Booklet

Tschaikowski and Bach, a violin concertoand a partita for solo violin: are thesenot strange bed-fellows on one release?But both works are in D - major and minor- and both mark, each in its own way,a summit of the art of the violin. Both ofthese pieces demand extreme staminafrom their interpreters. Bach’s Partitain d minor was considered by his contemporariesto be unplayable, not leastbecause of the extraordinarily complexchord-playing techniques required, especiallyin the famous “Chaconne”. Tschaikowski’sconcerto takes the violinists tothe limits of the possible in all technicaland musical ways.When preparing for my first public performanceof the Partita in 1982, I repeatedlypractised playing the work 3 timesin succession without putting the violindown, in order to build up the necessarycondition. Both pieces were already (apparentlyunreachable) goals for me whenI was still a student, but both became apart of my repertoire for my final examinations.And, as if the examining professorshad divined my affinity for both,they had me play the first movement ofthe concerto and, directly afterwards, theChaconne - rather an unusual order forsuch an examination!I remember well a lesson with Prof. Rostal:I played the entire Tschaikowski concertowith piano accompaniment. Afterthe final chord there was a long silence;then came the pithy comment, „Nowyou are a proper violinist.“ That was notunpleasant to hear.Another nice story: when I asked him, ifit were permissible to use a little vibratohere and there in the d minor partita, hepromptly asked, „Do you think that Bachfathered all 20 of his children withoutvibrato?“In 1986 I played this partita in the (thenvery drafty) cloisters of the cathedral inKönigslutter. During the Saraband, thequietest, most intimate movement of thework, there was a sudden loud bang; aheavy wooden door, which had beenleft slightly ajar, suddenly banged shutdirectly behind me. The audience, whichwas as startled as I was, did not noticethat my bow had jumped at least 30 centimeters.In these and other ways, Bach’s Partitaand Tschaikowski‘s concerto have beenmy companions for my entire professionallife; the latter was one of the piecesI played at my audition for the positionof principal violinist for the orchestra inBraunschweig.