Program

Mozart Violin Sonata in G major, K 301
I. Allegro con spirito
II. Allegro

Prokovieff Sonata for Solo Violin
I. Moderato
II. Andante dolce. Tema con variazioni
III. Con brio. Allegro precipitato

Schnittke Sonata for Violin and Piano, No. 1 (1963)
I. Andante
II. Allegretto
III. Largo
IV. Allegretto Scherzando

Intermission

Brahms Piano Pieces, Op. 119
I. Intermezzo in B Minor
II. Intermezzo in E Minor
III. Intermezzo in C Major
IV. Rhapsody in E-flat Major

Brahms Sonata for Violin and Piano in D minor, No. 3, Op. 108
I. Allegro
II. Adagio
III. Un poco presto e con sentimento
IV. Presto agitato

 

Sa Chen 陳薩, Pianist

Described as “one of the brightest performers of her generation” by Classical FM in London, Sa Chen has been delighting audiences in European countries, China, Japan and the United States. Her first major performance was in 1996, when at the age of 16, she was seen live on BBC Television, competing in the Final of the prestigious Leeds International Piano Competition, with Sir Simon Rattle conducting the City of Birmingham Symphony. The British public was captivated.

Sa Chen was born in Chongqing, China. Began her musical studies at the Sichuan Conservatory of Music and then at the Shenzhen School of Arts with Prof. Dan Zhaoyi in both places. In 1994, Chinese President Jiang Zemin listened to her performance and interviewed her along with Prof. Dan. Following her success in Leeds in 1996, she was subsequently offered a scholarship at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London, where she has been studying with Prof. Joan Havill and obtained Master Degree in Performance. Since 2001, Sa Chen also studied with Prof. Arie Vardi at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hannover. She is now living in Germany.

Major awards and honors began in 1994 for Sa Chen, when she won first prize at the 1994 China International Piano Competition. Winning fourth prize in the Leeds International Piano Competition 1996 as the youngest contestant in the competition, marked the beginning of Sa Chen's international career. She also awarded at the 14th International Chopin Piano Competition in October 2000, at which she claimed the Best Polonaise Performance Award as well as the Fourth Prize, overall. Her success in the 12th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition made her the only pianist in the history to award in all the top three piano competitions.

As a soloist, Sa Chen has worked with many celebrated conductors such as Semyon Bychkov, Edo de Waart, Sir Simon Rattle, Leonard Slatkin, James Conlon, Miguel Harth-Bedoya, Ilan Volkov, Tugan Sokiev, Jacek Kaspezek, Kazimierz Kord, Bernhard Gueller, Long Yu, Muhai Tang, Jia Lü, Lan Shui. She has performed with, among many others, Takács Quartet, WDR Symphony Orchestra, Israel Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Pittsburgh Symphony, The City of Birmingham Symphony, Camerata Salzburg, Bremen Philharmonic, Warsaw Philharmonic, Orchestre National du Capitole in Toulouse, Strasbourg Philharmonic, China Philharmonic, China National Symphony Orchestra Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Bern Symphony Orchestra, Latvian National Symphony Orchestra, Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, and Singapore Symphony Orchestra.

Her solo assignments have taken Sa Chen to many of the music centers in Europe and US: New York (Carnegie Hall), Washington D.C. (Kennedy Center), London (Barbican Centre, Wigmore Hall, Purcell Room and Cadogan Hall), Warsaw (Philharmonic Hall), Milan (the Sala Verdi), Berlin (Broadcast Hall), Zurich (Tonhalle), Linz (Bruckner Hall), Basel (Foundation Beyeler Museum and Vitra Design Museum), Copenhagen (Louisiana Museum), Boston (Symphony Hall). Sa Chen has also given concerts in Asia (incl. Hong Kong, Taiwan, Tokyo), Tel Aviv Israel and at Sydney Opera House in Australia. She was invited as performance partner by Gidon Kremer to many occasions. Among the many festivals she has been invited to the Duszniki Chopin Festival in Poland, Louisiana Museum Festival in Denmark, Lockenhaus Music Festival in Austria, Le Musiques festival in Swiss. As well as in China, she appeared in Beijing Music Festival.

She regularly tours in Japan. she was selected in the prestigious Tokyo series “The 100 Great Pianists of the Twentieth Century”. In the recent year Sa Chen performed with Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony (Suntory Hall), and toured with Royal Liverpool Philharmonic (Vasily Petrenko) in Europe. She also gave recital in Louvre Museum among many others. In Jan.2012, she performed with London Philharmonic Orchestra in Beijing NCPA, with Mo Jan Pascal Tortelier.

In 2010, Sa Chen was awarded "Chopin Art Passport" from Polish Government as a recognition for her achievement in Chopin’s music during Chopin bicentennial in 2010. In the same year, she was also awarded China's Classical Elite Award in both Shanghai and Beijing in the categories of 'Top Ten Best Concerts of the Year' and “Best Recital Concert of the Year”. Sa Chen is a Steinway Artist. As the only female artist, Sa Chen was named as one of top ten focused Chinese artists of 2009 by L’OFFICIEL magazine. Sa Chen’s two latest albums with PentaTone label has been released worldwide in 2008 and 2009. Classical FM of London offered "The Best CD Award" to her Chopin Concertos album and commented as “A soulful performance of the Chopin concertos”. The new Concerti disc featuring Rachmaninoff Concerto no.2 and Grieg Piano Concerto was released worldwide in the fall 2011.   (2012)

陳薩 鋼琴家

被倫敦古典調頻電台稱為"同輩中最耀眼的演奏家之一"的陳薩在歐洲、中國、日本、美國和波蘭等世界各地都受到熱烈歡迎。 她首次具有重要意義的演出是在1996年, 年僅十六歲, 就出現在了英國利茲鋼琴比賽的決賽舞台上。 此次決賽由西蒙.拉特爾爵士指揮伯明翰城市交響樂團協奏, 由英國廣播公司進行了電視轉播。

陳薩生於中國重慶, 九歲跟隨但昭義教授學習, 進入四川音樂學院附中和深圳藝術學校後, 獲得1994年首屆中國國際鋼琴比賽青年組第一名和中國作品優秀演奏獎。 同年10月, 江澤民總書記親自接見了陳薩和但昭義教授, 並聆聽了陳薩的演奏。 1996年, 當她在利茲取得成功後, 獲得倫敦喬凱音樂學院的獎學金, 進入該校隨喬安.哈維爾教授學習, 並獲得了演奏碩士文憑。 隨後又就讀於漢諾威音樂學院, 師從阿里.瓦迪教授。

自從1994年陳薩獲得中國國際鋼琴比賽青年組第一名之後, 各種獎項隨即到來。 1996年, 她作為最小的參賽者獲得了英國利茲鋼琴比賽的第四名, 標誌著她的國際演奏生涯的開始; 2000年10月, 她獲得了波蘭第十四屆肖邦國際鋼琴大賽的第四名, 同時還獲得波蘭舞曲特別演奏獎; 2005年, 她在第十二屆範.克萊本國際鋼琴比賽中獲得水晶大獎後, 即成為歷史上唯一一位在三大頂尖鋼琴比賽中均獲獎的鋼琴家。

陳薩與許多傑出的指揮家合作過, 其中包括謝苗.畢契科夫、艾度.迪華特、西蒙.拉特爾爵士、米歇爾.普拉松、列奧納德.斯拉特金、詹姆斯.康隆、米蓋爾.哈斯-貝多亞、依蘭.沃爾科夫、勞倫斯.福斯特、湯沐海、余隆、呂嘉等。 她合作過的重奏組和樂團有：塔卡什四重奏、科隆西德廣播交響、洛杉磯愛樂, 匹茲堡交響、以色列愛樂、圖盧茲首都交響、伯明翰城市交響、薩爾茲堡室內樂團、華沙愛樂、波蘭國家廣播交響、斯德哥爾摩皇家愛樂、里斯本古本江管弦、中國愛樂、中國國家交響、上海交響、香港管弦、新加坡交響等。

陳薩的足跡遍及了歐美的各大音樂都市：紐約(卡內基音樂廳)、華盛頓特區(肯尼迪中心)、倫敦(巴比肯中心、維格默音樂廳、普賽爾音樂廳、卡多根音樂廳); 華沙(愛樂音樂廳); 米蘭(威爾弟音樂廳); 柏林(廣播音樂廳); 蘇黎世(市政廳音樂廳); 林茨(布魯克納音樂廳); 波士頓(波士頓交響大廳)……陳薩還在美國、加拿大、亞洲城市(包括香港、台灣、東京、特拉維夫等), 以及澳大利亞的悉尼歌劇院舉辦個人獨奏音樂會。 在陳薩的多倫多獨奏會之後, 當地媒體評論到："……既有細膩敏感的聲音, 又有如此雄渾, 飽滿而又溫暖的音色, 讓人不由自主地聯想起拉杜.魯普的琴音。

" 她參加過為​​數眾多的音樂節, 其中包括波蘭杜什尼基肖邦音樂節、奧地利洛肯豪斯音樂節、瑞士巴塞爾新音樂節、德國巴德基興根夏季音樂節、德國不萊梅音樂節等, 也應邀與小提琴大師吉東.克萊默在很多音樂會上合作。 她經常在日本進行巡演, 並且被列入在東京舉辦的著名的"二十世紀百位偉大的鋼琴家"系列中。 同時, 在她的祖國, 陳薩也應邀出現在北京國際音樂節上。

2010年, 在肖邦誕辰200年之際, 波蘭政府授予陳薩肖邦藝術護照, 以獎勵她在推廣肖邦音樂方面的成就和貢獻。 在同年, 她同時在上海和北京的音樂會分別被評選為年度十大音樂會之一和最佳獨奏音樂會。 陳薩是施坦威藝術家。 陳薩作為唯一的女性, 被法國《時裝》雜誌評選為最受矚目的十大中國藝術家之一。

近年陳薩與東京大都會交響樂團合作在三得利音樂廳舉行音樂會, 與指揮大師瓦西里.佩特連科指揮的皇家利物浦愛樂樂團合作在歐洲巡演。 並應邀在巴黎盧浮宮博物館演出。 2012年1月作為獨奏家與倫敦愛樂樂團和托特利耶指揮在北京國家大劇院演出了貝多芬"皇帝"協奏曲。 陳薩出現在以2005年克萊本比賽為主題的記錄片《心靈之音》和《返場曲》中, 該記錄片在全美PBS電視網上播放。 陳薩也成為了《留聲機》雜誌(中文版)創刊號的焦點人物。 多部陳薩專集電視記錄片由香港衛星電視網、鳳凰衛視和CCTV製作播出。

陳薩的首張唱片《肖邦印象》於2003年出版; 第二張唱片於2005年秋天由Harmonia Mundi發行。 由荷蘭PentaTone公司出版的兩張唱片《肖邦鋼琴協奏曲》和《俄羅斯獨奏作品集》分別於2008年和2009年在全球發行。 倫敦古典FM授予陳薩《肖邦鋼琴協奏曲》唱片最佳唱片獎時的評語是：陳薩的演奏是"發自靈魂深處的肖邦協奏曲的演繹"。 《俄羅斯獨奏作品集》中的穆索爾斯基《圖畫展覽會》被英國《國際鋼琴雜誌》(International Piano Magazine)推薦為收藏版本之一。 2011年的秋天, 陳薩最新的格里格和拉赫瑪尼諾夫第二鋼琴協奏曲唱片在全球發行。    (2012)

Feng Ning 寧峰, Violinist

Violinist Ning Feng was born in Chengdu, China, and studied at the Sichuan Conservatory of Music and at the Royal Academy of Music, London. He is quickly developing a reputation as an artist of great lyricism and emotional transparency, displaying tremendous bravura and awe-inspiring technical accomplishment.

Ning won first prize in the 2006 International Violin Competition “Premio Paganini” and has also won prizes at the Hannover International Violin Competition, the Queen Elisabeth Music Competition, the Yehudi Menuhin International Violin Competition, and also first prize at the Michael Hill International Violin Competition. Following his appearances as soloist with Iván Fischer and the Budapest Festival Orchestra on tour in Beijing in October 2010, Maestro Fischer said: “I found [Ning Feng] to be a special talent and an outstandingly musical artist. There is no doubt that he is a musician at the highest level and plays with genuine passion and a respect for the score. I recommend him without reservation.”

Upcoming dates for Ning’s 2011/12 season include concerts with the Hong Kong Philharmonic/Delfs, Galicia Symphony/Harth-Bedoya, NDR Radiophilharmonie Hannover/Gullberg Jensen, Calgary Philharmonic/Minczuk and Orchestre National de Lyon/Foster. Festival appearances in summer 2011 included Gstaad, Annecy, Colmar and Bad Kissingen. Ning Feng records for Channel Classics in the Netherlands. His most recent recording, Solo, featuring works by Paganini, Kreisler, Berio, Schnittke and others, received a first-class review by Audiophile Audition: “You will be blown away by the artistry of this album, and blown away in great sound to boot. This is a stunning recording of solo violin works by a variety of composers […] and there are really few violinists who are able to pull it off. Ning Feng is one of those who can, not only for his sterling playing but also because of the rabid intelligence behind the selection of pieces here. None of these works is anything less than enthralling, and a few approach the incandescent. Milstein’s arrangement of the Paganiniana has never been bettered […] this is an unqualified recommendation of a wonderful album that demonstrates the highest artistic and programming skills possible.”

Ning Feng is based in Berlin and plays a Stefan-Peter Greiner violin (Bonn 2007).
Ning Feng is represented by Intermusica.
2011/12
 

SOLO (album), Channel Classics
“You will be blown away by the artistry of this album, and blown away in great sound to boot. This is a stunning recording of solo violin works by a variety of composers … and there are really few violinists who are able to pull it off. Ning Feng is one of those who can, not only for his sterling playing but also because of the rabid intelligence behind the selection of pieces here. None of these works is anything less than enthralling, and a few approach the incandescent. Milstein’s arrangement of the Paganiniana has never been bettered … this is an unqualified recommendation of a wonderful album that demonstrates the highest artistic and programming skills possible.”
Audiophile Audition, February 2011

Elgar Violin Concerto
“The heart of the concert was Ning Feng's amazing performance of Elgar's… Concerto. He offered up playing of such idiomatic sureness, and fresh spontaneity, that I cannot recall another performance of the work as compelling. And what technical wizardry he has in his armory, and what a huge rich, sound he makes. He stands out, in my view, from almost all the myriad young violinists now on the world stage.”
John Button, Dominion Post (New Zealand), September 2010

“Ning communicates with immediacy and produces an extraordinary range of dynamics… all in immaculate intonation and phrasing. A slew of bravos greeted his dainty encore, a transcription of Tarrega's memories of The Alhambra. Paganini lives again.”
Singapore Straits Times, May 2010

Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto
“A terrific performance… The fascinating effect he created was not just brilliant technical execution; what stood out was the tonal beauty Ning Feng retained, even in the boisterous fireworks runs, the double stops, and the frequent extreme high register playing.”
Nordsee-Zeitung, April 2009

Paganini's Violin Concerto No.1
“Paganini's Violin Concerto No.1 can acquire a stature all of its own when its challenges are met head on. Chinese violinist Ning Feng did exactly that. An extraordinary powerhouse of a performer with an unforgettably dazzling technique, he made this tortuously difficult work look like a stroll in the park.”
The Australian, March 2009

“Ning's greatest asset is the pliant lyricism that pours from his violin, and few violinists can rival his spinning of a lighter-than-air scherzando.”
New Zealand Herald, August 2009

“…a distinguished reading of a great violin concerto…Ning Feng, winner of the Michael Hill
International Violin Competition in 2005 and winner of the Paganini competition since then, is blessed with a fantastic technique and a luxurously rich and flowing tone. His performance of the Dvorak,Violin Concerto showed he is also a truly intuitive musician. Playing Dvorak, particularly the unstoppable high spirits of the last movement, with the same panache with which he tackles Paganini.

He played as encore a cantabile that, with bowed melody and pizzicato accompaniment, created the unbelievable effect of two players, as though he were accompanying himself on the guitar. Just to watch the orchestral violinists' faces as he played told the non-violinists among us what impossible miracles he was so calmly tossing off. Ning is a master showman, and he's a musician as well.”
The Listener (New Zealand), September 2008

‘Hello Mr Paganini’ (album)
Ning Feng (violin), Thomas Hoppe (piano)
“Ning Feng is featured on the Dutch Channel Classics’ new label devoted to the music and musicians of China, and reveals a player of stunning accomplishment. The Paganini pieces might be musically a bit insubstantial, but they are all designed to show off a master player, and Ning Feng stands out, even in an age full of dazzling young string players. His virtuosity is breathtaking but he also possesses a real sense for the poetic, and he makes a wonderfully pure sound as well. His accompanist Thomas Hoppe abets him, when needed, with real style and the recording, made in Eindhoven, is almost holgraphically realistic. Five stars.”
Dominion Post, August 2008

“The music on this disc Hello Mr Paganini some of the most difficult ever written for violin, is not played easily, and even less played with conviction. Ning does both, and with a sort of insouciant arrogance that speaks not only of ability but of empathy with the composer as well. According to the notes, he wishes us to “sing along” and not simply be amazed by the wizardry that Paganini infused into this music, devilish or not. …I remain convinced that only a violinist who actually loves this music—aside from just being intimidated by it or finding it challenging—could put across the melodic emphasis with such grace and airiness without focusing so much on the difficulties of the formal technique involved.”
Audiophile Audition, February 2008

“It's no surprise to learn that Ning Feng was the winner of the 2006 International Paganini Competition in Genoa; he's able to bring the great virtuoso's most extreme flights of fancy to life with exceptional beauxty and precision. The left hand pizzicati are uncommonly clear, even and rhythmic, and the notorious double harmonics are not only pure in tuning and tone quality, but sensitively and expressively phrased, too. Performed with this degree of finesse, Paganini's music takes on a surreal quality - a dreamlike extension of more normal ranges of expression… It's an enthralling, exciting recital.”
Gramophone

“Phrase by phrase, against Houstoun's limpid keyboard, Ning was the soul of elegance... Ning's violin soared in the outer movements and, with the sympathetic Houstoun, shaped the ebb and flow of its Andante cantabile to perfection. The

Finale was a heroic stand, with Ning in full arpeggiando splendour and Houstoun's piano hinting at worlds yet to be fully revealed in the composer's tone poems and operas.

Poulenc's Sonata shimmered like shot silk, a child of the salon and the jazz club in equal parts.”
Zealand Herald, June 2007

“This was a performance that swept all before it. It was impossible not to be won over by the Andantino barcarolle [of the Saint-Saëns concerto], especially when Ning's airy harmonics shadowed the clarinet so immaculately. There was little point in resisting a Finale that catapulted us from tzigane passion to Wagnerian ecstasy.”
New Zealand Herald, June 2007

寧峰  中國青年小提琴家

1981年生於四川成都, 現居柏林。 1992年考入四川音樂學院跟隨著名小提琴教育家胡惟民教授學習。 1998年秋, 寧峰被世界著名音樂學府英國皇家音樂學院以全額獎學金錄取, 跟隨著名小提琴演奏家、教育家胡坤教授繼續深造。 1999年初, 他參加了大師梅紐因勳爵在皇家音樂學院舉辦的巴赫作品大師班, 大師在聽完他演奏的巴赫“恰空”舞曲後評價說：“他的演奏幾乎如我想像的一般完美。 ”梅紐因隨即邀請寧峰參加在德國舉行的“梅紐因基金會”慶典音樂會。 1999年3月8日, 大師在生命中的最後一封推薦信裡寫到：“寧峰的演奏深深地打動了我……他的音樂天賦與才能將使他的前途一片光明。 ”2003年, 寧峰成為皇家音樂學院建校近兩百年來的第一個以滿分成績畢業的學生。 畢業後, 寧峰被授予“皇家音樂學院會員(ARAM)”封號。

2003年9月, 寧峰在德國漢諾威舉行的“約阿西姆國際小提琴比賽”中獲得第三名；同年11月, 他獲得第十三屆“伊•高爾法斯小提琴比賽”第一名。 2005年6月, 在新西蘭舉行的“邁克•希爾”國際小提琴比賽中獲得第一名；同年9月, 在意大利熱那亞, 榮獲小提琴界最高榮譽之一的“帕格尼尼國際小提琴比賽”金獎以及兩個特殊單項獎, 並應邀用意大利國寶——帕格尼尼自用的1743年制瓜內裡•德•吉蘇“大砲”小提琴演奏。

寧峰在著名的荷蘭Channel Classics唱片公司錄音。 該公司曾以SACD形式全球發行一張寧峰演奏的帕格尼尼作品的專輯和一張二重奏唱片。 寧峰曾多次在英國、德國、法國、意大利、比利時、加拿大、丹麥、俄羅斯、美國、新西蘭、日本等世界各地的著名音樂廳舉辦個人音樂會。 寧峰還與許多知名樂團合作過, 包括布達佩斯節日管弦樂團, 北德廣播交響樂團, 巴伐利亞廣播交響樂團, 俄羅斯國家愛樂樂團, 薩爾茨堡室內樂團, 墨爾本交響樂團, 新加坡交響樂團, 馬來西亞愛樂樂團, 澳門樂團, 中國愛樂樂團, 上海交響樂團, 中國國家交響樂團等。

2010年秋, 寧峰與著名指揮大師伊万費舍爾率領的布達佩斯節日管弦樂團進行了一次成功的亞洲巡演。 巡演結與束後費舍爾大師對寧峰的演奏給予了極高的評價：“我認為寧峰是一位擁有特殊才能和天賦的出色音樂家。 毫無疑問, 他有著最高水平的演奏技藝和對音樂藝術極為飽滿的激情。 我毫無保留地推薦他。 ” 此次巡演中的出色表現也為寧峰帶來了一次難得的機會－－位於英國的世界著名古典音樂經紀公司Intermusica向他拋出橄欖枝, 他簽約負責代理他在全球範圍的經紀事務。 寧峰也因此成為該公司成立以來簽約的的第一位中國藝術家。