Tuesday, February 02, 2010
Due to recent events, the Austrian Cultural Forum combined music and charity  in order to support the Haiti earthquake victims. A hundred guests braved the snow to attend the great concert by the brilliant musicians Elena Denisova and Margrit Julia Zimmermann. By the end of the evening, $ 850 were donated, which will be given to the UNICEF US-funds. THANK YOU!

Review by Cecelia Porter, Contributing Music Critic of "The Washington Post"

Denisova and Zimmermann at the Austrian Embassy -  Haiti Benefit Concert (Feb. 2, 2010)

Violinist Elena Denisova and pianist Margrit Julia Zimmermann, two Russian-born artists with close musical ties to Austria and Germany, gave a splendid recital on February 2. The Embassy of Austria in Washington, D.C., sponsored the special event, directing all proceeds to UNICEF to aid the children of Haiti in the wake of January’s devastating earthquake there. Despite an unexpected snowstorm raging during the concert, the enthusiastic audience brought the artists back for an ebullient encore.
            The evening began with a virtuosic account of Giuseppe Tartini’s taxing Sonata in G, appropriately known as the “Devil’s Trill.” This work leaves nothing out in the way of fiendish technical demands--even tricks of the violinist’s trade—which the musicians surmounted with seeming ease.  Composer Nancy van de Vate’s classically balanced and freshly conceived Six Etudes, compact essays for unaccompanied violin dating from 1979, were taken with full voice and cogency. (De Vate holds dual citizenship with the United States and Austria and teaches composition in Vienna.) Clara Schumann’s Three Romances, Op. 22, were played with elegance and sensitivity.
            Because of the weather, the musicians continued without an intermission into three Fritz Kreisler waltzes (“Liebesleid,” “Liebesfreud,” and “Schön Rosmarin.”) The evening closed with repertoire staples by Jascha Heifetz (arrangements of pieces by Ponce and Milhaud) and Pablo de Sarasate. Denisova delivered the opening Kreisler piece gracefully and tranquilly, approaching the remaining works with a mellow, vibrant tone. The Washington concert goers contributed $855 for Haiti.
On February 4, Denisova, who lives and works in Vienna, also offered a solo program at Maryland’s Mount Airy Mansion and on February 8 at the Austrian Cultural Forum in New York.


Pictures by Karl Schrammel

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