Ms. Salerno-Sonnenberg's performances are always fresh, passionate, emotionally charged, and always compelling. In this engagement with the VSO, she shows off two distinct sides of her complex musical personality: she performs Bach's Violin Concerto No.1 in A minor (her first time performing Bach in Vancouver) as well as a Concerto for Violin and Orchestra written for her by Brazilian composer Clarice Assad, of the famous Assad family of Brazil. Ms. Salerno-Sonnenberg has collaborated frequently in the recent past with Sergio and Adair Assad, the brilliant guitarists/vocalists/composers - Clarice is Sergio's daughter, carrying on the family tradition of performance and composition (please see Ms. Assad's website: www.clariceassad.com). Saturday and Monday performances will include a Pre-Concert Talk at 7:05pm from the Orpheum stage, free to ticket-holders, given by Clarice Assad.
Considered a groundbreaker in the recording field, Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg continues to remain on the cutting edge with the creation of her own record label, NSS MUSIC (www.nssmusic.com). The label launched in summer 2005 with an August 1 release of two live recordings: one a recital CD recorded live at New York's Merkin Hall entitled "LIVE" featuring Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg with pianist Anne-Marie McDermott performing Schubert's Rondo brilliant, Poulenc's Sonata for Violin & Piano and Beethoven's Sonata No. 7 in c, Op. 30/2; and the other a concerto album featuring Tchaikovsky's Concerto for Violin in D, Op. 35 and Clarice Assad's Violin Concerto, which Nadja recorded live in November 2005 at Denver's Boettcher Concert Hall with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra and conductor Marin Alsop. With over 20 recordings to her credit, Nadja has also recorded for the Nonesuch and Angel/EMI Classics labels.
In addition to standard classical repertoire, including Barber, Brahms, Bruch, Chausson, Debussy, Mendelssohn, Paganini, Shostakovich, Vivaldi, and Wolf (all recorded for EMI Classics), she has received critical acclaim for several "crossover" discs as well: a self-titled recording of gypsy music from Eastern Europe with the duo guitarists the Assads (Nonesuch 2000); "Humoresque" (Nonesuch 1998), a CD of music from the 1947 film "Humoresque" that combines classical works and pop standards, which the New York Times has called "a valuable historical document"; and "It Ain't Necessarily So" (Angel/EMI 1995) which includes works by Gershwin, Kreisler, and Scott Joplin, among others. Included among her recordings is "Speaking In Strings" (Angel/EMI 1999) comprised of music from the Counterpoint Film's documentary on Ms. Salerno-Sonnenberg of the same title. An admirer of all musical genres, she has made guest appearances on recordings by Mandy Patinkin, Joe Jackson and Keith Jarrett, and has also collaborated with such artists as Judy Blazer, Roger Kellaway, Bob James, Regina Carter, Eileen Ivers and Janis Siegel. Additional recent releases include Mark O'Connor's Double Violin Concerto with the violinist/composer on the OMAC label, and Concerto Originis by Sergio Assad on the GHA label.
The concerts will take place on Saturday & Monday, March 3 & 5, 8pm, and Sunday, March 4, 2pm, at Orpheum Theatre, Kazuyoshi Akiyama - conductor, Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg - violin. Masterworks Gold Tickets $25 to $78 and Symphony Sundays Tickets $20 to $55 (Student, Senior and Subscriber discounts available). -- www.vancouversymphony.ca
Posted February 28th, 2007 by ruzik_tuzik
