L'Aurore is Carolin Widmann's seventh recording for the New Series and her first solo violin disc for the label, in which she explores with elan and imagination a characteristically broad range of compositions. In this fascinating recital, Widmann wants to document the expressive potential of the violin in a programme that concludes with a radiant interpretation of Johann Sebastian Bach's Partita in D minor.
The core of the album is formed by several important discoveries, not least in the rarely performed Fantaisie Concertante by Romanian composer George Enescu from 1932: "How can you notate something that sounds so free, so visionary?" Widmann reflects in an interview with Max Nyffeler in the cd booklet. "The melody unfolds almost improvisatorily: the piece feels like a sweeping melisma." Throughout the uninterrupted quarter hour that the Fantaisie Concertante lasts, tension and intensity are maintained.
Enescu, like Bartók before him, was inspired by the folk music heritage of his homeland and brought its colours and energies into his multi-layered music. Widmann also sees and underscores a cross-reference between Enescu and Belgian composer Eugène Ysaÿe, whose Sonata No. 5 from 1923 embraces a whirling "Danse rustique" in the second part.
Between the demanding pieces of Enescu and Ysaÿe stand the aphoristic Three Miniatures by British composer George Benjamin: "There is not a note too many. His music is like a fabric that is very finely woven, and the three pieces are also subtly interwoven with each other." These short character sketches were written in 2001 and 2002 and dedicated respectively to violinist Jagdish Mistry, music publisher Sally Cavender and new music patron Klaus Lauer, at whose Badenweiller Music Days the cycle premiered.
L'Aurore also contains two passages from Hildegard von Bingen's 12th century antiphon Spiritus sanctus vivificans vita, in which Widmann translates the Gregorian chant into the idiom of the violin, without losing sight of the idea of breathing. "We come from the voice. That is the origin of our musical tradition. During the recording we discovered that I play the antiphon differently each time. That's why it appears twice, as a kind of ritual."
The album concludes with Bach's Partita in D minor. "Bach is the one who holds everything together. It was a great concern of mine to finally record this Partita. I waited for it and worked on it for years. Now I found the time right and I have enough experience with the piece. Perhaps I will play it differently in five years, but in its current form it is a mirror of my current life and artistic experiences..."
Carolin Widmann
Carolin Widmann, born in Munich in 1976, studied with Igor Ozim in Cologne, Michèle Auclair in Boston and David Takeno in London. She made her ECM debut in 2008 with a Gramophone Award-nominated recording of the Schumann violin sonatas, accompanied by Dénes Várjon. She followed with Phantasy of Spring, a recital featuring music by Feldman, Zimmermann, Schoenberg and Xenakis, which was also widely praised for its idiomatic understanding of demanding material, and contributed to Erkki-Sven Tüür's Strata album, which contained the premiere recording of the Estonian composer's Noësis for violin, clarinet and orchestra.
In 2012, an insightful Schubert recording was released, the first documentation of the musical alliance between Carolin Widmann and Alexander Lonquich, which had gained momentum since they first played Messiaen together in Salzburg in 2008. ECM released her 2009 recording of Morton Feldman's Violin and Orchestra in 2013, a work for large orchestra that nevertheless relies on the subtlest gestures to make its impact.
Widmann's collaboration with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe led to the recording of the violin concertos of Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy and Robert Schumann, again receiving very favourable reviews in the press.
Widmann performed as soloist with the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, the Orchestre National de France (Paris), the Orchestra di Santa Cecilia (Rome), the Tonhalle Orchester Zürich, RSO Vienna, the BBC Symphony Orchestra London, London Philharmonic Orchestra and the China Philharmonic in Beijing, and collaborated with conductors such as Riccardo Chailly, Sir Roger Norrington, Silvain Cambreling, Vladimir Jurowski, Emanuel Krivine, Peter Eötvös and Heinz Holliger. In 2013, Carolin Widmann was named Artist of the Year at the International Classical Music Awards.
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