Kronberg, im März 2010:

An einem der ersten Tage ohne Schnee in Kronberg waren sie alle versammelt: 7 Junge Solisten waren zusammengekommen, um Ana Chumachencos Meisterkurs beizuwohnen. Endlich hatte ich mal Gelegenheit, so viele junge Musiker unseres Studienganges „Kronberg Academy Masters/ Further Master Studies“ geballt an einem Platz zu erleben. Keine Übertreibung: das war ein angenehmes, familiäres Zusammentreffen von Alt und Jung, und was mir so mancher Junge  Solist nachher erzählte:  man kennt sich größtenteils untereinander. Aber der Reihe nach….

Wer war dabei….?

Peijun Xu, Benedict Klöckner, Yumiko Urabe, Alicja Smietana, Alina Ibragimova, Eri Sugita, Sasha Sitkovetsky, Soojin Han, Vilde Frang, der Berliner Gabriel Schwabe und schließlich David Gueran.

Während der Vormittag alleine dem Einzelunterricht gewidmet war, war nach dem gemeinsamen Mittagessen zunächst Kammermusik „vom Blatt“ angesagt und es durften nun auch einige Zuhörer des Academy Teams mit dabei sein. Absolut spannend dachte ich und ließ mich auf knappe 3 Stunden intensiven Musik-Hörens ein.

Direkt neben dem aufmerksamen Stephen Potts sitzend, dem Leiter des Academy-Master Studienganges,  versuchte ich , sowohl den Klängen der Musik zu folgen, als auch ein Gefühl für die Anstrengungen und Konzentration der jungen Musiker mit aufzunehmen. Den Auftakt machte das lebhafte und zugleich rasante Oktett von Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy – ein absolut begeisterndes Stück! Im Halbkreis sitzend, Frau Chumachenco als 4. Geige im Zentrum, musizierten alle mit viel Schwung und Klasse. Sasha Sitkovetsky, der mir zuvor stolz von seinen frühen Begegnungen mit Yehudi Menuhin berichtet hatte, hatte als erster Geiger die Führungsrolle inne – glänzend – so meine subjektive Empfindung.

Dann, nach einer kurzen Pause, stand Alina Ibragimova allein im Zentrum der Aufmerksamkeit: Sie intonierte die Sonate Nr. 2 Op. 94 von Prokofiev mit großer Inbrunst. Die begeisterten Kommentare Ana Chumachencos und der anderen Meisterkurs-Teilnehmer über ihr Spiel ließ die junge Russin, die in Großbritannien lebt, mit sichtlicher Freude und gut gelaunt über sich ergehen. Einer Katze gleich, lautlos und gewandt aus der Bodenperspektive fotografierend, war auch unser Fotograf Andreas Malkmus mit von der Partie, um diese Momente gewissermaßen für das Familien-Album  festzuhalten. Den Schlussakkord seiner Arbeit bildete ein wirklich schönes, familiäres  Gruppenfoto der jungen Musiker mit Frau Chumachenco –

dieses und weitere „atmosphärische“ Momentaufnahmen eines besonderen Meisterkurs-Tages  in der Kronberger Streitkirche können nun alle Fans und Freunde auf unserer Kronberg Academy Flickr- Seite bestaunen.

Michael Heinz

“Are you going to Kronberg?” has become a standard question amongst the cellists I know, so I was intrigued when my girlfriend Hwa-Won Pyun asked whether I could accompany her during violin masterclasses there. For the first time this picturesque village near Frankfurt is hosting almost 200 violinists – from 42 countries we were told proudly by the project’s director Raimund Trenkler. From the start it is clear that the whole operation is fantastically – well organised, a friendly welcome, caring host families, and a great series of concerts in the evenings.

Hwa-Won and I had prepared the Brahms D minor Sonata to play to Christian Tetzlaff, though very early (9.30!) our lesson was very productive, a teacher who really listens to what you do, and has a calm, reassuring manner. One senses how much the music means to him, how deeply he thinks about what playing music entails and how many hours he must spent with this music himself …

Inviting several professors simultaneously gives one the chance to listen to other teachers too: Ana Chumachenko teaching the Mendelssohn concerto, or Mauricio Fuks examining the intricacies of posture and bowing technique. I was impressed by the honesty and respect shown by both teachers and students for each other.

Even as a non-string player, it was difficult not to be captivated by the mixture of musical hard work, the astounding level of the students of all ages and the sense that the whole thing was also just an excuse for a social occasion, a sort of “big violin party”.

Nicholas Rimmer

Impressions from the workshop with L. Subramaniam.

All photos: Copyright Andreas Malkmus

During our Violin Masterclasses I met the Polish violinist Katarzyna Bryla (27) who’s an active participant and asked her to answer a few questions.

How did you come in touch with Kronberg Academy?
I have met Christian Tetzlaff in Washington DC in November, where he was conducting a Masterclass through my school – the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.
After the Masterclass he asked me if I would be interested in coming to Kronberg Academy as  participant. Of course I have heard about the Kronberg Cello Festival, I knew how famous and wonderful this place was, how many great musicians played and taught here. So I am very glad that I can take part in the Violin Master Classes a Kronberg Academy as a student.

What is  the image of Kronberg Academy?
I think that the idea of Kronberg Academy is fantastic. It is a week long festival with great concerts, we as students get lessons with world famous violinists, have a chance to listen to other Masterclasses and learn from four different violin schools.

Getting back to your first lesson on Tuesday with Christian Tetzlaff. How was your lesson?
I played Sonata in D Minor by Johannes Brahms. My lesson was very good, full of technical information, but technique that allows you to do whatever you want musically. Sometimes it is very hard to do those things on the spot, but after lessons like these I always go home and practice more to learn what the teacher asked me to do.

How will the lesson change your further practicing?
I will pay more attention to what the composer writes in the music, to be more clear with all the phrasings.

How many hours do you practice a day?
I usually practice about 3 hours a day, but it all depends on my schedule.

How do you feel here in Kronberg?
I feel at home, my host family is wonderful, nice and so helpful. First day here they took me to see the city, the castle, churches. The people, from the festival are also very nice and organized. You can not ask for more!

Thanks Katarzyna for answering my questions!

Ulrike Schmid

First impressions from our Violin Masterclasses. After the Audition at the welcome dinner.

Photos: Copyright Nicole Gerster

Auf einen Blick: Die Dozenten, Solisten und Ensembles, die ab nächster Woche im Rahmen der Geigen Meisterkurse unterrichten und/oder in Konzerten auftreten werden.

Born in Hamburg in 1966, Christian Tetzlaff studied at the Lübeck Conservatory with Uwe-Martin Haiberg and in Cincinnati with Walter Levin. He is internationally recognized as one of the most important violinists of his generation, renowned for his musical integrity, technical assurance and intelligent, compelling interpretations. Equally at home in the classical/romantic repertoire as in con-temporary music, Christian Tetzlaff is highly regarded for his interpretations of the violin concertos of Beethoven, Brahms and Tchaikovsky as well as Berg, Ligeti and Shostakovich. 2005 Musical America named him “Instrumentalist of the Year”.

He is a regular soloist in major series with the most important US orchestras as well as major European orchestras. He can also be seen at festivals such as the BBC Proms, Edinburgh and Lucerne Festival and all US summer festivals. He plays recitals with Leif Ove Andsnes, Alexander Lonquich and Lars Vogt and performs frequently with his string quartet. Christian Tetzlaff has received several awards for his recordings: the Diapason d’Or twice, the Edison prize, the Midem Classical Award as well as the ECHO Klassik prize and several nominations for the Grammy Awards. A new recording of Bach’s solo sonatas and partitas was released in March 2007 and a Virgin recording of the violin concertos of Brahms and Joseph Joachim followed in January 2008. He is Professor to Kronberg Academy Masters.

Pavel Vernikov, a student of David Oistrach and Semyon Snitkowsky, gained a reputation as virtuoso violinist more than twenty years ago. He has appeared at such prestigious venues as the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Carnegie Hall and Kennedy Center, Wigmore Hall in London, La Salle Gaveau in Paris, La Scala in Milan and Santa Cecilia in Rome. His collaborators have included S. Richter, C. Zimmermann, J. Galway, C. Ivaldi, A. Meunier, P. Gallois, M. Tipo, N. Gutman, O. Kagan, Y. Bashmet, E. Versaladze and A. Pay. He inaugurated the Russian Academy of Higher Learning in Portogruaro.

He teaches and gives masterclasses around the world, Italy, France, Finland, Spain, Israel, etc. and has been invited to be a member of the jury at international competitions (Szigeti, Krysler, Gui, Budapest). Pavel Vernikov has recorded for RCA, Ondine and Dynamic.

He plays the well-known Guarneri violin “Baron Knoop” (Venice 1743) owned by the Fondazione Pro Canale of Milan. He is currently teaching at Vienna University.

Professor of Violin at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, Mauricio Fuks began his violin studies in his native Uruguay with Ylia Fidlon. After graduating from the Juilliard School of Music, where he studied with Joseph Fuchs and Ivan Galamian, he furthered his studies at the University of Southern California with Jascha Heifetz. In 1964 he won 1st Prize at the Young Concert Artist Competition.

Following a distinguished international career as concertmaster, chamber musician and soloist, he now devotes himself entirely to pedagogy. Mauricio Fuks has been a visiting professor at the Yehudi Menuhin School in England, the University of Limerick in Ireland, and the Academy of Music Hanns Eisler in Berlin. He is regularly invited to give masterclasses at the Reina Sofia School in Madrid, the Scuola di Musica in Fiesole, the Royal Conservatory in The Hague, the Royal Academy of Music in London, the Conservatoire National Supérieur in Paris, as well as the Shanghai and Beijing National Conservatories.

He is a regular participant in summer festivals such as the Salzburg International Summer Academy of the Mozarteum, the Britten-Pears for Avanced Studies in Aldeburgh, the Sarasota Music Festival, the Orford Summer Festival in Quebec and the Ferme de Villefavard in France. Mauricio Fuks has served as jury member in numerous international competitions. He was featured in The Strad Magazine of March 1993 and was appointed an Honorary Member of the Royal Academy of Music in 1999. Professor Fuks is regarded as one of today’s finest violin pedagogues.

Of Russian origin but born in Italy and of Argentinean and German nationality, Ana Chumachenco started to play the violin at the age of four under the supervision of her father, a disciple of Leopold Auer, and later with Ljerko Spiller in Buenos Aires.

After achieving a remarkable career in her early years, she returned to Europe at the age of 17 to continue her studies. A year later she was awarded the gold medal at the Carl Flesch competition in London, and a few years later the silver medal at the Queen Elizabeth Competition in Brussels. Her musical mentors in those years were Joseph Szigeti, Sandor Vegh and Yehudi Menuhin.

Besides her appearances in recitals as a soloist with major orchestras, Ana Chumachenco has dedicated much of her time to chamber music, especially in a string trio with her husband and violist, Oscar Lysy, and cellist Walter Notas, with whom, under the name of the Munich String Trio, she has performed for over 20 years.

Presently Ana Chumachenco holds a professorship at the Musikhochschule in Munich, her students being outstanding young violinists who themselves are international performers. Ana Chumachenco is periodically invited to take part as a juror in major violin competitions, such as the Queen Elisabeth International Music Competition of Belgium, the International Jean Sibelius Violin Competition in Helsinki, and others. She is professor to Kronberg Academy Masters.