Italian violinist brings his 'voice' to Sioux City
By Joanne Foxjfox@siouxcityjournal.com | Posted: Friday, November 07, 2008
Violinist Augustin Hadelich performs with the Sioux City Symphony Orchestra Nov. 8.
Italy has produced some of the finest male singers ever, such as Bocceli, Pavarotti and Caruso.
But don't expect Augustin Hadelich to cease playing his violin and break into song on the Orpheum stage Saturday night.
"I'm not talented at all in that area," he said with a hearty laugh from his home in New York City. "I think that's the case for a lot of musicians."
But Hadelich said the violin is his instrument of choice because it does sound like a human voice.
"The nice thing about being a violinist is you can switch the instruments," he said and with a lightness in his voice added. "But singers ... they are stuck with just one instrument."
Born in Italy to German parents, Hadelich started playing the violin when he was 5 years old. Although he stopped short of classifying his family as "musically-inclined," Hadelich said his grandfather was a professional cellist and his two older brothers played cello and piano.
"They got me interested in music and I wanted to start playing right away," he recalled. "I realized quickly that creating music was not that easy."
Hadelich's parents supported their son's interest in music, but it was the young man's decision to pursue it.
"I realized you have to make a choice to practice," he explained. "As I became more and more serious about the violin, I knew at some point, you either decide to keep going or keep it as a hobby.
"My parents knew making a life as a musician can be hard, but they didn't suggest I look at another career, like being an accountant," he said. "Besides, it's more fun to make music than be an accountant."
Hadelich holds a diploma (summa cum laude) from the Instituto Mascagni in Livorno, Italy, as well as a graduate diploma and the Artist Diploma from The Juilliard School. He has been a participant at the Marlboro and Ravinia festivals and in numerous master classes with renowned violinists such as Uto Ughi, Yehudi Menuhin and Miriam Fried.
Gold medalist of the 2006 International Violin Competition of Indianapolis, Hadelich has established himself as a unique voice among the new generation of violinists. In addition to the gold medal, he received the competition's special awards for best performance of a Romantic concerto, Classical concerto, Beethoven sonata, violin sonata other than Beethoven, Bach work, commissioned work, encore piece and Paganini caprice.
The 2007/08 season marked Hadelich's professional recording debut with two CDs for Naxos: the complete violin concerti of Haydn and the complete solo violin fantasies of Telemann.
Hadelich, 24, made his Carnegie Hall orchestral debut in January 2008, performing the Brahms Double Concerto. He then returned in March 2008 for his recital debut in Stern Auditorium. In his third appearance at Carnegie Hall during this calendar year, he will perform Mozart's Violin Concerto No. 5 with the New York String Orchestra on Christmas Eve.
Although he has traveled and performed almost everywhere in the world, this will be Hadelich's first visit to Sioux City and Iowa. He will perform Max Bruch's Violin Concerto No. 1 in G Minor, Op. 26 with the symphony. Hadelich expressed his confidence that the performance would go well, despite arriving sometime today.
"You know the orchestra has been rehearsing, so when I come in, I maybe will talk to the conductor about some places in the music," he said. "You may need more time with the musicians if a piece is particularly complex -- there are some like that in the Bartok repertoire -- but for the most part, things go smoothly."
Hadelich categorized the Bruch piece -- probably one of the most popular of violin concertos-- as not as complex as pieces by Hungarian composer Bela Bartok.
"I like it because it's a beautiful romantic piece," he explained. "That, and it showcases the violin very well."
Meet the guest conductor
Alexander Platt is one of this country's younger conductors. In the summer of 2007, he made his Canadian debut at the Banff Music Centre and in July, he made his New York City debut conducting the Brooklyn Philharmonic in Central Park. Just this summer, the Philharmonic invited him back to conduct Dvorak's New World Symphony at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge.
On Labor Day weekend 2007, Platt led the world premier of his own chamber-orchestra version of David Del Tredici's "Final Alice," as part of his role as music director of the Maverick Concerts in Woodstock, N.Y., the oldest chamber-music festival in America.
Platt is now entering his second decade as music director of both the Waukesha Symphony and the Marion Indiana Philharmonic, and completed a 12-year tenure as music director of the Racine Symphony Orchestra.
Since Xian Zhang left the Sioux City Symphony in 2007, the symphony continues to audition candidates for the music director position. All of the conductors for this season are candidates for the position.
But don't expect Augustin Hadelich to cease playing his violin and break into song on the Orpheum stage Saturday night.
"I'm not talented at all in that area," he said with a hearty laugh from his home in New York City. "I think that's the case for a lot of musicians."
But Hadelich said the violin is his instrument of choice because it does sound like a human voice.
"The nice thing about being a violinist is you can switch the instruments," he said and with a lightness in his voice added. "But singers ... they are stuck with just one instrument."
Born in Italy to German parents, Hadelich started playing the violin when he was 5 years old. Although he stopped short of classifying his family as "musically-inclined," Hadelich said his grandfather was a professional cellist and his two older brothers played cello and piano.
"They got me interested in music and I wanted to start playing right away," he recalled. "I realized quickly that creating music was not that easy."
Hadelich's parents supported their son's interest in music, but it was the young man's decision to pursue it.
"I realized you have to make a choice to practice," he explained. "As I became more and more serious about the violin, I knew at some point, you either decide to keep going or keep it as a hobby.
"My parents knew making a life as a musician can be hard, but they didn't suggest I look at another career, like being an accountant," he said. "Besides, it's more fun to make music than be an accountant."
Hadelich holds a diploma (summa cum laude) from the Instituto Mascagni in Livorno, Italy, as well as a graduate diploma and the Artist Diploma from The Juilliard School. He has been a participant at the Marlboro and Ravinia festivals and in numerous master classes with renowned violinists such as Uto Ughi, Yehudi Menuhin and Miriam Fried.
Gold medalist of the 2006 International Violin Competition of Indianapolis, Hadelich has established himself as a unique voice among the new generation of violinists. In addition to the gold medal, he received the competition's special awards for best performance of a Romantic concerto, Classical concerto, Beethoven sonata, violin sonata other than Beethoven, Bach work, commissioned work, encore piece and Paganini caprice.
The 2007/08 season marked Hadelich's professional recording debut with two CDs for Naxos: the complete violin concerti of Haydn and the complete solo violin fantasies of Telemann.
Hadelich, 24, made his Carnegie Hall orchestral debut in January 2008, performing the Brahms Double Concerto. He then returned in March 2008 for his recital debut in Stern Auditorium. In his third appearance at Carnegie Hall during this calendar year, he will perform Mozart's Violin Concerto No. 5 with the New York String Orchestra on Christmas Eve.
Although he has traveled and performed almost everywhere in the world, this will be Hadelich's first visit to Sioux City and Iowa. He will perform Max Bruch's Violin Concerto No. 1 in G Minor, Op. 26 with the symphony. Hadelich expressed his confidence that the performance would go well, despite arriving sometime today.
"You know the orchestra has been rehearsing, so when I come in, I maybe will talk to the conductor about some places in the music," he said. "You may need more time with the musicians if a piece is particularly complex -- there are some like that in the Bartok repertoire -- but for the most part, things go smoothly."
Hadelich categorized the Bruch piece -- probably one of the most popular of violin concertos-- as not as complex as pieces by Hungarian composer Bela Bartok.
"I like it because it's a beautiful romantic piece," he explained. "That, and it showcases the violin very well."
Meet the guest conductor
Alexander Platt is one of this country's younger conductors. In the summer of 2007, he made his Canadian debut at the Banff Music Centre and in July, he made his New York City debut conducting the Brooklyn Philharmonic in Central Park. Just this summer, the Philharmonic invited him back to conduct Dvorak's New World Symphony at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge.
On Labor Day weekend 2007, Platt led the world premier of his own chamber-orchestra version of David Del Tredici's "Final Alice," as part of his role as music director of the Maverick Concerts in Woodstock, N.Y., the oldest chamber-music festival in America.
Platt is now entering his second decade as music director of both the Waukesha Symphony and the Marion Indiana Philharmonic, and completed a 12-year tenure as music director of the Racine Symphony Orchestra.
Since Xian Zhang left the Sioux City Symphony in 2007, the symphony continues to audition candidates for the music director position. All of the conductors for this season are candidates for the position.
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