JAMES GAFFIGAN / CLARA-JUMI KANG
Clara-Jumi Kang's captivating virtuosity and poetry and James Gaffigan's charisma and elegance come together in Dukas' famous The Sorcerer's Apprentice and one of the monumental funeral works of the 20th century: Shostakovich's First Concerto. The promise of a great concert.
Program
PAUL DUKAS (1865-1935)
The Sorcerer’s Apprentice
DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH (1906-1975)
Violin Concerto No. 1 in A minor Op. 77
Artist(s)
- Verbier Festival Junior Orchestra
- James Gaffigan conductor
- Clara-Jumi Kang violin
James Gaffigan conducts Stravinsky: The Rake’s Progress (VFJO)
Disrupting the traditional concerto structure, Shostakovich’s First Violin Concerto finds a striking echo under the virtuoso bow of Clara-Jumi Kang. The composer frames two slow movements—drawing on Bartók and Mussorgsky—around two frenetic dances that evoke madness and intoxication, the circus, and grinding teeth. At the work’s emotional core lies the extraordinary cadenza, which seems to mirror humanity’s wandering through the labyrinth of the 20th century.
At the dawn of that same century, Dukas composed his irresistible Sorcerer’s Apprentice, later brought to cinematic life by Walt Disney. Following in the footsteps of Wagner and Berlioz, Dukas develops his music like a film reel, with melodic motifs physically depicting the unfolding narrative. Powerful—and visionary.
