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Frankly Music features Frank Almond andpianist William Wolfram in a program previewing their CD, A Violin’s Life, scheduled for release on Avie Records later thisspring. All of the works on the CD have direct historical connections to the“Lipiński” Stradivarius violin on which Almond performs. This preview concert program will highlight works from theCD, including music by Johannes Brahms, Franz Liszt, Robert Schumann and aviolin and piano sonata by Julius Röntgen.Almond’s recording project was inspired by the history of the“Lipiński” Stradivarius violin. Italian master instrument-maker AntonioStradivari (1644-1737) crafted it in 1715, during what is known as his “goldenperiod.” Stradivari is famous for having made the finest stringed instrumentsof all time. The ingenious craftsmanship and design of Stradivarius violinshave not been surpassed to date, making them the world’s most coveted andvaluable stringed instruments worth millions of dollars.“Strads are better than other violins froma player’s perspective, because the instrument allows you to maximizeeverything,” Almond says. “No one else is more associated with high-levelviolins than Stradivari is.” The recording project was funded by a 2012Kickstarter campaign, the world’s hottest source of “crowd funding” forcreative projects. Many Stradivarius violins have aninteresting history and pedigree, and the “Lipiński” is no exception. Theinstrument gets its name from Polish violin virtuoso Karol Lipiński, whoperformed on it from around 1818 tohis death in 1861. Lipiński received the violin from a student of GiuseppeTartini. An Italian violinist, composer and teacher, Tartini (1692-1770) wasthe instrument’s first known owner.Lipiński, a respected performer andcomposer in his day, associated with the great cultural figures of his time,including Liszt, Schumann and virtuoso violinist and composer Nicolò Paganini,with whom he had an ongoing rivalry.Following Lipiński’s death, the violineventually came to the Röntgen family, which included several violinists andthe esteemed composer Julius Röntgen (1855-1932). Theviolin changed hands in the early 20th century and, in 1962, arrived in thepossession of Estonian violinist Evi Liivak. After Liivak’s passing in 1996,the “Lipiński” made its way into the hands of MSO concertmaster and FranklyMusic artistic director Frank Almond,who has played on the violin since 2008.In Almond’s words, the aim of the CDproject is “to partially chronicle some of the extraordinary history of the ‘Lipiński’violin and its associations.” The CD will include Tartini’s famous Devil’s Trill Sonata, a virtuoso soloviolin piece by Karol Lipiński, one of Röntgen’s unjustly neglected violinsonatas and Robert Schumann’s Sonata in D Minor. A friend of Lipiński’s,Schumann so admired the violinist’s playing that he dedicated his piano work Carnival to Lipiński. Schumann’s Sonatain D Minor is tightly woven into the history of the “Lipiński” violin. It ismost certain, says Almond, that this work was “performed during their lifetimeswith Schumann at the piano and Lipiński playing this very instrument.”All who attend the Frankly Musicprogram will be treated to the rare performance of JuliusRöntgen’s music. Röntgen wasa lesser-known compositional figure of the last century. “This is the firsttime this sonata has been recorded,” says Almond. The Frankly Music performance of the Röntgen sonata islikely the first in the area. The performance takes place at 7 p.m. onMonday, Feb. 25, at Wisconsin Lutheran College’s Schwan Concert Hall. For moreinformation, visit franklymusic.org.
