The musical notes & reviews of Hank Zauderer
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Who's Hank
Hank Zauderer is a violinist and an artist. He regularly hosts an evening classical music program at NPR radio station KUSP in Santa Cruz, California. In the past he was a member of several symphony orchestras and chamber music groups. In particular, he loves the study of great composers and feels that music composition so often reflects the key events that took place in a composer's life.
Hank's taste includes the old Gregorian Chants and related religious works as well as music of the Baroque, Classical, and the Romantic period. Some of his favorites include Mahler, Edward Elgar, Leonard Bernstein, Igor Stravinsky, and Benjamin Britten.
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Walton Violin Concerto!
Posted: Monday | 08.09.10
Walton Violin Concerto!
On this CD, James Ehnes performs the Barber, Korngold, and Walton concerti, and he is accompanied by the Vancouver Symphony under Bramwell Tovey.
I believe that the concerto was written for the great violinist, Jascha Heifetz, and Heifetz performed it extensively during his playing career. The concerto’s movements are:
• Andante tranquilio
• Presto Capriccioso alla Napolitana
• Vivace
This CD presents an excellent rendition of the Walton concerto, and shows us Mr. Ehnes’ strong emotional radiance and his fine technical capabilities. The concerto’s movement — titled Presto Capriccioso alla Napolitana — is technically very difficult, written as it was for Heifetz who had asked for something demanding; it is a tarantella with a bunch of off-accents, and breathtaking double-stops and complicated bowings. Ehnes manages all this with seeming ease, which credits this fine interpretation. His playing is clean, crisp, secure, and confident. We will hear a lot more from him in the future, I am certain…
Gil Shaham has also been performing this concerto, and I came across Mr. Shaham’s interesting comments on this music:
Here is Mr. Shaham on the Walton concerto:
And here’s a video of another great violinist, Pinchas Zukerman, talking about James Ehnes:
And… while unrelated, here is Gil Shaham in the 3rd movement of Mozart’s violin concerto #5: