Sonatas for Violin and Piano by Simone Lamsma & Robert Kulek

Robert Schumann, Leoš Janáček, Felix Mendelssohn

Simone Lamsma & Robert Kulek

Sonatas for Violin and Piano

Price: € 20.95
Format: SACD
Label: Challenge Classics
UPC: 0608917267723
Catnr: CC 72677
Release date: 01 October 2015
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Label
Challenge Classics

UPC
0608917267723

Catalogue number
CC 72677

Release date
01 October 2015

"Lamsma made a great impression, with here meaty, romantic tone, not afraid of a glissando more or less."

De Volkskrant, 03-8-2016

Album

Artist(s)

Composer(s)

Press

About the album

The sonatas in this captivating recital epitomise three key stages in the history of Romanticism. Mendelssohn did more than any other composer to ensure a seamless transition between the Classicism of Haydn and Mozart and the lyrical expansiveness of a new era. His 1838 Sonata tantalises the senses, combining passion and brilliance with meticulously balanced precision. By the time his friend Schumann began work on his D minor Sonata just 13 years later, the Romantic era was in full swing, and his lifelong exploration of alternative dreamworlds had begun to affect his own ability to keep a firm hold on reality. Janáček’s Sonata was composed on the eve of the First World War at a time when the old social order and the Romantic dream were on the point of extinction, reflected in a multi-faceted score of searing emotional intensity and often startling changeability. Mendelssohn was one of the great musical polymaths of the 19th century. There was seemingly nothing he could not turn his hand to with equal success, from philosophy, linguistics and swimming to water colours, poetry and gymnastics, yet it was above all music that activated his insatiable genius. In addition to his almost unparalleled achievements as a boyhood composer and pianist, he was also an outstanding violinist and violist. ‘He never touched a string instrument the whole year round,’ recalled fellow composer-conductor Ferdinand Hiller (1811–1885), ‘but if he wanted to he could do it, as he could most other things.’ Yet in later life, with many other commitments sapping away at his energies, the violin only came out of its case when Felix was called upon to fill out domestic chamber ensembles as the need arose.

Hartverwarmende sonates voor viool en piano
Op dit album staan sonates voor viool en piano, wat minder bekende muziek, van Mendelsshohn, Janáček en Schumann. Violiste Simone Lamsma en pianist Robert Kulek werken eendrachtig samen in deze uitvoering van bewogen muziek. "Heerlijke kamermuziek van Mendelssohn, Schumann en Janácek. Het album is als een reis door de romantiek, met topvioliste Simone Lamsma als inspirerende gids." NRC Handelsblad, december 2015.

De sonates op dit album vertegenwoordigen 3 belangrijke fases in de geschiedenis van de Romantiek. Die van Felix Mendelssohn (1838), stamt uit het begin van de Romantiek. In deze sonate staat de naadloze overgang van het Classicisme van Mozart en Haydn naar een nieuwe en meer lyrische stijl centraal. Dertien jaar later, toen Robert, Alexander Schumann zijn sonate componeerde, was de Romantiek in volle gang. In de periode waarin Leoš (Eugen) Janáček zijn sonate schreef, op de vooravond van de Eerste Wereldoorlog, stond de Romantiek op het punt van uitsterven. Wat blijkt uit zijn sonate vol schrijnende en emotionele intensiteit.

De Nederlandse violiste Simone Lamsma (Leeuwarden, 1985) speelde al viool toen ze 5 jaar was. Op haar 11e vertrok ze naar Engeland om daar te studeren aan de Yehudi Menuhin School. Ze debuteerde, 14 jaar oud, bij het Noord Nederlands Orkest met het 1e vioolconcert van Paganini. Pers en publiek waren laaiend enthousiast. 5 jaar later zou ze cum laude afstuderen aan de Royal Academy of Music. Inmiddels speelt ze wereldwijd met gerenommeerde orkesten. De Lets-Amerikaanse, in Nederland wonende, pianist Robert Kulek is een vertrouwde begeleider van de violiste. Jaap van Zweden noemt Simone Lamsma "een van de meest toonaangevende violisten ter wereld". Simone speelt op een 'Stradivarius', haar in bruikleen gesteld, door een anonieme gever.

"Simone Lamsma beherrscht einen großartigen, kraftvollen Geigenklang, das Instrument ist in allen Lagen gleich präsent. [...] Sie spielte engagiert zupackend, mit viel Sinn für große Linien [...]." - Frankfurter Neue Presse, Anneke Jung

Die junge Violinistin Simone Lamsma ist schon lange kein Geheimtipp mehr, sie konzertiert weltweit und für Jaap van Zweden ist sie bereits jetzt eine der führenden Violinistinnen unserer Zeit. An ihrer Seite Robert Kulek, der nicht nur für seine Zusammenarbeit mit Arabella Steinbacher und Daniel Müller-Schott bekannt ist.

Gemeinsam interpretieren sie Sonaten von Robert Schumann, Felix Mendelssohn und Leos Janacek, die eindrucksvoll die drei Stadien der Romantik nachzeichnen. Während Mendelssohn um einen nahtlosen Übergang vom klassischen Stil Haydns und Mozarts zu einem neuen, emotionalen Stil bemüht war, war die Romantik bei Schumanns Komposition der Sonate in d-moll 13 Jahre später schon in vollem Gange und so konnte er sich seinen musikalischen Träumereien frei hingeben. Janáčeks Sonate hingegen stellt das Ausklingen der Romantik dar: er komponierte seine Sonate kurz vor dem Ersten Weltkrieg, in einer Zeit, in der die soziale Ordnung ins Wanken geriet und die Träume der Romantiker verloschen, was an der facettenreichen Partitur voll emotionaler Itensität abgelesen werden kann.

Artist(s)

Simone Lamsma (violin)

Hailed for her 'brilliant... polished, expressive and intense' (Cleveland Plain Dealer) and 'absolutely stunning' (Chicago Tribune) playing, Dutch violinist Simone Lamsma is respected by critics, peers and audiences as one of classical music’s most striking and captivating musical personalities. Conductor Jaap van Zweden with whom Simone enjoys a regular collaboration, describes her as one of the leading violinists in the world. With an extensive repertoire of over 60 Violin Concertos, Simone’s recent seasons have seen her perform with many of the world’s leading orchestras. Notable recent highlights include her debut with the Chicago Symphony, described by the Chicago Tribune as 'piercingly beautiful', as well as performances with the Cleveland Orchestra, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Orchestre...

Hailed for her "brilliant... polished, expressive and intense" (Cleveland Plain Dealer) and "absolutely stunning" (Chicago Tribune) playing, Dutch violinist Simone Lamsma is respected by critics, peers and audiences as one of classical music’s most striking and captivating musical personalities. Conductor Jaap van Zweden with whom Simone enjoys a regular collaboration, describes her as one of the leading violinists in the world.
With an extensive repertoire of over 60 Violin Concertos, Simone’s recent seasons have seen her perform with many of the world’s leading orchestras.
Notable recent highlights include her debut with the Chicago Symphony, described by the Chicago Tribune as "piercingly beautiful", as well as performances with the Cleveland Orchestra, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, BBC Philharmonic, Frankfurt Radio Symphony, Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI, RTVE Symphony, New Zealand Symphony, a tour of China with the Hong Kong Philharmonic under Jaap van Zweden, and a successful performance of the French première of Michel van der Aa’s Violin Concerto with the Orchestre National de Lyon, stepping in at just 10 days notice.
Stand-out recent festival appearances include her return to the Cleveland Orchestra at Blossom Festival in 2015, as well as the Mainly Mozart Festival in San Diego, about which the San Diego Reader wrote: “She (Simone Lamsma) appeared to be engaged with Beethoven on a level we seldom encounter….. Beethoven's music was coming through her in a pure state.” Besides her close collaboration with Jaap van Zweden, Simone has worked many other eminent conductors including Vladimir Jurowski, Sir Neville Marriner, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, James Gaffigan, Sir Andrew Davis, Andrès Orozco-Estrada, Jiří Bělohlávek, Marek Janowski, Carlos Kalmar, Kirill Karabits, Stéphane Denève, Hannu Lintu, Yan Pascal Tortelier, Fabien Gabel and James Feddeck.
Highlights for the 16/17 season include debuts with the National Symphony Orchestra of Washington, National Arts Centre Orchestra Ottawa, Vancouver Symphony, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, RTE and Iceland Symphony, as well as return invitations to the London Philharmonic, Dallas Symphony, San Francisco Symphony, Oregon Symphony, Seoul Philharmonic, Residentie Orchestra and Royal Flemish Philharmonic.
In April 2017 she will return to the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic to perform the world première of Matijs de Roo’s Violin Concerto at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. This season will also mark her Japanese debut, performing with the Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra as well as in recital with pianist Yurie Miura.
A dedicated chamber musician, other recital appearances include Simone’s highly anticipated debuts in London’s Wigmore Hall and New York’s Carnegie Hall in March 2017 with pianist Robert Kulek, where their programme will include the world première of a new work by James MacMillan, commissioned by Carnegie Hall. She will also return to the Chicago Winter Chamber Music Festival Evanston performing sonatas and trios with pianist Andrew Armstrong and cellist Kenneth Olson.
In 2015 Simone’s most recent recording of sonatas by Mendelssohn, Janáček and Schumann with pianist Robert Kulek was released on the Challenge Classics label, receiving high accolades from the press. In addition to her many (inter)national prizes and distinctions, Simone was awarded the national Dutch VSCD Classical Music Prize in the category 'New Generation Musicians' in 2010, awarded by the Association of Dutch Theatres and Concert Halls to artists that have made remarkable and valuable contributions to the Dutch classical music scene.
Simone began studying the violin at the age of 5 and moved to the UK aged 11 to study at the Yehudi Menuhin School with Professor Hu Kun. At the age of 14 Simone made her professional solo debut with the North Netherlands Orchestra performing Paganini’s 1st Violin Concerto, her debut highly praised by the press. She continued her studies at the Royal Academy of Music in London with Professor Hu Kun and Professor Maurice Hasson, where she graduated aged 19 with first class honours and several prestigious awards. In 2011, she was made an Associate of the RAM, an honour given to those students who have made significant and distinguished contributions to their field. Simone currently lives in The Netherlands.
Simone plays the "Mlynarski" Stradivarius (1718), on generous loan to her by an anonymous benefactor.

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Robert Kulek

“The musical energy that flows between musicians during a performance is one of the deepest and most intense forms of communication between people. It goes far beyond words and gestures. Once you have experienced this phenomenon as a musician, you cannot live without it.” R. Kulek “… pianist Robert Kulek was a partner whose musical ideas and rich palette of pianistic colours were perfectly matched to Nikolaj Znaider’s playing, supporting and enhancing it almost symbiotically…. Their refreshing start revealed an attitude confirmed throughout the recital: virtuosity is never a matter of superficial show for either of them. On both instruments it formed the understated foundations of a way of playing dedicated entirely to content and expression.” Dresdner Neuste Nachrichten, Semperoper October 2011 Thanks to his versatility as a collaborative pianist, Robert Kulek regularly performs with some of the foremost instrumentalists of today, including Nikolaj Znaider, Arabella Steinbacher, Daniel Mueller-Schott, Augustin Hadelich and Simone Lamsma.
He has also worked with such distinguished musicians as Kyung-Wha Chung, Gil Shaham, Julia Fischer, Julian Rachlin, Viviane Hagner, Shmuel Ashkenazi and Alisa Weilerstein, as well as the Jerusalem, Vogler and Aviv Quartets.
His repertoire ranges from Bach to Ligeti and includes over 120 works for duo, trio, quartet and quintet.
Robert Kulek has received high critical acclaim for his work in Europe, North America and the Far East. His concerts have taken him to venues such as the Philharmonie in Berlin, Semperoper in Dresden, Philharmonie in Cologne, Herkulessaal in Munich, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Musikverein in Vienna, Mozarteum in Salzburg, Tonhalle in Zurich, Victoria Hall in Geneva, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées and Musée du Louvre in Paris, Palais des Beaux Arts in Brussels, Wigmore Hall and South Bank Centre in London, Teatro San Carlo in Naples, Teatro della Pergola in Florence, Conservatorio Verdi in Milan, Palau de la Musica in Barcelona, Filarmonica in Bilbao, Carnegie Hall and Avery Fisher Hall in New York, Herbst Theater in San Francisco, Chan Center in Vancouver, Palais des Beaux Arts and Pollack Hall in Montreal, Seoul Arts Center in South Korea, and Casals and Ohji Halls in Tokyo.
His festival appearances have included Schwetzingen, Mecklenburg, Nymphenburgersommer and Rheingau in Germany; Lucerne and GAIA in Switzerland; Colmar and St. Denis in France; Storioni and Zeist in the Netherlands; Ravinia in Chicago; and the Vancouver Chamber Music Festival.
Robert Kulek has always had a great passion for teaching and since 2012 is a faculty member at the Music Conservatory in Cologne, Germany where he teaches chamber. He also gives regular Masterclasses at The Royal Irish Conservatory in Dublin and has served as a jury member of the Irish Musician of the Year in 2013 and 2014.
Robert Kulek is an American of Latvian origin. He lives in the Netherlands.

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Composer(s)

Robert Schumann

Robert Schumann was a German composer and influential music critic. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of the Romantic era. Schumann left the study of law, intending to pursue a career as a virtuoso pianist. He had been assured by his teacher Friedrich Wieck that he could become the finest pianist in Europe, but a hand injury ended this dream. Schumann then focused his musical energies on composing.
Schumann's published compositions were written exclusively for the piano until 1840; he later composed works for piano and orchestra; many Lieder (songs for voice and piano); four symphonies; an opera; and other orchestral, choral, and chamber works. Works such as Carnaval, Symphonic Studies, Kinderszenen, Kreisleriana, and the Fantasie in C are among his most famous. His writings about music appeared mostly in the Neue Zeitschrift für Musik (New Journal for Music), a Leipzig-based publication which he jointly founded.
In 1840, Schumann married Friedrich Wieck's daughter Clara, against the wishes of her father, following a long and acrimonious legal battle, which found in favour of Clara and Robert. Clara also composed music and had a considerable concert career as a pianist, the earnings from which, before her marriage, formed a substantial part of her father's fortune.
Schumann suffered from a mental disorder, first manifesting itself in 1833 as a severe melancholic depressive episode, which recurred several times alternating with phases of ‘exaltation’ and increasingly also delusional ideas of being poisoned or threatened with metallic items. After a suicide attempt in 1854, Schumann was admitted to a mental asylum, at his own request, in Endenich near Bonn. Diagnosed with "psychotic melancholia", Schumann died two years later in 1856 without having recovered from his mental illness.

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Felix Mendelssohn

Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy born and widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period. Mendelssohn is often compared to Mozart. Both of them were child prodigies, both had a talented sister and they both died at a young age. Mendelssohn, who as a child also painted wrote poetry, was born in small family which converted to christianity from judaism. As a composer he preferred looking back, rather than forward: his main examples were Bach, Handel and Mozart. It was Mendelssohn who retrieved Bach from oblivion and pushed for a revival of his music, which still lasts today. One century after its premier, Mendelsson performed the St Matthew Passion for the second...

Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy born and widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period.

Mendelssohn is often compared to Mozart. Both of them were child prodigies, both had a talented sister and they both died at a young age. Mendelssohn, who as a child also painted wrote poetry, was born in small family which converted to christianity from judaism. As a composer he preferred looking back, rather than forward: his main examples were Bach, Handel and Mozart. It was Mendelssohn who retrieved Bach from oblivion and pushed for a revival of his music, which still lasts today. One century after its premier, Mendelsson performed the St Matthew Passion for the second time ever, in 1829.

Three years, earlier, on his 17th, he had already composed his masterfully overture A midsummer night's dream op. 21, based on Shakespeare's play. Today, it is still considered as one of the absolute masterpieces in all of the orchestra reperoire. His Violin Concerto op. 64 belongs to the most beautiful works of the 19th century as well. During his travels through Europe, he wrote his brilliant Italian Symphony, Scottish Symphony and the overture The Hebrides.

Although Mendelssohn had a prosperous career, his weak physique made him emotionally vulnerable. The death of his favourite sister Fanny became fatal: Mendelssohn died in the same year, at the age of 38.

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Leoš Janáček

Leoš Janáček was a Czech composer and folklorist. He was inspired by Moravian and other Slavic folk music to create an original, modern musical style. Until 1895 he devoted himself mainly to folkloristic research and his early musical output was influenced by contemporaries such as Antonín Dvořák. His later, mature works incorporate his earlier studies of national folk music in a modern, highly original synthesis, first evident in the opera Jenůfa, which was premiered in 1904 in Brno. The success of Jenůfa (often called the 'Moravian national opera') at Prague in 1916 gave Janáček access to the world's great opera stages. Janáček's later works are his most celebrated. They include operas such as Káťa Kabanová and The Cunning Little Vixen, the...

Leoš Janáček was a Czech composer and folklorist. He was inspired by Moravian and other Slavic folk music to create an original, modern musical style.
Until 1895 he devoted himself mainly to folkloristic research and his early musical output was influenced by contemporaries such as Antonín Dvořák. His later, mature works incorporate his earlier studies of national folk music in a modern, highly original synthesis, first evident in the opera Jenůfa, which was premiered in 1904 in Brno. The success of Jenůfa (often called the "Moravian national opera") at Prague in 1916 gave Janáček access to the world's great opera stages. Janáček's later works are his most celebrated. They include operas such as Káťa Kabanová and The Cunning Little Vixen, the Sinfonietta, the Glagolitic Mass, the rhapsody Taras Bulba, two string quartets, and other chamber works. Along with Antonín Dvořák and Bedřich Smetana, he is considered one of the most important Czech composers.

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Press

Lamsma made a great impression, with here meaty, romantic tone, not afraid of a glissando more or less.
De Volkskrant, 03-8-2016

NRCWEEKEND - 7 & 8 May
NRC, 07-5-2016

["]..Delicious chamber music by Mendelssohn, Schumann and Janacek. The album is like a journey through the romance with Ms Lamsma topvioliste as inspiring guide."
NRC Handelsblad, 21-12-2015

["] .. The latest CD of Simone Lamsma once again proved its exceptional qualities. She can not be too carried away by the emotion of the moment, could play as easily colorful as virtuoso, basically works in one part with one pace and controlled the grand gesture as much as the almost inconspicuous change. The effect on the repertoire is very enjoyable."
Luister, 17-12-2015

"The surround recording from Challenge Classics stands out due to especially brilliant and powerful interpretations and a finely coordinated dialogue between the instruments. This is perfect harmony."
Pizzicato, 06-12-2015

["].. Lamsma and her Latvian-American pianist Robert Kulek,who livesin the Netherlands, prove in united efforts their mastery give the music all they have got, keeping the overview and nowhere becoming sentimental."
Klassieke Zaken, 01-12-2015

["].. Lamsma is an extremely talented violinist, with impressive technology and a great poetic power. ... Her game has a naturalness in perfection and control which make you forget the efforts of the musician. This could result for the listener full concentration on the music. "
Friesch Dagblad, 19-11-2015

5 paged article!
Luister, 02-11-2015

Win Cd.
AVROTROS website, 02-11-2015

Cover Luister!
Luister, 02-11-2015

Radio 4 Cd of the Week
Radio 4 CD van de Week, 26-10-2015

4**** ["]..The resilience is heartwarming and every note will get a clear interpretation."
Telegraaf, 10-10-2015

["]..We have here the debut recording of the Dutch violinist Simone Lamsma. One doesn’t need to listen long to become totally convinced that we have here another top class violinist from The Netherlands."
HR audio, 06-10-2015

[''].. She's simply "An example of musical honesty and superior taste." "
Klassieke Zaken, 01-10-2015

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Klassieke Zaken, 01-10-2015

Announcement Brahms Violin Concerto Zaterdagmiddag Matinee
De Volkskrant, 17-9-2015