Vieuxtemps

At age 18, Soo-Min Lee already won 1st prize in Dong-A competition which is one of the biggest competitions in Korea. She studied with Prof. En-sik Choi in Seoul National University and after she finished Bachelor, she continued her studies in Cologne with Prof. Rainer Moog. She finished her Diplom with distinction and Konzertexamen in Musikhochschule in Cologne.

Wieniawski’s notorious F sharp minor Concerto, with its perilous opening chain of consecutive tenths, was for a long time the preserve of the few brave enough to take it on, most notably Michael Rabin, Itzhak Perlman, Midori and Gil Shaham. Recent years have witnessed a resurgence of interest and this latest release from Soo-Hyun Park, whose various mentors include Dora Schwarzberg, is also extremely accomplished. If the aforementioned swash their virtuoso buckles imposingly, Park places the emphasis on velvet-toned lyricism rather than pyrotechnical histrionics. She also plays with an unusually wide dynamic range, drawing the listener in with her imaginative phrasing, preferring the elegant poise of a fencing champion to piratical cut and thrust.

Kaum jemand hatte geahnt, dass der Belgische Komponist Henri Vieuxtemps (1820-1881) zwei Cellokonzerte geschrieben hat. Angesichts der schmalen Celloliteratur der Romantik eine schoene Bereicherung! Die Konzerte sind dramatisch-verspielt, bieten alles, was sich der Hoerer bei Werken aus dieser Epoche wuenscht. Absolut fantastisch ist diese Einspielung mit dem charismatischen Solisten Heinrich Schiff. Neuere Einspielungen koennen seiner Interpretation nicht das Wasser reichen!

What do you think Paganini, whose unprecedented virtuosity sent the musical world into a frenzy and persuaded the simple-minded that he must be in league with the devil, or indeed his audiences, would have thought had they been able to witness the large number of players, some quite young, who today can reproduce with complete assurance, apparent ease and impeccable intonation all his most dazzling feats flying scales and arpeggios over the instrument's entire compass, passages in thirds, octaves or tenths, chords, harmonics in thirds, left-hand pizzicatos, rapid archet volant runs, ricochet bowing and wizardry of every kind?

Henry François Joseph Vieuxtemps was aged 4 when he started the violin with his father, a violin-maker and amateur violinist. He gave his first public performance at the age of 6 and his talent attracted the attention of Charles Auguste de Bériot, who brought him to Paris, where in 1829 he made his début.