Violinist Augustin Hadelich Next Stop Carnegie Hall

Two of the most significant and meaningful prizes awarded by the IVCI each quadrennial competition are the use of the ex-Gingold Stradivari violin and a Carnegie Hall debut recital. A New York debut is an important career event for an emerging international artist and, although Augustin has performed many times in New York City, a recital in Carnegie Hall’s Isaac Stern Auditorium is one of the pivotal events he has been focusing on this season. The artist, the affair and the instrument intersect on Friday evening, March 28, 2008 at 8:00 p.m. This event is presented by the IVCI with support from Gold Medalist Prize sponsors Randall and Marianne Tobias.

Repertoire staples by Beethoven, Brahms and Bártok, in addition to a new work which received its premiere at the 2006 IVCI, form a substantial and colorful program. They are Beethoven’s first sonata in D major, Op. 12, No. 1; Bártok’s solo violin sonata, BB. 124; and Brahms’ D minor sonata, Op. 108. The concert also features the work commissioned specially for the 2006 IVCI, Bright Sheng’s A Night at the Chinese Opera, a fitting inclusion as Augustin took the 2006 Competition prize for Best Performance of the Commissioned Work.

Augustin will perform on the Competition’s 1683 Stradivari violin formerly owned by Josef Gingold, the renowned violinist, teacher and IVCI Founding Artistic Director. This instrument has been in Mr. Hadelich’s hands since the day he was awarded the Gold Medal in September 2006. He has enjoyed exploring the instrument and has continuous use of this remarkably expressive tool until 2010.

The past year has been an enormously productive one for Augustin. Critics have universally lauded his performances as imaginative and of the highest caliber. After a performance in Germany this past October, a reviewer for the Kölnische Rundschau wrote, “With pure tone, profound expression and sophisticated technique, the 23-year-old Augustin Hadelich was the quiet star of the newest Meisterwerk concert of the Cologne Chamber Orchestra…In Mozart’s Violin Concertos No. 2 and No. 5 he proved what great artistry on the violin is; with complete control over his Strad, he discovered new depth and clarity in Mozart’s concertos, and the sophisticated drama in the cadenzas…was masterful.”

Single tickets for the March 28 concert at Carnegie Hall range in price from $20 to $40 and are available by calling CarnegieCharge at (212) 247-7800 or online at www.carnegiehall.org.