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Beethoven and more 2011 podcast #38: Fireworks and inner peace

October 14, 2011

Fritz Kreisler's violin pieces are encore favorites, and for good reason: after so applause, the soloist can top the good vibes.

https://p.dw.com/p/12sNo
Arabella Steinbacher and the Iraqi youth orchestra. Copyright: DW
Arabella Steinbacher and the Iraqi youth orchestraImage: DW

Fritz Kreisler
Recitative and Scherzo Caprice for violin solo, op. 6
Arabella Steinbacher, violin
MP3 recorded on October 1, 2011 in the Beethoven Hall Bonn by Deutsche Welle (DW)

During orchestral concerts, violinist Arabella Steinbacher normally focuses her attention completely on the conductor. At her performance with the National Youth Symphony Orchestra Iraq, it was different, however. Before the concert she said, "I want to look at the faces of the other instrumentalists and show them what I'm doing."

That she did in the Beethoven Violin Concerto. But the audience didn't let the violinist, not yet thirty years old at the time of this performance in October 2011, go without an encore, for which she chose a showcase piece of the violin literature.

The daughter of a Japanese voice teacher and a German pianist lives in Munich. After a much-lauded appearance in 2004 with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, her datebook continues to grow fuller. "With all the hype and media attention," Steinbacher told DW, "I find some inner peace through jogging and meditation."


Author: Rick Fulker
Editor: Suzanne Cords