis; the Boston Symphony But what is new about this arguably most In Germany, Arabella Steinbacher Orchestra under Christoph von Dohnányi; important violin concerto of the 20th cen- regularly performs with most of the the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra under Marek Janowski; and with the Orchestre de Arabella Steinbacher plays the “Booth” Marek Janowski the Metropolitan Opera New York to the l’Opéra National de Paris under Christoph Stradivarius (Cremona, 1716), loaned to her Bayerischer Staatsoper Munich; from von Dohnányi. In 2009, she was invited to by the Nippon Music Foundation. arek Janowski has been Artistic Chicago and San Francisco to Hamburg; perform in London with the Philharmonia MDirector of the Rundfunk- from Vienna and Berlin to Paris. Orchestra under Lorin Maazel, and subse- English translation: Fiona J. Stroker-Gale Sinfonieorchester Berlin since 2002 and Marek Janowski stepped back from quently to tour Germany with the orchestra. in 2005 he was also appointed Musical the opera scene in the 1990’s in order to Arabella Steinbacher is a prizewinner Director of the Orchestre de la Suisse concentrate on orchestral work and was of the Hanover Violin Competition, which Romande in Geneva. He is in demand as thus able to continue the great German is dedicated to Joseph Joachim. In 2001, a guest conductor throughout the world, conducting tradition in the symphonic she received the sponsorship prize of the working on a regular basis in the USA repertoire. He now enjoys an outstanding free state of Bavaria, and that same year with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra reputation amongst the great