Violinist Augustin Hadelich is a “technically dazzling” (New York Times) performer who revels “in the myriad ways of making a phrase come alive” (Washington Post). On April 16, Hadelich will present an intimate recital at Washington University in St. Louis as part of the 2023 Great Artists Series.
The program will open with Violin Partita No. 3 in E Major, BWV 1006 (1720) by Johann Sebastian Bach. Though famously a keyboard virtuoso, Bach also was a talented violinist whose compositions for the instrument reached their zenith with his set of six unaccompanied sonatas and partitas. Partita No. 3 opens with a dizzyingly energetic prelude, followed by a series of movements based on dances, including the “Gavotte en Rondeau” and a pair of contrasting minuets.
The program will continue with “Blue/s Forms” for solo violin (1979) by Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson, a composer whose work spanned classical music as well as jazz, dance, pop and film and television soundtracks. Next will be Sonata for Solo Violin, Op. 27, No. 2 “Obsession” (1923) by Eugène Ysaÿe, a Belgian musician once regarded as “The King of the Violin.”
Following intermission, the program will conclude with Bach’s Violin Partita No. 2 in D minor, BWV 1004 (1720). The Mount Everest of solo violin, the partita is widely considered a masterwork of the violin repertoire. It opens with a set of four dances — an allemande, a courante, a sarabande and a gigue — then segues to Bach’s magnificent, and rigorously demanding, variations on the chaconne.
About Augustin Hadelich
Born in Italy to German parents, Hadelich studied with Joel Smirnoff at The Juilliard School and is now an American citizen. He has appeared with major orchestras across North America, Europe and Asia, from the New York, London and Hong Kong philharmonics to the Boston, Chicago, New Zealand and Singapore symphonies, among many others.
Named Musical America’s 2018 “Instrumentalist of the Year,” Hadelich’s numerous honors include a 2016 Grammy Award for Best Classical Instrumental Solo for his recording of Dutilleux’s Violin Concerto “L’Arbre des songes” with the Seattle Symphony. His most recent recording is a Grammy-nominated double CD of Bach’s solo sonatas and partitas.
Read the full bio here.
Tickets and related events
Sponsored by the Department of Music in Arts & Sciences, the performance will begin at 7:30 p.m. in WashU’s E. Desmond Lee Concert Hall. Tickets are $40, or $32 for WashU faculty and staff, and $15 for students and children.
In addition, Hadelich will present a masterclass at noon Monday, April 17. The event is free and open to the public and will take place in WashU’s Pillsbury Theatre. Performing with Hadelich will be string students Charlie Wheelock, Holly Lam and Noah Kennedy.
Both the E. Desmond Lee Concert Hall and Pillsbury Theatre are located in the 560 Music Center, 560 Trinity Ave., at the intersection with Delmar Boulevard. Tickets are available through the Edison Theatre Box Office, 314-935-6543. For more information, visit music.wustl.edu.
About the Great Artists Series
The Great Artists Series hosts intimate recitals with some of the brightest stars on the contemporary concert stage. Hadelich’s performance concludes the 2023 series. The 2024 line-up will be announced later this spring.
