Maxim Vengerov - Carmen Fantasie.wmv

Carmen Fantasie (1946) is a virtuoso showpiece for violin and orchestra. It is considered by many to be one of the hardest pieces in the violin repertoire. The piece is part of Franz Waxman's score to the movie Humoresque. The music, based on various themes from Georges Bizet's opera Carmen (and an adaptation from the similarly titled work of Pablo de Sarasate), was initially meant to be played by Jascha Heifetz. However, he was replaced by a young Isaac Stern for the first recording of the score. Stern's hands can be seen in the close-up shots from the movie. The piece was immediately popular, and was recorded commercially by Stern and Heifetz the year of its release. As the violin edition of the work was composed and first recorded in 1946 it is under copyright. Since then, it has been adapted for a variety of orchestral/chamber arrangements, such as a versions for trumpet and orchestra, for violin and piano, as well as for viola and piano/orchestra. Maxim Alexandrovich Vengerov (born August 20, 1974) is an Israeli violinist who was born in the Soviet Union. Born in Novosibirsk to Aleksandr and Larissa Vengerov, both his parents were musicians. His mother, a singer, was the director of a childrens orphanage, while his father was the first oboist of the Novosibirsk Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra. At age 5, he received his first violin lessons from Galina Turtschaninova. Around age 7, he went to Moscow with his grandparents and teacher to study at The Central Special Music School, a specialist school affiliated with the Tchaikovsky Conservatory. At age 10, after his grandfather became ill, the family returned to Novosibirsk, where Maxim studied with Zakhar Bron. He won the Junior Wieniawski violin competition also at age 10. At age 11, he played at the opening concert of the Eighth Tchaikovsky competition. When Bron left Russia in 1987 to teach at the Royal Academy of Music, Vengerov and his mother followed him there, and did so again after Bron moved to Lübeck to open a school there. In 1990, Vengerov and his family formally emigrated to Israel, where his father continued his profession as an orchestral oboist. Vengerov took Israeli citizenship and served brief duty in the Israeli Army. At age 15, Vengerov won the Carl Flesch International Violin Competition in London, including First Prize, Interpretation Prize and the Audience Prize and two others. He taught his first masterclass at the University of California, Los Angeles. In 1993, the Hennessey organisation in France loaned Vengerov a Stradivarius violin, the "Reynier". Vengerov won a recording contract with Warner/Teldec, which included recordings with Mstislav Rostropovich. These included a 1994 recording of the first violin concerti each of Shostakovich and Prokofiev (with the London Symphony Orchestra), which won the Gramophone award for Best Record of the Year and Best Concerto Recordings, two Grammy nominations and an Edison award. Further recordings included the second violin concerti by Shostakovich and Prokofiev, and the Brahms concerto with Daniel Barenboim and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. In 1995 the Stradivari society in Chicago lent Vengerov the Kiesewetter Stradivarius, which he played until April 1998. He later performed on the Kreutzer Stradivarius. In 1997, Vengerov became an honorary ambassador for UNICEF, for which he set aside time for at least one annual project. He has performed in Uganda and Sudan as part of his charity work. In 1998, Vengerov begun to study conducting with Vag Papian. At the suggestion of Trevor Pinnock, Vengerov spent two years studying baroque violin. They subsequently collaborated on a series of concerts. Vengerov has also studied the viola, and performed as soloist on his recording of the Walton Viola Concerto, with Rostropovich conducting, as part of his new recording contract with EMI. Other recordings for EMI include the Igor Stravinsky and Rodion Shchedrin violin concerti.

Author: aljazeerkazan
Keywords: "Maxim Vengerov" "Carmen Fantasie"
Added: December 4, 2008