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News > Violinist cries out to play concerto
Violinist cries out to play concerto November 18, 2005 Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg has begged orchestras to let her play Dmitri Shostakovich's Violin Concerto. "I've been championing the work for many, many years," she said. "I feel like it was written for me. I recorded it with the composer's son." Sunday and Tuesday, she'll perform the concerto with the Reno Philharmonic. No begging was needed this time, but she is hopeful audiences will be open-minded about the work. "It's the kind of piece that you hear it and you'll never forget it," she said. "I guarantee it. "» It's the only piece I can guarantee." Salerno-Sonnenberg, an internationally recognized violinist, said she was taken by the music as a teen, and she never looked back. "I heard it on the radio and was absolutely blown away by what I had heard," she said. "I went to my teacher the next day and said, 'Can I learn this piece?' And she said, 'No. I don't really think it's a good idea.'"‰" Because the Shostakovich concerto is not part of the standard violin repertoire and because it is difficult for both the soloist and orchestra, Salerno-Sonnenberg's teacher didn't think it was a practical piece for a young musician. But that didn't deter her. "Basically, it left me to learn the piece by myself because I just couldn't ignore it," she said. "I don't want to be corny or anything, but I just fell in love with that piece and I had to play it." After years of practicing on her own, Salerno-Sonnenberg finally performed it in the mid-'80s, and it's been part of her repertoire since. "Why I love it, why it speaks to me so much, (is that) it requires an enormous variety of sound and emotions, from A to Z," she said. "A lot of violinists are not even trained that way. Most aren't. You know, to produce sometimes even a sound which is not beautiful." Salerno-Sonnenberg was born in Rome but moved to the United States at age 8 to further her musical studies. "(My mother) moved the family back and I started my formal training," Salerno-Sonnenberg said. "My mother was the one who instilled a discipline in me to practice when I was young." Salerno-Sonnenberg initially studied at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, and she later became a student of Dorothy DeLay at the Juilliard School. In 1999, she was the subject of the Oscar-nominated documentary film "Speaking in Strings." Although best known for playing classical music, Salerno-Sonnenberg said she enjoys performing other genres. During her career she has recorded with pop artist Joe Jackson, jazz pianist Keith Jarrett and Latin guitarists Sergio and Odair Assad. With the latter two, she recorded an album of gypsy music. "That is the most challenging chamber music I've ever played," she said. "You have to really, really listen. If you're playing a violin and you're playing with acoustic guitar, you're going to blow that instrument out of the water, you know, volume-wise "» and the way Sergio has written things is just so intricate." Salerno-Sonnenberg's Reno visit comes just a couple months after the launch of her own her own record label, NSS Music. She said she is excited to be tackling a new business venture despite its time demands. "There are times where things are a little more hectic than others," she said. "Getting the label started was an enormous challenge. "»I mean there were so many things that had to be taken care of, and things I wasn't aware of being an artist and not a business person." Now, she said, everything is running smoothly, so the label doesn't require as much of her attention as it did during startup. To kick things off, she released two new, live albums. "I'm just starting up with these two because I was the only artist that agreed to record for this label," she said. "I'm going to record some other people. "» I'm hoping that I'll have to get a bigger staff." |
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