Gidon Kremer Returns to Korea
By Bae Keun-min
Staff Reporter
Violinist Gidon Kremer and the Kremerata Baltica will return to Korea following their last visit in 2005.
The 60-year-old virtuoso and the chamber orchestra will hold a concert on June 22 at the Seongnam Arts Center. Kremer has led the orchestra as the artistic director and solo violinist since he founded it in 1996.
Born in Riga, Latvia in 1947, Kremer has built an international reputation as soloist and conductor since winning the First Prize in both the 1969 Paganini and the 1970 Tchaikovsky International competitions, and the third prize at the 1967 Queen Elizabeth Competition.
With exceptional interpretative powers, Kremer released more than 100 recordings and received prestigious international awards for many of his albums, including the Grand Prix du Disque and Deutscher Schallplattenpreis.
The orchestra, comprising 27 young musicians from Baltic nations such as Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, has been acknowledged as being energetic and innovative, premiering pieces by contemporary composers from Eastern Europe. They have served as high-profile artistically distinguished cultural ambassadors for the region since its foundation.
The chamber orchestra received a Grammy Award in 2002 for its recording ``After Mozart,'' which contains modern numbers influenced by the great composer. ``Eight Seasons,'' arranged from a work by Astor Pantaleon Piazzolla, is one of its representative albums.
The upcoming concert will feature Gustav Mahler's Adagio from Symphony No.10, Domitri Shostakovich's Violin Sonata (Op.134), Giya Kancheli's ``Little Daneliada'' and ``Four Seasons in Buenos Aires'' by Piazzolla.
The violinist and the orchestra will also hold another concert on June 23 in Daegu, featuring numbers by Vivaldi, Piazzolla and Paganini.
Tickets at the Seongnam cost from 40,000 won to 80,000 won. For more information, call (031) 783-8000.