Musiksommer: Benjamin Schmid & Silke Avenhaus

"Beethoven's Violin Sonatas"

Classical, Beethoven200

Benjamin Schmid and Silke Avenhaus dedicate themselves to three central sonatas by Beethoven for piano and violin. Works that have redefined the dialogue between both instruments and are among the most important chamber music pieces of the Classical era.
Benjamin Schmid is one of the leading violinists in Europe, widely awarded and internationally present. His performance of Beethoven is characterized by clarity, virtuosity, and stylistic sovereignty.
Silke Avenhaus is one of the most prominent German pianists. She is in high demand worldwide as a chamber music partner, frequently awarded and known for her transparent, precise, and richly colored approach to Beethoven.

Benjamin Schmid: Violin
Silke Avenhaus: Piano

Admission: € 34.00
Tickets available at the Bad Schallerbach Tourism Office 07249/420710, tickets@musiksommerbadschallerbach.at  or through Ö-Ticket.
http://www.musiksommerbadschallerbach.at/  

Music:
Ludwig van Beethoven: Violin Sonatas No. 3, 7, 9 (“Kreutzer”)

Benjamin Schmid
Since his debut at the Salzburg Festival as a solo partner of Sir Yehudi Menuhin in 1986, Benjamin Schmid has developed into one of the most important violinists of our time through his intensive concert activity worldwide in about 3000 live concerts.

The victory at the Carl-Flesch Competition in 1992 in London, where he also received the Mozart, Beethoven, and Audience Prize, brought about his international breakthrough for the violinist Benjamin Schmid from Vienna, along with other competition prizes.

Since then, he has performed on the world's most important stages with renowned orchestras such as the Vienna Philharmonic, the Philharmonia Orchestra London, the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, the Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam, the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, and the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich.

His brilliant technique, the clarity and passion of his expression, his soloist charisma, the extraordinary range of his repertoire – and furthermore, his improvisational skills in jazz make him a violinist of unique profile.

A continuously awarded focus of his repertoire consists of the violin works of W. A. Mozart.

The 2024/25 CD releases feature Paganini's chamber music with guitar, Kodaly Duo with Andreas Brantelid, and an orchestrated Fritz Kreisler CD to celebrate its 150th anniversary, in which Benjamin Schmid also introduces a modern violin concerto by Georg Breinschmid.

Of the more than 60 CDs by Benjamin Schmid, Korngold's Violin Concerto with the Vienna Philharmonic under Seiji Ozawa has been listed as one of the "Top Ten Live CDs Ever Recorded" (Fono Forum), and others have received the Opus Klassik Award (multiple times), the German Record Prize (as the only violinist in the classical and jazz categories), the Echo Classic Award, Grammophone Editor’s Choice, or the Strad Selection award. 

Several worldwide broadcast documentaries about Benjamin Schmid complete the extraordinary status of the violinist.

Benjamin Schmid is portrayed as one of the most important violinists of our time in the book “The Great Violinists of the 20th Century,” by Jean-Michel Molkou (Buchet-Chastel Publishing, 2014).

He performs on the “ex Viotti 1718”- Stradivarius violin, which is provided to him by the Austrian National Bank, as well as on a modern violin from 2015 by Wiltrud Fauler.

Silke Avenhaus
The pianist Silke Avenhaus has been impressing audiences and critics for years with her artistry, engaging interpretations, and spirit of discovery.

For her recent recording, she has brought together piano works by Wagner, Liszt, and Rossini in a “Salon Chromatique et Harmonique,” thus placing them in surprising contexts. Her joyfully creative approach to pianistic and chamber music literature has led to numerous awards from the press, such as the Diapason d’Or, the Supraphon Award, and a nomination for the Grammy Award, making her a sought-after chamber music partner. Over 40 CDs have already been produced with EMI, ECM, Koch, Tudor, cpo, Berlin Classics, CAvi, and harmonia mundi, focusing on a broad repertoire of solo and chamber music.

On the stages of renowned concert series and festivals in Europe, the USA, and Southeast Asia, the interpreter Silke Avenhaus is highly valued. She regularly appears at Wigmore Hall, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, and the Vienna Concert Hall; she has performed at the Salle Gaveau in Paris, the Philharmonie in Cologne, Munich, and Berlin, as well as Carnegie Recital Hall New York. She has played at the Marlboro Music Festival, Spannungen Festival, Berlin Festival Weeks, and Rheingau Music Festival, and she has also been heard at the Salzburg Festival, Lucerne Festival, Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, and the Piano Festival Ruhr. Further invitations have taken her to the Mondsee Festival and the Stavanger Chamber Music Festival. Cross-genre projects, such as the two-season production "Ludwig II" featuring solo works by Richard Wagner at the Munich Kammerspiele, or collaborations with actors showcase the versatility and openness of the interpreter.

Silke Avenhaus regularly collaborates with artists such as Marie-Luise Neunecker, Christoph Poppen, Jörg Widmann, Thomas Zehetmair, Tabea Zimmermann, Sabine Meyer, Quirine Viersen, Tai Murray, and Antje Weithaas. With her ensemble “trouts,” she is working on her new program “take five” following the success of the trouts project.

Various composers have written works that she premiered, such as Magnar Aam, Helmut Eder, Detlef Glanert, Wilfried Hiller, Akikazu Nakamura, Bernd Redmann, and Jörg Widmann.

Silke Avenhaus received her pianistic education from Bianca Bodalia and Klaus Schilde (University of Music Munich), György Sebök (Indiana University, Bloomington), as well as from Sandor Végh and Sir Andras Schiff.

Silke Avenhaus teaches as a visiting professor at the University of Music Munich and is regularly a lecturer at Villa Musica. From 2021 to 2023, she also held a guest professorship for piano chamber music at the Lübeck University of Music. She gives masterclasses in Germany, Norway, Portugal, Spain, France, Ireland, Finland, and Korea and Chile, and has been appointed as a juror for competitions such as The Leeds International Piano Competition, the International Music Competition of the ARD Munich, and the Concours International de Piano Clara Haskil.

Conveying classical music to a new audience is a special concern for the musician, whether through audiobooks for children, discussion concerts, workshops, or participation in the project “Rhapsody in School” initiated by Lars Vogt.

Silke Avenhaus is a co-founder of the series “sounds and science,” which took place at the Vienna Concert House and addresses the connection between art and science, and she is involved in “Artists for a Better Future,” an artist circle that promotes social projects worldwide.

General Info
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* Entry starts about 45 minutes before the performance.
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