Posted on: February 6, 2012 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

Violinist Daniel Hope rejoins his friends at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center to perform “A Celebration of Joseph Joachim” on February 12 at Alice Tully Hall. Mirroring his acclaimed Deutsche Grammophon album of the same name, the program will present both rare and familiar works associated with Joachim, the great 19th-century virtuoso violinist-composer who was friend and collaborator to Brahms, Schumann, Dvořák, and Bruch. In March and April, Hope returns for his eighth season as Associate Artistic Director of the Savannah Music Festival in Georgia. He will lead programs ranging from the complete Brahms sonatas – with frequent piano partner Sebastian Knauer – to Bach, Mozart, and Vivaldi with the German period instrument ensemble l’arte del mondo, as well as a number of chamber music concerts with colleagues from around the world. This activity comes just as Hope has renewed his contract as an exclusive Deutsche Grammophon recording artist.

The Joachim program at Lincoln Center on February 12 will feature works by Brahms, Schumann, Dvořák, and Joachim himself. Hope performed a similar program at the Music@Menlo festival in California this past summer, alongside pianist and festival co-director Wu Han. The reviewer from the San Jose Mercury News exulted over the program and the performance: “The ecstasy began with Brahms’ Violin Sonata No. 1 in G Major, Op. 78, a work dedicated to Joachim. You can hear this piece countless times and still be stunned by its depths … Hope grew up in England and lives in Hamburg, Germany – Brahms’ hometown. And he has access to a certain brand of Romantic feeling; there’s unbridled passion in his playing, balanced by old-fashioned dignity and even reserve. In the final movement, he and Wu Han played with an airy, rippling delicacy.”

 

Britain’s The Guardian newspaper offered nuanced praise for Hope’s Joachim program at the Bath Mozartfest in November: “Hope’s relaxed manner is balanced by burning commitment, for heart-on-sleeve read violin-on-shoulder, and his exploration of the great 19th-century virtuoso Joseph Joachim through the composers he championed was immensely satisfying. In particular, Brahms’ Sonata in G major Op 78 was invested with a richly burnished tone; the Hope and Knauer partnership is well-honed and their articulation of Brahms’s profound sensibilities was instinctive and unselfconscious.”

 

For his eighth season as Associate Artistic Director of the Savannah Music Festival (March 22-April 7), Hope will collaborate with some of the world’s finest musicians, including piano legend Menahem Pressler, the orchestra l’arte del mondo, and violinist Lorenza Borrani (concertmaster of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe). Hope’s programing ranges far and wide: from German string masterpieces to French chamber gems; and from Bach, Vivaldi, Schumann, and Dvořák to a work by the 18th-century Prussian king, Frederick the Great – about whom Hope recently made a film for the ARTE TV Channel, featuring Christian Thielemann and Kristian Bezuidenhout. One of the festival’s highlights will be Hope performing the complete Brahms violin sonatas with Sebastian Knauer on March 25.

 

Hope’s spring schedule includes several European performances of Bruch’s ever-beloved Violin Concerto No. 1, which he recorded for The Romantic Violinist: A Celebration of Joseph Joachim. Gramophone chose Hope’s Bruch recording as the one to have in its “Gramophone Guide to the Essentials,” while BBC Music said about his interpretation of the concerto, “Hope never takes this over-familiar score for granted and has imaginative things to say at every juncture.” Among the glowing praise for The Romantic Violinist was Minnesota Public Radio’s choice of the recording as one of its “must-have” discs of 2011.

 

Of Deutsche Grammophon’s renewal of its exclusive contract with Hope, the company’s president Frank Briegmann said: “Daniel is one of those classical artists with true star quality, one who also connects with people who may not yet have had much contact to classical music. This breath of fresh air, which he has also brought to Deutsche Grammophon, is what classical music needs to sustain and expand its audiences.”

 

Hope had this to say about his relationship with the venerable German record company: “Since signing my first contract with DG in 2006, I have been privileged to plan and work with the Yellow Label on eight diverse recordings, including music composed in Theresienstadt, a Baroque journey, a tribute to Joseph Joachim, Michael Tippett’s Triple Concerto and even a musical celebration of Frederick the Great. I am delighted that both my belief in the ‘concept album’ and DG’s unique support and encouragement have enabled me to make a very personal musical statement. My first recording under the new contract will be Hollywood Exiles, devoted to composers who fled the Nazis and settled in America. I look forward immensely to the continued work with my friends at DG and to recording a lot more music together!”

 

Performer, Writer, Broadcaster . . . 

 

Born in South Africa, raised in Britain, and now residing in Vienna, violinist Daniel Hope has followed his muse from Bach to Berg and from Mendelssohn to Messiaen – not to mention his collaborations with the likes of Sting and Zakir Hussain. Recognizing Hope’s intrepid talents, the UK’s Observer called Hope “a natural heir” to Yehudi Menuhin. Hope plays the newly acquired 1742 “ex-Lipiński” Guarneri del Gesù violin. The instrument was once owned by and is named after Polish virtuoso Karol Lipiński (1790-1861), a friend and contemporary of Paganini and collaborator of Liszt, Chopin, and Schumann.

 

Hope’s albums have been nominated for five Grammy Awards and he has won Germany’s ECHO Klassik Record Prize five times. The New York Times has called Hope “a violinist of probing intellect and commanding style.” Of Hope’s East Meets West performance at the 92nd Street Y in October 2011, the New York Times said: “Mr. Hope was vivid in fast-moving plucks and laser-thin harmonics. The more dazzling the effects, the more responsive his playing.”

 

When not performing or running the Savannah and Mecklenburg Festivals, Hope is an enthusiastic writer and broadcaster, and he keeps a wide-ranging video blog on his Web site: www.danielhope.com. Hope’s v-blog has presented his discussions with the rock icon Sting (on the nexus of popular and classical music), mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter (on music composed in the Nazi concentration camp of Theresienstadt), veteran conductor-scholar Christopher Hogwood (on Mendelssohn), and his “Tu Was!” (Do Something!) series of benefit concerts to help raise awareness for important issues such as the commemoration of holocaust victims and climate protection.

 

Hope doesn’t just have a feel for new media; he has written three German-language books: the acclaimed family memoir-investigation Familienstücke (Family Album), a best-seller in Germany; Wann darf ich Klatschen? (When Do I Clap?), published also in Korean, Russian and Croatian; and Toi Toi Toi: Pannen & Katastrophen in der Musik (Break a Leg: Mishaps and Disasters in the World of Music). In March he will begin filming for a documentary about the Theresienstadt concentration camp, featuring Anne Sofie von Otter and Christian Gerhaher.

 

Daniel Hope – upcoming engagements

 

 

Feb 12: New York, NY

Alice Tully Hall

“A Celebration of Joseph Joachim”

Brahms: Scherzo from the “F-A-E “Sonata

Joachim: Romanze, Op. 2

Joachim: Sostenuto and Andante Cantabile form Hebrew Melodies, Op. 9

Dvořák: Selections from “Echo of Songs” for String Quartet, B. 152

Schumann: Finale from the “F-A-E” Sonata

Brahms: Selected Hungarian Dances (arr. Joachim)

Brahms: Piano Quartet No. 1 in G minor, Op. 25

Wu Han, Paul Neubauer, David Finckel, Erin Keefe

 

Feb 26: Vienna, Austria

Wiener Konzerthaus

Lecture & Music: “Toi, toi, toi”

Sebastian Knauer, piano

 

March 14: Berlin, Germany

Kammermusiksaal Philharmonie

“A Celebration of Joseph Joachim”
Brahms: Scherzo from the “F-A-E” Sonata
C. Schumann: Romanze No. 1, Op. 22
Brahms: Violin Sonata No. 1 in G major, Op. 78
Mendelssohn: Two Lieder (“Auf Flugeln des Gesanges,” “Hexenlied”)
Joachim: Romanze No. 1, Op. 2
Grieg: Sonata No. 3 in C minor
Brahms: Hungarian Dance No. 5

Sebastian Knauer, piano

 

 

March 24: Savannah, Georgia

Telfair Academy

All-Dvořák program

Daniel Hope and Friends with Menahem Pressler, piano

 

March 25: Savannah, Georgia

Telfair Academy

The Brahms Violin Sonatas
Sebastian Knauer, piano

 

March 31: Savannah, Georgia

Telfair Academy

German string masterpieces: Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Strauss

Daniel Hope and Friends

 

April 1: Savannah, Georgia

Telfair Academy

Schumann and Brahms

Daniel Hope and Friends

 

April 3: Savannah, Georgia

Telfair Academy

A French soirée: Ravel, Fauré, Franck

Daniel Hope and Friends

 

April 4: Savannah, Georgia

Telfair Academy

Bach, Mozart, Vivaldi

Daniel Hope and l’arte del mondo

 

April 5: Savannah, Georgia

Telfair Academy

Bach, Vivaldi, Telemann

Daniel Hope and l’arte del mondo

 

April 6: Savannah, Georgia

Telfair Academy

Bach, Mozart, Frederick the Great

Daniel Hope and l’arte del mondo

 

April 15: Munster, Germany

Grosser Hörsaal Münster

“A Celebration of Joseph Joachim”

Brahms: Scherzo from the “F-A-E” Sonata
C. Schumann: Romanze No. 1, Op. 22
Brahms: Violin Sonata No. 1 in G major, Op. 78
Mendelssohn: Two Lieder (“Auf Flugeln des Gesanges,” “Hexenlied”)
Joachim: Romanze No. 1, Op. 2
Grieg: Sonata No. 3 in C minor
Brahms: Hungarian Dance No. 5

Sebastian Knauer, piano

 

April 17: Warsaw, Poland

Warsaw Philharmonic Hall

“A Celebration of Joseph Joachim”

Brahms: Scherzo from the “F-A-E” Sonata
C. Schumann: Romanze No. 1, Op. 22
Brahms: Violin Sonata No. 1 in G major, Op. 78
Mendelssohn: Two Lieder (“Auf Flugeln des Gesanges,” “Hexenlied”)
Joachim: Romanze No. 1, Op. 2
Grieg: Sonata No. 3 in C minor
Brahms: Hungarian Dance No. 5

Sebastian Knauer, piano

 

April 19: Sylt, Germany

Alter Kursaal am Rathausplatz, Westerland

Sylt Art Festival

Sebastian Knauer, piano

 

April 22: Vienna, Austria

Wiener Konzerthaus

Lecture & Music: “Toi, toi, toi”

Sebastian Knauer, piano

 

May 19: Grafenegg, Austria

Bruch: Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor

Tonkünstler Orchester/ Andrés Orozco-Estrada

 

May 20, 22: Vienna, Austria

Musikverein

Bruch: Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor

Tonkünstler Orchester/ Andrés Orozco-Estrada

 

May 21: St. Pölten, Austria

Festspielhaus

Bruch: Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor

Tonkünstler Orchester/ Andrés Orozco-Estrada

 

May 25: Cardiff, UK

St. David’s Hall

Shostakovich: Violin Concerto No. 1

BBC National Orchestra of Wales/ François-Xavier Roth

 

May 26: Swansea, UK

Brangwyn Hall

Shostakovich: Violin Concerto No. 1

BBC National Orchestra of Wales/ François-Xavier Roth

 

June 1, 2: Berlin, Germany

Konzerthaus Berlin

El Khoury: War Concerto

Konzerthausorchester Berlin/ Cornelius Meister

 

June 5: Lugano, Switzerland

Bruch: Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor

Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana/ Juraj Valcuha

 

 

 

www.danielhope.com

 

www.facebook.com/daniel.hope.page

 

Leave a Comment