American violinist Gil Morgenstern arrived in Rome to give a private and original solo concert at St. Stephen’s Center Rome on via Aventina, a center that hosts all sorts of performances, though mostly music and dance. This American virtuoso, who has given concerts in Australia, China and Latin America, as well as Italy and the USA, is devoted to an innovative kind of classical music programming which he expands by organically integrating contemporary compositions – even dance music or jazz – in unexpected ways. His recording, 20th Century Duos for Violin and Cello, was at the top of the classical CD charts on eMusic.com, as well as one of the top ten best-selling classical music albums on Amazon.com. In the intimate ambience of St. Stephen’s Center Rome, and to an audience of aficionados, the vibrant, dynamic, agile (yet crystalline and incisive at the same time) virtuoso of the violin detailed and performed his “Reflections Series” program: quick, often instantaneous reflections on 20th-century composers. With his passion, but also his beautiful and cultivated sound, Morgenstern played “The Minstrel” written by Enescu in 1940 and steeped in childhood memories; the Andante from “Sonata for Solo Violin” written by Erwin Schuloff who eventually perished in a concentration camp and whose depths of despair are emphasised by the high points of the phrases. Gil Morgenstern also played a piece by Chen Yi, who suffered during the Chinese Revolution and was sent into forced labor: “Memory”, dedicated to her teacher, in which the folk songs of her country surface with gentle glissandi. Lastly, Bach: Morgenstern juxtaposes dances from a Partita for Solo Violin – Gavotte, Loure, Giga – with excerpts from the 20th-century Lithuanian composer Vytautas Barkauskas; these feature more modern dance motifs that intersect so felicitously with Bach’s rhythm, timbre and sonority you would think they had been composed in partnership by these two composers, born so many centuries apart. Talk about ‘musical intelligence’ …

At home, the Reflections Series has received a rave review from The New York Times, which praised Gil’s "rich, penetrating tone" and described his playing as "hauntingly beautiful" with "warmth and intensity." Read the full text of the article online here.

 

In Boston, the Reflections Series came to Tufts University, hosted by Tufts faculty member and frequent Reflections pianist Donald Berman. The performance was well-received, and the Boston Musical Intelligencer called the performance of Shostakovich’s Trio No. 2, "one of the finest performances of this noble work we have ever heard. Read the full text of the article online here.

 

Gil Morgenstern was a lively guest on New York Public Radio’s WNYC program, Soundcheck, with John Schaefer. The two discussed the source of artists’ inspiration, and whether it is important to know what that was. Listen in to the entire conversation online here.