UW Oshkosh pianist Eli Kalman has arranged an extraordinary concert with Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra violinist Frank Almond on Friday, March 13 at 7:30 p.m.
The concert will take place at the UW Oshkosh Music Hall; admission is free.
“It makes us proud to serve our University and our larger community in this musical offering of a free recital sponsored by the music department at UW Oshkosh, as it is inspirational and appropriate to appreciate the values and the power of music,” Kalman said. “It is our mission to draw attention to the role and meaning of art and to take a collective moment of reflection.”
Concertmaster Almond will be playing on the rare Lipinski Stradivarius, a 300-year-old violin with a spectacular history, having passed through the hands and lives of a number of composers, beginning with Giuseppe Tartini (1692–1770). The latest chapter in the history of this remarkable instrument was widely covered in the national news, due to its theft in Milwaukee last year and its return to Almond. (Read a Nov. 2014 Vanity Fair article chronicling the episode.)
“The violin has witnessed human greatness at different times and while it does not play itself, it comes to real life when played by proper heart and hands,” Kalman said.
At the performance, Almond will partner with Kalman for a recital at UW Oshkosh that will feature music for violin and piano directly connected to the Lipinski Stradivarius, including Tartini’s most famous work, the Devil’s Trill Sonata, a virtuoso solo piece by Karol Lipinski (d. 1861) and Robert Schumann’s Sonata in d minor—these last two certainly performed during the lifetimes of each, with Schumann at the piano and Lipinski playing this very instrument. Also included in the performance will be the one-of-a-kind masterwork of Ravel celebrating the Blues.
“This is an extraordinary opportunity for our campus community, to hear one of the world’s rare and magnificent instruments played by and with the highest-caliber musicians. It’s a testament not only to our world-class faculty–Dr. Kalman made this evening possible–but also to our achievement in the arts, which bring such distinction to our campus,” said Franca Barricelli, associate dean in the UW Oshkosh College of Letters and Science.
This event is free, open to the pubic and sponsored by the UW Oshkosh Department of Music.