Program

Fritz Kreisler :
Love's Joy (Liebesfreud)/ Love's Sorrow (Liebesleid) / Lovely Rosemary (Schön Rosmarin)
Johann Sebastian Bach :
Air on the G String (Air auf der G-Saite)
Francis Jean Marcel Poulenc :
Violin Sonata (Sonate pour violon et piano)
Maurice Ravel :
Tzigane

- intermission -

Claude Debussy :
The Girl with the Flaxen Hair (La Fille aux Cheveux de Lin)
Jules Emile Frédéric Massenet :
Méditation from the opera Thaïs
César-Auguste-Jean-Guillaume-Hubert Franck :
Sonata Pour Piano et Violon en La majeur

Biography

Yasuko OHTANI, Violin

Yasuko Ohtani is one of Japan’s leading violinists in terms of both popularity and talent. In 2015 she celebrated the 40th anniversary of her debut. She plays a 1708 Pietro Guarneri violin. Acclaimed for her “singing violin,” Ohtani moves and delights audiences with her vivid stage presence and warm, profound performances. After graduating from Tokyo University of the Arts (TUA), she completed the doctoral course at that university’s graduate school. She took first place in the All Japan Student Music Competition, and second place in the Henryk Szeryng Japan Visit Commemorative Competition.

Ohtani began her career as a soloist while still a student. She has given recitals to great acclaim in locations including Vienna, Rome, Cologne and Berlin, and has received high praise for concerts performed on the invitation of the Toronto Music Festival, the city of Salzburg and others.

Ohtani also appears with many orchestras from inside and outside Japan, and has given highly successful performances on Japan tours with the Slovak Philharmonic, Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra and National Philharmonic Orchestra of Ukraine. In May 2017, Ohtani performed in the opening concert of the Kiev Spring Music Festival on the invitation of the National Philharmonic Orchestra of Ukraine. She is also set to appear with the MYAoscow Philharmonic Orchestra on its Japan tour of June-July 2017. Yasuko Ohtani’s 10-year project “Violin!!” began in December 2016 at Hakuju Hall, Tokyo.

Her CDs include the highly praised “R. Strauss Sonata / Beethoven Sonata No. 5,” recorded at Jesus Christ Church in Berlin (Itamar Golan, piano), released by Sony Records. On the King Records label, she has released a live concert recording of the Bruch Violin Concerto No. 1 and Saint-Saens Violin Concerto No. 3, performed at Suntory Hall (with the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra conducted by Junichi Hirokami and Naoto Otomo); a CD of Mendelssohn and Lalo violin concertos (with the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra conducted by Naoto Otomo); and a collection of essays revolving around confectionery.

Ohtani received the Agency for Cultural Affairs’ “Art Festival Award.” She is a professor at the Tokyo College of Music, and guides the next generation of musicians as an instructor at Tokyo University of the Arts. Her wide-ranging activities include serving in numerous cultural posts in the public sphere and appearing as emcee on a TV music program. Official website: http://www.yasukoohtani.com/ Curriculum Vitae as of 2017

Itamar GOLAN, Piano

For more than two decades, Itamar Golan has been partnering the most outstanding instrumentalists of our time. His work has brought him great critical acclaim, and he is one of the most sought after pianists of his generation, playing on the most prestigious stages around the world. Born in Vilnius, Lithuania, his family emigrated to Israel when he was a year old. There he started his musical studies and at the age of 7, gave his first concerts in Tel-Aviv.

He was repeatedly awarded scholarships from the American-Israel Cultural Foundation which enabled him to study with Emanuel Krasovsky and his chamber music mentor, Chaim Taub. Later under a full scholarship from the New England Conservatory of Boston, he was chosen to study with Leonard Shure.

Since his earliest years, Itamar Golan’s passion has been chamber music but he has also appeared as soloist with some of the major orchestras, including the Israel Philharmonic and the Berlin Philharmonic under the direction of Zubin Mehta, Royal Philharmonic under the direction of Daniele Gatti, the Orchestra Philharmonica della Scala, the Vienna Philharmonic under the direction of Riccardo Muti and Philarhomia Orchestra under the direction of Lorin Maazel.

Over the years, he has collaborated with Vadim Repin, Maxim Vengerov, Julian Rachlin, Mischa Maisky, Shlomo Mintz, Ivry Gitlis, Ida Haendel, Kyung Wha Chung, Sharon Kam, Janine Jansen, Martin Frost and Torleif Thedeen among many others.

He is a frequent participant in many prestigious international music festivals, such as Salzburg, Verbier, Lucerne, Tanglewood, Ravinia, and has made a numerous recordings for big labels as Deutsche Grammophon, Warner Classics, Decca, Teldec, EMI and Sony Classical. In 1991, Itamar Golan was nominated to the faculty of the Manhattan School of Music, making him one of their youngest teachers ever. Since 1994, he has taught chamber music at the Paris Conservatory. Itamar resides in Paris, where he is involved in many different artistic projects.