Joanna Kamenarska in the Elbphilharmonie
Joanna Kamenarska delights audiences with Pantcho Wladigerow's Violin Concerto in the Great Hall of the Elbphilharmonie
Elbphilharmonie, March 2nd, 2024
by Harald Nicolas Stazol
Be careful, this concerto is addictive! And after listening to it eight times, I put it on a par with Bruch, Brahms and Tchaikovsky, even Mendelssohn: the 1st Violin Concerto by Pantcho Vladigerov. It is nothing less than a revelation, no, better: a new wonder of the world among violin concertos, and today the Hamburg Camerata performs it for the first time in the Hohe Haus in the most skilful, fast-paced, dreamy way.
But who is Pantcho Vladigerov? I leaf through the beautiful programme booklet entitled "Hey Haydn, what about uniting Cultures?", the motto of the Hamburg Camerata's concert series:
"After initial studies in Sofia, the Zurich-born cosmopolitan went to Berlin on a Bulgarian state scholarship, where he gradually rose to become a well-known figure in musical life there. The acclaimed premiere of his First Violin Concerto in 1921 was performed by none other than the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Fritz Reiner; Vladigerov worked for many years at the Deutsches Theater with the famous director Max Reinhardt; artistic contacts connected him with luminaries such as Richard Strauss, Paul Hindemith, Sergei Rachmaninov, Stefan Zweig and Hugo von Hofmannsthal. After the Nazis came to power in Germany, Vladigerov returned to Sofia, where he was appointed professor at the State Academy of Music in 1940.
However, he had already become an important source of inspiration for the music scene in his homeland when he caused a sensation at the first International Festival of Bulgarian Music in Prague in 1928 with the Bulgarian Rhapsody "Vardar"; he was also a founding member of the Bulgarian Composers' Association in 1933. Vladigerov's music, like his career, is a conglomerate of different cultures."
Back to the violin concerto, to the conductor and her full-body conducting: Delyana Lazarova, who jumps up 17 cm (seventeen in words!) at the beginning of Zoltán Kodály, in a kind of black catsuit skirt, willowy, the young lady, snappy, sometimes military, of the utmost, flaming passion, her dark hair not tied in a tight plait for nothing. Now, while Joanna Kamenarska gives her masterpiece, this is HER concert, the two young women merge into an almost platonic unity, the allegory of the cave is suspended for a marvellous 135 minutes, thanks to runs and dances and proud bombast, Saint-Saëns is also there and Wagner, in any case: Lazarova is one to watch out for!