A journey through the music of the 20th century. But a journey in which the glittering vehicle has a greater radiance than the landscape itself. The vehicle is the violin, a medium in which the spirit of Paganini is never far away. His virtuoso trapeze work echoes in the music of those other violin composers: Kreisler, Ysaÿe and Penderecki. Alfred Schnittke enjoyed working with such violin virtuosos.
He composed A Paganini for the violinist Oleh Krysa, who was a friend of his. Not everything is so extremely virtuoso. Richard Strauss arranged a melody from his opera Daphne for a violin-playing grandson. Then there are the more 'abstract' composers, who do not think so emphatically in terms of physical playing pleasure. From Isang Yun we hear Königliches Thema, inspired by Frederick the Great's royal theme for Bach. Yun, born in South Korea, lived and worked in Germany. Because of his criticism of the South Korean regime of the military leader Park Chung-hee, he was even abducted from Germany to Seoul in 1967. He was released two years later after international protests by Stravinsky, Karajan and Ligeti, among others. With her performance of the Königliches Thema, violinist Sueye Park, also South Korean, pays homage to her compatriot Yun. (HJ)more
