Uto Ughi is an
Italian violinist, teacher, writer, and conductor born (in Busto Arsizio) on
January 21, 1944. His name has been
closely associated with the National Academy of Saint Cecilia (in Rome) for
many years. He is a high-profile
promoter of musical culture all over the world, but especially in Italy, as is
Vladimir Spivakov in Russia. Ughi has
founded several music festivals along the way.
His discography covers most of the standard violin repertoire. Because he came of age in the 1960s, he has had
a chance to work with some of the legendary names in the conducting world (who
are for the most part now dead) as well as the most current luminaries of the
baton. He began his lessons at age 4. His father was an amateur violinist but his
first formal teacher was a nameless violinist from the opera orchestra of La
Scala. At age 7, Ughi gave his first
recital in Milan. Though it’s hard to
believe, according to one source, he played some Paganini Caprices as well as
the ubiquitous Bach Chaconne at that recital.
Ughi studied for ten years at the Chigiana Music Academy in Siena
(Tuscany.) He also took lessons from
George Enesco for a time. He began his
uninterrupted concertizing career in 1959 – he was 15 years old. Among his pupils are Augustin Hadelich and
Sayaka Shoji. Ughi’s recording of
Paganini’s fourth concerto is my favorite recording of that particular concerto. Here is a YouTube video of one of his
performances. He has also recorded a
seldom-played work – the Schumann concerto.
Here is the first movement from that recording - the second and third
movements are here. Between 1987 and
1992, he was the principal conductor of the Orchestra of the St Cecilia
Academy. Ughi has owned or played the
Kreutzer Stradivarius (the one from 1701 – there are 4 Strads named Kreutzer),
the General Kyd, the Ole Bull, and a Guarneri from 1744.
Sayaka
Shoji is a Japanese violinist born (in Tokyo) on January 30, 1983. She gained considerable attention after
winning the Paganini Violin Competition at age 16 (in 1999), the youngest competitor
to ever do so and the first Japanese violinist to win the gold medal at that
competition as well. Although she spent
her very early childhood in Italy, she began her violin studies in Japan, at
age 5. Among her first teachers (in
Tokyo) were Kazuko Yatani and Reiko Kaminishi.
At 15, she moved to Germany for further study. At 21, she graduated from the Advanced School
for Music in Cologne where her main teacher was Zakhar Bron, although she also
studied with Uto Ughi and Shlomo Mintz, among others. (Bron’s other famous pupils have been Maxim
Vengerov, Daniel Hope, Mayuko Kamio, and Vadim Repin.) Needless to say, Shoji has performed with
every major orchestra and most of the world’s illustrious conductors. Her first appearance with the Berlin
Philharmonic was at the Salzburg Easter Festival in 2002, playing Bruch’s first
concerto. Mariss Jansons was on the
podium. She first appeared with the New
York Philharmonic on October 7, 2004 playing the first Prokofiev concerto under
the baton of the late Lorin Maazel. She
was 21 years old. Her repertoire
includes three works seldom heard in concert: the Schumann, the Mendelssohn (in
d minor), and the Max Reger concertos. As
far as I know, Shoji has already recorded the Reger concerto but not yet the
Schumann or Mendelssohn’s first concerto.
Typical reviews from informed, respected, and experienced music critics read
as follows:”…virtuosity of the highest order, …infused with poetry, …passionate,
free, with an emotional intensity that many violinists will never achieve.” Her spectacular rendition of the Brahms
concerto can be seen and heard here. In my
opinion, the only performance which rivals it is the Heifetz rendition, and
that, for me, is saying a lot. Shoji
mostly records for the Deutsche Grammophon label. Volume 4 of her recording of all (10)
Beethoven violin sonatas will be released in 2015. Her violin is the Recamier Stradivarius from
1729. Shoji’s photo (used here, slightly
modified) is courtesy of Nikolaj Lund, well-known European photographer of
classical musicians and classical music subjects.
