Andermatt Music: LGT Young Soloists

What would many a musical masterpiece be without virtuosity? The five demanding pieces of this chamber music evening would hardly be heard by anyone if talented instrumentalists did not dare to interpret them - despite the high technical hurdles and the richness of sound required. They all have virtuoso skills: the members of the LGT Young Soloists. This top-class ensemble of young string players between the ages of 14 and 23 will be performing a concert program in Andermatt that demands nothing less than exceptional virtuosity from its performers.

Quite a few people fear the demands of Ludwig van Beethoven's Sonata for Piano and Violin op. 47: although it was premiered by the Afro-European violinist George Polgreen Bridgetower in 1803, the later dedicatee, a French violinist named Rodolphe Kreutzer, shied away from the challenge and declared the work unplayable. As a result, not a single note of Beethoven's sonata, which begins with four expressive solo bars for the violin, demands elaborate runs alongside difficult figurations and is bursting with strongly contrasting melodies, was played on Kreutzer's violin. The cello takes center stage in David Popper's "Polonaise de concert". The fact that the composer himself was considered one of the most famous virtuosos on this very instrument during his lifetime is clearly evident in the "Polonaise": A high degree of expression and sensuality is required, but virtuoso playing such as the rapid succession of broken chords and surprising octave leaps must also be mastered.

There is still one challenge missing for the viola: it was found in Max Bruch's Romance, in which the viola performs elaborate trills, double stops and arpeggios. With this charming work, Bruch welcomed the virtuoso Willy Hess to his professorship in Berlin - and was not stingy with technical refinements. The concert in Andermatt concludes with a work by the exceptional violinist Pablo de Sarasate, who created a monument to his own outstanding abilities in the violin duo "Navarra", and the "Gran Tango" by Astor Piazzolla, whose Argentinian passion makes the strings of the solo violin vibrate.

Program:

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827):

Sonata No. 9 in A major op. 47 "Kreutzer" for violin and strings

David Popper (1843-1913):

Polonaise de concert op. 14

Max Bruch (1838-1920):

Romance for viola and string orchestra in F major op. 85

Pablo de Sarasate (1844-1908):

Duo for two violins and strings "Navarra" op. 33

Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992):

Le Grand Tango for violin and strings

Note: This text was translated by machine translation software and not by a human translator. It may contain translation errors.