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Franz Schubert (1797 – 1828)

The great similarity between the first movement (Allegro molto) of Franz Schubert’s Sonata for Violin and Piano in D major, D. 384 (Op. posth. 137, No. 1, dating from 1816) and the first movement of the Sonata for Piano and Violin in E minor, K. 304 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart must have already been emphasised hundreds of times. The analogies are more than simply astonishing, they are essential – and at the same time, existential. Deliberately so: because at the age of 19, Schubert had well outgrown the need to “crib”. Nevertheless, Schubert imitated his example in every aspect of this Mozart-like movement, including the transitions, secondary motifs and even in the manner he dealt with the rests. And yet he achieved more than simply a “copy”. Schubert’s Allegro molto is a reflection, a kind of “question set to music”: where do I want to go? And the answer must be: I got there a long time since! Because all the later characteristics that gradually emerged to define his personality as a composer (i.e. abrupt stops, harmonic surprises, the ecstasy of the moment vs. the dashing of hope) are already present here and are leading him, as it were, “through Mozart up to himself”. To Franz Schubert.
Schubert composed his Violin Sonatas in 1816, at a time in life when he was obliged to go into teaching. Actually, the main reason was avoiding his military national service, rather than a genuine enthusiasm for the teaching profession. He dedicated the sonatas to his brother Ferdinand, who was three years older and also composed, although his real interest in life was playing the organ.
One always hears that the three early violin sonatas were “not yet true masterpieces”. Yet just a glance at the first pages of the introductory movement (Allegro moderato) of the Sonata for Violin and Piano in A minor, D. 385 (Op. posth. 137, No. 2) is sufficient to prove quite the contrary, without any doubt. For the history of music had by no means progressed so far that a beginning, as set out by Schubert, could have passed the listener by without having some effect. To begin a violin sonata with nine bars of solo piano (and not, as could be reasonably expected, just eight), at the same time by-passing any sense of the Classical era, must have appeared overly confident and at times “too modern”, yes, even somewhat bizarre to Schubert’s contemporaries, if and when they came into contact with Schubert’s works. And Schubert “packages” his supposed “overconfidence” most skilfully: the unisono melody in the descant is supported by an – at first – apparently conventional accompaniment in chords in the left hand. Nevertheless, even the chords contain creative, anti-schoolmarmish dynamite, which would have caused any conservative music teacher to shake his head in consternation. Particularly as the explosive music ignites expressively at such a very special moment, upon first entrance of the violin, and now conclusively (and nevertheless still right at the beginning!) tears apart the chamber-music-like tonal image…
The unisono theme at the beginning of the first movement (Allegro giusto) of the Sonata for Violin and Piano in G minor, D. 408 (Op. posth. 137, No. 3) demonstrates that Schubert had a very special way of dealing with “musical energies”: a syncopated triad heading for the higher registers is followed by a close-fitting and heartrending descent, which forces the energies surrounding the tone of D into the centre of attention. Thus the energy is forced to discharge itself once again in some or other direction: in just four syncopated bars, the unisono passage strides towards the D octave situated just below, which once again contains energetic potential, although a kind of provisional end has been achieved. This is because the D octave forms the harmonic upbeat to the main theme in G minor, which is presented in its entirety – but now very calmly, in contrast – by the piano solo. A beginning to the composition is created in a masterly manner!
Only superficially does the second movement bring an easing of tension in the warm key of E flat major (Andante). In truth, renewed energy slumbers within the tangled web of the dialogue interwoven in the chamber music. However, this is shown to its best advantage here in a totally different way: i.e., as inscrutable. From bar 28 onwards, from that moment of eerie exaltation onwards, the listener can at any rate no longer be sure if leaning back and relaxing is the right attitude to take when listening to Schubert’s oh so early violin sonatas…
In 1826, Schubert met the Bohemian violinist Josef Slavik, who was making a stopover in Vienna at the time. At first, the composer provided him with typical ‘virtuoso fodder’, in the form of his Rondo in B minor, D. 895 (Op. 70, Rondeau brillant). It was no coincidence that this work mainly emphasised the virtuoso side of the violin, as Slavik was known to be a true master at his profession. (One year later, Schubert wrote his Fantasy in C major, D. 934, a composition tailor-made for Slavik.)
Fortunately, one has to say, despite all the unpleasant experiences he underwent towards the end of his life, Schubert had friends and acquaintances who helped him along, from whose encouragement and criticism he was able to draw strength as a composer. The motives behind various works were quite superficial and comparable to those of the present day: for all composers value a good première performance of a new work. Both in the past and nowadays. Not least for this reason does new music often come into being as a result of a collaboration with, or even following a direct commission from renowned performers, who frequently enjoy a friendly relationship with the composer.

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Yakov Kreizberg

The Russian-born American conductor Yakov Kreizberg currently holds the posts of Chief Conductor and Artistic Advisor of the both Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra and the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra, as well as Principal Guest Conductor of the Vienna Symphony Orchestra. From 1995 to 2000, he was Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. At the end of the 2000/01 season, he relinquished the post of Generalmusikdirector of the Komische Oper Berlin.
In demand across the globe, Yakov Kreizberg has conducted orchestras such as the Royal Concertgebouw, Leipzig Gewandhaus, Berlin Philharmonic, WDR Köln, NDR Hamburg, Staatskapelle Dresden, BBC Symphony, London Philharmonic, Philharmonia, Deutsches Sinfonie-Orchester Berlin, Bayerische Rundfunk and the Zürich Tonhalle. He has also been a frequent guest at the BBC Proms.
Within North America, Yakov Kreizberg regularly works with prestigious orchestras, including the Philadelphia Orchestra (with which he toured the Americas in 2003), Pittsburgh Orchestra, Cincinnati Orchestra, and Minnesota Orchestra: he has also conducted the Los Angeles and New York Philharmonic Orchestras, and the Chicago and Boston Symphony Orchestras.
Forthcoming plans include a tour of Spain, Germany and Switzerland with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, the NHK Symphony and the Pacific Music Festival in Japan, London Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris and Munich Philharmonic.
As well as having recorded for Decca and Oehms Classics, Yakov Kreizberg’s collaboration with PentaTone Classics and the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra has been extremely successful – their fourth release, Tour de France, was issued in June 2005. Also with Pentatone Classics, Maestro Kreizberg has recorded an award-winning disc with Julia Fischer and the Russian National Orchestra, whilst his first recording with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, Bruckner’s Symphony no. 7, has been nominated in two categories (including best orchestral performance) for the 2006 Grammy Awards.
Yakov Kreizberg established a fine reputation at the Komische Oper, Berlin in a wide variety of repertoire. Elsewhere, he has conducted for Canadian Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, English National Opera and, on a number of occasions, with the Glyndebourne Festival Opera. He has recently conducted Iolanthe with the Netherlands Opera and will return in 2007/08 for Janácek’s Katya Kabanova. As part of the 2004 Bregenz Festival, he conducted Kurt Weill’s Der Protagonist and Royal Palace with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra. The year 2006 includes performances of Macbeth at the Royal Opera House
Born in St Petersburg, Yakov Kreizberg studied conducting privately with Ilya A. Musin (the renowned Professor of Conducting at the St. Petersburg Conservatory), before emigrating to the United States in 1976. There, he was awarded conducting fellowships at Tanglewood with Leonard Bernstein, Seiji Ozawa, Erich Leinsdorf, and at the Los Angeles Philharmonic Institute. In 1986, he won first prize in the Leopold Stokowski Conducting Competition in New York.

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Performance*****
Recording*****
“I began to listen with mild feelings of resignation, but the playing is so spontaneous, invigorating and fresh that, though I wouldn’t want, on the whole, to listen straight through, I found it constantly enjoyable.”
Michael Tanner, BBC Music Magazine

“The collaboration with Helmchen is one of seamless understanding and fluidity. Helmchen’s touch is as sensitive and graceful as Fischer’s, and the two together produce an entirely beautiful soundscape filled with moving dynamics, precise articulation, and sublime balance…. PentaTone’s sound is spacious and inviting, and those listening in multichannel mode will enjoy the sensation of sitting right between Fischer and Helmchen.”
Mike D. Brownell,Allmusic.com

“Julia Fischer and Martin Helmchen are here at their best, and the perfect osmosis of the two instruments allows the famous composer’s music to blossom into a unique play of colors, with exemplary phrasing to match. This is a musical wonder, in short…”
Jean-jacques Millo, OpusHD

“These well-recorded performances by Fischer and Helmchen (I listened to them in stereo mode), as distinctive—in their own way—as those by Andrew Manze, not only provide a pleasant hour of music-making at a very high level but offer what almost amounts to an alternative, cleaned, and restored view of Schubert’s works—one without outré mannerisms or timbres. If this weren’t enough, the volume appears to be Vol. 1 of a complete collection—with the Sonata in A Major and the Fantasy in C apparently on the way. But why wait, since this first volume deserves to be urgently recommended in itself.”
Robert Maxham, Fanfare
“This issue is billed as Vol 1; I eagerly await its successor.”
Duncan Druce, Gramophone

“It is particularly refreshing that Julia Fischer, one of the younger generation of world’s most promising string players, has not only taken these works to heart, providing a scintillating account of the Rondo Brilliant by way of an encore, but also given them the best possible new lease of life by making a persuasive and invigorating case for their continued promotion and enjoyment among violinists and audiences alike. She is aided in no small measure by the young pianist martin helmchen, who is enjoying a flourishing career as a soloist and also, on the evidence of this new PentaTone release, as an accompanist of stature…..If the second volume in this series is as good, it will be worth the wait.
Richard Evans, International Record Review

“These gifted young Germans get the scale of the music just right, with the playing mostly light and intimate. The final track, Schubert’s later Rondo Brilliant, proves to be an ideal addition.”
Geoff Brown, The Times

Julia Fischer
Julia Fischer is ranked as one of the leading violinists of the day, captivating audiences world-wide with her music. She was born in Munich in 1983, of German-Slovak parents, and began her musical training at just four years old. At nine, she began receiving lessons from the renowned violin teacher Ana Chumachenco. In 2006, she was appointed professor at the “Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst” in Frankfurt am Main.
Winning the international Yehudi Menuhin Competition in 1995, with the great violinist himself conducting, was a significant milestone in her lightning career. The following year, she won the 8th Eurovision Competition for Young Instrumentalists. Since then, Julia Fischer has performed with reputed conductors and leading orchestras throughout the world. Many of her concerts have been recorded for and/or broadcast live on radio and television.
Julia Fischer receives regular invitations from the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington D.C., the Philadelphia Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, among others, to perform in the USA. She also plays with the leading European orchestras, including the Vienna Symphonic, the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, the Staatskapelle Dresden and the London Philharmonic Orchestra. She has an especially close relationship with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, which she first led in January 2006 during a tour of Germany, with which she made history later on in the autumn, performing in Frankfurt to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of the reopening of the Alte Oper. Another major tour of Germany, Austria and the Benelux is planned for 2009, to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the foundation of the Academy.
Julia Fischer was appointed Artist in Residence at the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, under Chief Conductor Yakov Kreizberg, for the 2006/2007 season. Further joint projects with Maestro Kreizberg include her first appearance at the London PROMS in summer 2008. Julia Fischer also forms a chamber-music duo with Yakov Kreizberg at the piano: they will first perform as a duo in May 2007 in recital in Valencia. Furthermore, Julia Fischer has so far recorded all her CDs with orchestral music together with Maestro Kreizberg.
Other major conductors with whom Julia Fischer has performed include: Lorin Maazel, Christoph Eschenbach, Yuri Temirkanov, Sir Neville Marriner, David Zinman, Jun Märkl, Ruben Gazarian, Emmanuel Krivine and Marek Janowski.
Julia Fischer is an ardent chamber musician, and performs regularly with Jean-Yves Thibaudet and Daniel Müller-Schott, among others. She receives invitations to play at the major international festivals, such as London’s Mostly Mozart Festival, the Aspen Music Festival, the Ravinia Festival, the Prague Spring Festival, the St. Petersburg Winter Festival, the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, and the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival, where she was awarded the Soloist Prize in 1997.
In 2004, her first CD was released by PentaTone - the label for which Julia Fischer records exclusively - entitled Russian Violin Concertos with the Russian National Orchestra (under Yakov Kreizberg), which was awarded the Echo Klassik 2005. Her latest recording - Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto - was released in November 2006, with the same orchestra and conductor. All CD releases of the young violinist have received major recognition and awards – many have received a Diapason d’Or as well as a Choc from the Monde de la Musique. Her recording of Bach’s Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin was even voted the BBC Music Magazine Award as “Best Newcomer 2006” and the Diapason d’Or de l’Année. Meanwhile, PentaTone has released the second CD of Mozart Violin Concertos featuring Julia Fischer with the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra; Piano Trios by Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, together with Daniel Müller-Schott and Jonathan Gilad; and the Brahms Violin Concerto and Double Concerto, together with Daniel Müller-Schott. Further recordings are soon to be added to her discography.
Most recently, Julia Fischer has also been concentrating on contemporary music. As a consequence, she has already given the first performance of Matthias Pintscher’s Piano Trio together with Jean-Yves Thibaudet and Daniel Müller-Schott. During the 2006-2007 season, she is performing Maazel’s Violin Concerto, accompanied by the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as Nicholas Maw’s Violin Concerto at the Aspen Music Festival.
Julia Fischer plays on an Italian violin made by Giovanni Battista Guadagnini, dating from 1750.

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Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra Amsterdam
It could have been a slogan from a tv-commercial: “the most versatile orchestra in the country”, but in the case of the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra Amsterdam this title is entirely justified. No other orchestra in the Netherlands covers such a broad range of repertoire like the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra Amsterdam does.
With 130 musicians the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra is the largest orchestral organization in the Netherlands. Founded in 1986 as a merger of the Amsterdam Philharmonic, the Utrecht Symphony and the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra, the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra continues the tradition of its
predecessors in offering an attractive combination of accessible concert programs, in which works from the core repertoire are combined with contemporary music. The orchestra has a tradition in performing the music of Dutch composers and has commissioned and premiered works by Louis Andriessen, Theo Loevendie, Willem Jeths, Jeff Hamburg, Hans Kox, Hans Koolmees and Otto Ketting.
Next to these concerts, the majority of which take place in the world-famous acoustics of the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra Amsterdam accompanies most of the performances of Netherlands Opera in the Amsterdam Muziektheater.
From the start Hartmut Haenchen has been chief conductor with the orchestra. His performances of Wagner’s Ring des Nibelungen and of the complete Mahler symphonies met with high critical acclaim, both nationally and internationally. Many of his performances were issued on CD, e.g. on the orchestra’s own label. On the young and enterprising Dutch label Pentatone a recording on super-audio (SACD) format of Mahler’s Fifth Symphony appeared.
Other conductors that have performed with the orchestra are: Rudolph Barshai, Andrew Litton, Markus Stenz, Dmitri Kitaenko, Emmanuel Krivine, Sir Yehudi Menuhin and Hans Vonk. The orchestra worked with esteemed soloists like Frank Peter Zimmerman, Leonidas Kavakos, Vadim Repin, Maxim Vengerov, Bella Davidovich, Leif Ove Andsnes, Maria Joao Pires, Stephen Hough, Stephen Kovacevich, Elisabeth Leonskaja, Radu Lupu, Heinrich Schiff, Natalia Gutman, Frans Helmersson, Mischa Maisky and Antonio Menesses.
In September 2003 Hartmut Haenchen has been succeeded by the dynamic Russian born American conductor Yakov Kreizberg. With Kreizberg the orchestra will broaden its repertoire, raise its international profile and start on a prestigious recording scheme. Following successful concerts in Amsterdam Kreizberg and the orchestra already recorded Franz Schmidt’s Fourth Symphony (again for Pentatone on SACD) and in the coming seasons milestones of the repertoire will be recorded as well as compositions featured on the programmes of the orchestra’s international tours.
Enthusiasm and diversity: these are the keywords to describe the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra. A small string Divertimento by Mozart, the vast structure of a Wagner opera, or a new work by Peteris Vasks: the Netherlands Philharmonic plays it all, and together with our new chief conductor Yakov Kreizberg and guest artists we try to bring our enthusiasm for the music to the audience. An audience that consists for the largest part of real music lovers, for whom an evening at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw or the Muziektheater is the ultimate experience.

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Daniel Müller-Schott
“A great cellist, like a great tenor, should sound like no-one else. I bring Pablo Casals and Mstislav Rostropovich up in order to suggest that young Daniel Müller-Schott may soon be in their league.” Octavio Roca, The Miami Herald

In only a few years, Daniel Müller-Schott has succeeded in establishing himself throughout the world as one of the supreme cellists. With his sure sense of style and enormous musical maturity, he opens up new paths for his audiences, including ones leading to works already thought to be well-known. He is constantly searching for both new and rare old works with which he can extend his repertoire on the cello, including with his own adaptations, and in particular performances of the music of the 20th and 21st centuries.
As a soloist, Daniel Müller-Schott works with such renowned conductors as Vladimir Ashkenazy, Charles Dutoit, Christoph Eschenbach, Michael Gielen, Hartmut Haenchen, Marek Janowski, Armin Jordan, James Judd, Yakov Kreizberg, Kurt Masur and Sir André Previn. His concerts are with orchestras such as the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Hamburg NDR Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestre National de France, the Israel Symphony Orchestra, the Nederlands Philharmonisch Orkest, the Warsaw National Philharmonia, the Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra Moscow, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and the Philharmonia Orchestra London.

Daniel Müller-Schott studied under Walter Nothas, Heinrich Schiff and Steven Isserlis. He benefited from the personal sponsorship and support of Anne-Sophie Mutter as the holder of a scholarship from her Foundation. At the age of 15 he won international acclaiming by taking first prize at Moscow’s International Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians.
Daniel Müller-Schott plays a Matteo Goffriller cello, made in Venice in 1700. The 29-year-old musician lives in Munich, his home-town. In his spare time he is an enthusiastic jogger and badminton player. He is very interested in art, and feels a strong affinity with 19th century French painters; it is the way they treat colours and light which constantly fascinates and inspires him

Sonata (Sonatina) for Violin and Piano in D major, D. 384 (Op. 137, No. 1)
	1	Allegro molto	4. 10
	2	Andante	4. 25
	3	Allegro vivace	4. 00

Sonata (Sonatina) for Violin and Piano in A minor, D. 385 (Op. 137, No. 2)
	4	Allegro moderato	6. 48
	5	Andante	7. 29
	6	Menuetto (Allegro)	2. 13
	7	Allegro	4. 36

Sonata (Sonatina) for Violin and Piano in G minor, D. 408 (Op. 137, No. 3)
	8	Allegro giusto	4. 46
	9	Andante	4. 43
	10	Menuetto (Allegro vivace)	2. 28
	11	Allegro moderato	4. 04

Rondo for Violin and Piano in B minor “Rondo Brillant”, D. 895 (Op. 70)
	12	Andante - Allegro	14. 28
Total playing time:			64. 31


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Franz Schubert (1797 – 1828) Complete Works for Violin and Piano, Volume 1 Julia Fischer, violin Martin Helmchen, piano Recording venue: Concertboerderij Valthermond,The Netherlands, (3-5/1/2009 & 3-5/7/2009) PTC 5186 347 DSD recorded Download Biographies - Discographies in PDF Julia Fischer English German French Martin Helmchen English German French