ITAMAR ZORMAN

ITAMAR ZORMAN , violin

Itamar Zorman is one of the most soulful, evocative artists of his generation, distinguished by his emotionally gripping performances and gift for musical storytelling. Since his emergence with the top prize at the 2011 International Tchaikovsky Competition, he has wowed audiences all over the world with breathtaking style. His “youthful intensity” and “achingly beautiful” sound shine through in every performance, earning him the title of the “virtuoso of emotions. Awarded the Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award for 2014, violinist Itamar Zorman is the winner of the 2013 Avery Fisher Career Grant.

Mr. Zorman has performed as a soloist with such orchestras as the Israel Philharmonic, New World Symphony, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, KBS Symphony Seoul, Frankfurt Radio Symphony, German Radio Philharmonic, and the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse. He has worked with conductors such as Zubin Mehta, Michael Tilson-Thomas, James DePreist, Yuri Bashmet, and Michael Stern. As a recitalist he performed at Carnegie Hall’s Distinctive Debut series, People’s Symphony Concerts, the Louvre Museum, Suntory Hall Laeiszhalle Hamburg and HR-Sendesaal Frankfurt. He has also collaborated with legendary artists such as Richard Goode (including performances at Carnegie Hall and Library of Congress), Mitsuko Uchida, Steven Isserlis and Jörg Widmann.

As part of an ongoing exploration of the music of Paul Ben-Haim, Mr. Zorman released a CD of his works for violin and orchestra with BBC National Orchestra of Wales and Philippe Bach for BIS Records, in April 2019, entitled “Evocation.”

Described as a “poet of the violin”, Itamar Zorman is also a committed chamber player. He is a founding member of the Israeli Chamber Project and a member of the Lysander Piano Trio, with which he won the 2012 Concert Artists Guild Competition, the Grand Prize in the 2011 Coleman Chamber Music Competition, 1st prize in the 2011 Arriaga Competition, and a bronze medal in the 2010 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition.

Born in Tel-Aviv in 1985 to a family of musicians, Itamar began his violin studies at the age of six at the Israeli Conservatory of Music in Tel-Aviv. He received his Bachelor of Music from the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance, his Master of Music from The Juilliard School in 2009, and then received an Artist Diploma from Manhattan School of Music in 2010 and an Artist Diploma from Julliard in 2012 under the tutelage of Sylvia Rosenberg. He is an alumnus of the Kronberg Academy where he studied with Christian Tetzlaff and Mauricio Fuks. He is also the recipient of scholarships from the America-Israel Cultural Foundation and has worked with Itzhak Perlman, Pinchas Zukerman, Shlomo Mintz, Ida Haendel, and Ivry Gitlis.

Mr. Zorman is currently on faculty at the Eastman School of Music. He plays on a 1734 Guarneri del Gesù, from the collection of Yehuda Zisapel.

Program Notes

Splendor Fountain: Fanfare for Orchestra

DANIEL CROZIER

Splendor Fountain: Fanfare for Orchestra was originally completed in 2018 on a co-commission from the Florida Orchestra and Rollins College to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Florida Orchestra. For the present performances by the Bach Festival Society, the work was largely re-written, to the extent that I considered adopting a new title for the piece, but rejected that idea in favor of the original, which still seemed most fitting. As its title suggests, the piece is largely festive. It is a narrative, a story in music, whose two main characters are presented at the outset. These characters consist of two fanfares, one grand and slow, followed by another fast and athletic. These two extroverted ideas are intruded upon by more inward, pensive, even threatening aspects of their own natures, but their inner struggle results in eventual resolution and a triumphant return. In this revision, in addition to being a fanfare this piece is also a tiny, quasi-concerto for the Bach Festival Orchestra itself. Above all, it is meant to be fun to play. As I worked, I tried to feature each section of the orchestra, along with the individual players who have been my colleagues and friends over many years.

- Daniel Crozier

Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor, Opus 26 MAX BRUCH

No one could accuse Bruch of not being a hard worker. In addition to composing three operas, three symphonies, more than 40 pieces for chorus and numerous pieces in other forms, he worked extensively as a teacher and conductor, including a three-year stint as music director of the Liverpool Philharmonic Society.

Much of his creative efforts have gone for nothing, however, since not one of the above-mentioned pieces has gained a foothold in the standard repertoire. The sifting process of time has left just a trio of Bruch’s works to warm themselves in the sun. Fashions in music come and go, but the first of his three violin concertos, the Kol Nidrei for cello, and the Scottish Fantasy for violin and orchestra retain the popularity that greeted them from day one.

As with such contemporaries as Camille Saint-Saëns, Bruch never abandoned the style he adopted in his youth. In his case, it was the warm, expressive Romantic German school of Mendelssohn and Schumann.

Although his first violin concerto sounds smooth and effortless, it followed a difficult course to its final form. It won a favorable reception at its first public performance, on April 24, 1866, in Coblenz, Germany, but it still left Bruch unsatisfied. Seeking advice on how to improve it, he consulted with the widely-respected Hungarian violinist, Joseph Joachim. Joachim gave him a long, detailed evaluation. Relieved by this expert counsel, Bruch dedicated the concerto to Joachim. The debut of the final, revised edition, in Bremen, Germany, on January 7, 1868, with Joachim as soloist, drew a warm response from audience and composer alike.

Bruch entitled the concerto’s opening section prelude, implying that it serves primarily as an introduction to the more important second movement, the adagio. The prelude opens in an air of quiet, brooding melancholy before breaking out into a full-blown and impassioned allegro. It builds up to two major climaxes before dying away in emotional exhaustion. Bruch segues