Arabella Steinbacher
Performs Dvorák's Violin Concerto in her debut with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra
January 16, 2010
Saturday, January 16, 2010 at 8pm
Sunday, January 17, 2010 at 2pm
Monday, January 18, 2010 at 8pm
Orpheum Theatre | 601 Smithe Street | Vancouver, BC
Concert Program:
Dvorák's Carnival Overture
Dvorák's Violin Concerto in A Minor
Respighi's Ancient Airs & Dances: Suite
Respighi's Pines of Rome
Tickets: $25 – 78.50
Student and Senior discounts also available at
tickets.vancouversymphony.ca or 604.876.3434
"Balanced lyricism and fire... among her assets are a finely polished technique and a
beautifully varied palette of timbres." – The New York Times
"Steinbacher's was the kind of performance which had her audience hanging on her every note ... she was as happy to take her listeners by the scruff of the neck as to woo them with heart-melting tenderness." – Irish Times
Vancouver, BC— On Saturday, January 16 at 8pm, Sunday, January 17 at 2pm and Monday, January 18 at 8pm, Munich-based, twenty-seven-year-old violinist Arabella Steinbacher will perform with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra at the Orpheum Theatre, Vancouver (601 Smithe Street). Led by Maestro Kazuyoshi Akiyama, the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra will feature Ms. Steinbacher in her debut as soloist in Dvorák's Violin Concerto and will also include Dvorák's Carnival Overture, Respighi's Ancient Airs & Dances: Suite, and Respighi's Pines of Rome.
Ms. Steinbacher recently signed an exclusive recording contract with PentaTone Classics, and her first CD on that label includes the Dvorák Violin Concerto she will perform in Vancouver, plus Szymanowski's Violin Concerto No. 1 and Dvorák's Romance in F Minor. Ms. Steinbacher joined forces for this recording with the excellent Rundfunk Sinfonieorchester Berlin led by Marek Janowski. Of the recording The Obersever recently wrote, "Szymanowski's ecstatically poetic first violin concerto …finds a persuasive advocate in Arabella Steinbacher, who brings passion and intensity to this recording. She extends that same big-toned commitment to Dvorák's more familiar concerto and adds a terrific reading of the sunny Romance in F minor" Her second PentaTone release, which will feature Bartók's First and Second Violin Concertos, will be available in March 2010.
Dvorák's Violin Concerto was originally written for the famous violinist Joseph Joachim in 1879. Because Dvorák was already implementing untraditional compositional techniques in 1879, Joachim postponed its performance, never performing the work. Instead, it was premiered by Frantisek Ondricek in 1883, and has since become a landmark work in the violin repertoire.
More about Arabella Steinbacher: Since her extraordinary and unexpected debut in Paris in March 2004, when she stepped in on short notice for an ailing colleague and performed the Beethoven Violin Concerto with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France under Sir Neville Marriner, German violinist Arabella Steinbacher has established herself on the international concert scene, performing with the world's major orchestras.
Ms. Steinbacher's diverse repertoire includes more than twenty concertos for violin. In addition to all of the major concertos of the Classical and Romantic period, she also performs those of Barber, Berg, Glazunov, Khatchaturian, Milhaud, Prokofiev, Schnittke, Shostakovich, Stravinsky, Szymanowski, and Hartmann.
Among her numerous recording honors are an ECHO-Klassik Award (considered to be the German equivalent of the Grammy) for Young Artist of the Year, Les Chocs du Mois from Le Monde de la Musique, and two German Record Critics Awards. The New York Times reports that she plays with, "Balanced lyricism and fire - among her assets are a finely polished technique and a beautifully varied palette of timbres." After her debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, performing the Sibelius Violin Concerto under Christoph von Dohnányi, The Chicago Tribune reported, "From her magical entry over hushed orchestral strings to the biting swagger she brought to the dancing finale, it was evident that her feeling for this music runs as deep as her technical command. The central Adagio came off especially beautifully, Steinbacher conveying its brooding melancholy with a rich vibrato, impeccable intonation and a remarkable breadth of phrasing."
Ms. Steinbacher has recently signed an exclusive recording contract with PentaTone Classics. Her first CD on that label, released in autumn 2009, includes Dvorák's Violin Concerto in A Minor and Szymanowski's Violin Concerto No. 1, as well as Dvorák's Romance in F Minor. Ms. Steinbacher joins forces with the excellent Rundfunk Sinfonieorchester Berlin led by Marek Janowski. Ms. Steinbacher recorded her second PentaTone release, which will feature Bartók's First and Second Violin Concertos, in July 2009.
Also in July 2009, Arabella Steinbacher made her much-anticipated debut at the BBC Proms at Royal Albert Hall, performing Mozart's Violin Concerto No. 3 with the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra led by Jonathan Nott. During the 2009-10 concert season, Ms. Steinbacher will make her debut with the London Symphony Orchestra under Sir Colin Davis in October. That same month, she will perform at the Gewandhaus in Leipzig as soloist with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra under Riccardo Chailly, with a tour of Asia following. In November, she will tour with the Philhamonia Orchestra under Lorin Maazel; in December, she performs with the orchestra at London's Royal Festival Hall. That month, she also performs with the NHK Symphony Orchestra. In the spring, Ms. Steinbacher performs with the Bayerischer Rundfunk Orchester led by Sir Colin Davis, and will perform again with the Philadelphia Orchestra under Charles Dutoit. During the season, she will also perform with the Russian National Orchestra, the Vancouver and Oregon symphonies, the Orchestre Chambre de Lausanne and the Ochestre de la Suisse Romande, and will give recitals throughout Europe. In the spring of 2011, Ms. Steinbacher will make her Carnegie Hall debut with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, and will debut with the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
Highlights of the 2008-2009 season included Ms. Steinbachers debut with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra under Marek Janowski, her debut with the Philharmonia Orchestra under Charles Dutoit, her official subscription series debut with the NDR-Sinfonieorchester under Christoph von Dohnányi, and her debut with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields under Sir Neville Marriner. She has also performed at the Maggio Musicale in Florence, and made her recital debut at the Theatre de Champs Elysee in December 2008. Ms. Steinbacher also appeared with the WDR Symphony Orchestra, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the Sydney Symphony, Prague Symphony Orchestra, and the National Orchestra of Belgium. She performed during the Beethoven Easter Festival in Prague, and toured with Kammerphilharmonie Bremen. In May 2009, she performed four concerts with the Netherlands Philharmonic at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. In June, she performed Sofia Gubaidulina's Offertorium with the Orchestre de l'Opéra de Paris at Salle Pleyel in Paris under Christoph von Dohnányi.
Arabella Steinbacher has already appeared with leading international orchestras including the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, the Orchestra of the Mariinsky Theatre, The London Philharmonic, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the New Japan Philharmonic, the Orquesta Sinfónica de la RTVE of Madrid, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, the Orchestra of the Bayerische Rundfunk, Deutsches Sinfonie-Orchester Berlin, the WDR Orchestra of Cologne, the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra, the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, the MDR-Sinfonieorchester, the Prague Symphony Orchestra, and the Royal Danish Orchestra.
Highlights of past seasons have included a critically acclaimed tour of Germany with the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Yuri Termirkanov, a tour of the United States with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, a Tokyo debut with the New Japan Philharmonic, a recital debut at the Tonhalle in Zürich, a performance of the Berg violin concerto at the Beethoven Festival in Warsaw, and a performance of the Beethoven Concerto with the Russian National Orchestra under Vladimir Spivakov at the 2006 International Music Festival in Colmar.
An important part of Arabella Steinbacher's concert calendar is devoted to chamber music. Her chamber music partners include the pianists Robert Kulek and Peter von Wienhardt, as well as the cellists Alban Gerhardt and Daniel Müller-Schott. Recitals and trio concerts are scheduled for cities all over the world, as well as at international music festivals including the Munich Summer Festival, Schleswig-Holstein-Festival, the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, the Salzburg Festival, and the Schwetzinger Festival.
Born in Munich in 1981 to a German father and a Japanese mother, Ms. Steinbacher began studying the violin at the age of three. Her mother is a professionally trained singer who came to Germany from Japan to study music, and her father was the first Solorepetitor in the Bayerische Staatsoper, from 1960 to 1972. At nine, she became the youngest violin student of Ana Chumachenko at the Munich Academy of Music. She received further musical inspiration and guidance from Ivry Gitlis, whom she still meets regularly in Paris.
In 2001, Ms. Steinbacher won the sponsorship prize of the Free State of Bavaria and in the same year she was awarded a scholarship by the Anne-Sophie Mutter Foundation. From Anne-Sophie Mutter, who personally supports her, Ms. Steinbacher received a bow from the master luthier Benoit Rolland. Ms. Steinbacher currently plays the "Booth" Stradivari (1716) generously provided by the Nippon Music Foundation. She is managed in North America by Tanja Dorn at IMG Artists.
More about Kazuyoshi Akiyama: Kazuyoshi Akiyama is Music Director of the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra and Principal Conductor of the Hiroshima Symphony Orchestra.
He began his musical life at the age of three studying the piano with his mother, a highly regarded instructor in Tokyo. He entered the piano department of Toho Gakuen School of Music, and was strongly influenced by the conducting activities of one student, Seiji Ozawa. Akiyama quickly changed to the conducting department and was soon studying under Hideo Saito. In February 1974, a year after graduating, Mr. Akiyama made his debut with The Tokyo Symphony. The tremendous success of this collaboration led to his nomination for and acceptance of the dual post of Music Director and Permanent Conductor just two months later, a position he maintains today.
Overseas, this artist's conducting successes began with U.S. and European tours of the Toho Gakuen School of Music Orchestra. Maestro Akiyama quickly went on to guest conduct ensembles including the Toronto Symphony, American Symphony, Rochester Philharmonic and Vancouver Symphony Orchestras. He gained recognition in guest engagements with the San Francisco Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, The Cleveland Orchestra and Boston Symphony Orchestra. His reputation spread to Europe, and he was invited to conduct the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Cologne Radio Orchestra, and Bayerischer Rundfunk Orchestra. Maestro Akiyama has since become a regular guest conductor with numerous orchestras around the world.
His many professional posts have included Assistant Conductor of the Toronto symphony Orchestra (1968-1969), Music Director of the American Symphony Orchestra, following Leopold Stokowski, in New York, (1973-1978), and Music Director of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra (1972-1985). Maestro Akiyama was granted the title of Conductor Laureate of the Vancouver symphony upon leaving his post there in 1985. From 1985 to 1993, Maestro Akiyama held the post of Music Director of the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra. In the upcoming 2004-2005 season he will be the Principal Guest Conductor of the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra.
In 1991, Kazuyoshi Akiyama led The Tokyo Symphony in a successful world tour to celebrate the orchestra's 45th anniversary, which included performances in New York at the United Nations, as well as in London under the auspices of the United Kingdom's Japan Festival. More recently, he commemorated his 30th year as Music Director and Permanent Conductor of The Tokyo Symphony and also the orchestra's 400th subscription performance in a concert performance of Schoenberg's Moses und Aaron, the first Japanese performance of that work.
He also conducted the Japanese premieres of John Adams' El nino and H. Lachenman's The Little Match Girl.
Maestro Akiyama is the recipient of numerous citations, including the Suntory Music Award, the Kyoto Music Award, the Mainichi Arts Award, and the Arts Encouragement Prize of the Minister of Education. In 2001, he was awarded the Emperor's Purple Ribbon Medal from the Japanese Government for his outstanding contribution to the country's musical culture.
