I can well remember when I first discovered the music of Mieczyslaw Weinberg. In 2011 I was invited by the cellist Eliah Sakakushev to perform at his chamber music festival in Wonfurt, Germany. We were playing a piano trio with Jose Gallardo, by this composer I hadnt heard of, and I went into our first rehearsal totally blind. Straight away I was shocked by the quality of the music: the intensity, the unique musical language he had; and I recall thinking: My God, what did this man go through in his life to write such emotive music? I went home hoping that hed written something else for the violin and was amazed to find such a treasure trove: seven sonatas for violin and piano, three for solo violin, and a violin concerto that had completely passed me by. At the same time I began to research his life, and found the answers to my question: that he had gone through the worst tragedies of the Holocaust, then been victimised and imprisoned in Russia - and yet throughout all his works theres so much hope and light. I was fascinated by Weinberg and his music, and knew I had to learn more.
Ive now played the Violin Concerto many times on the concert stage, although the first time I performed it was when I recorded it with the Deutsches Sinfonie-Orchester Berlin in 2013. A year later I gave the German premiere of the concerto, an occasion that filled me with trepidation. Id learnt it by heart and knew it was an incredible piece, but I felt the responsibility of introducing the audience to this little-known composer: if I didnt play well, would they think the piece wasnt good? Would that be the end of the concerto? But I was convinced of its quality: in the end it was a huge success and Ive now played it in many other countries and had the same enthusiastic response.
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