Lara St. John
More information:
www.larastjohn.com
Canadian-born violinist Lara St. John has been described as “something of a phenomenon” by The Strad and a “high-powered soloist” by The New York Times. Lara has performed with orchestras on five continents and in recitals around the world. She formed her own record label, Ancalagon Records, in 1999, and has recorded with orchestras including the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela. Her release, “Bach: The Six Sonatas and Partitas for Violin Solo,” in 2007 was the best-selling double album on iTunes, and her recording, featuring two world-premiere, 21st-century concertos with the Royal Philharmonic, had Gramophone saying “it’s the sort of work that should get audiences running, not walking, back to concert halls.”
2012 Press Releases
Lara St. John and Marie-Pierre Langlamet
BACH SONATAS
New Album Featuring Sonatas by J.S. Bach Performed on Violin and Harp to be Released as an iTunes Exclusive on January 17, 2012, with SACD/CD Hybrid to Follow on February 14, 2012
Concert Dates in US and Canada to Promote the New Album in Early 2012
“Lara St. John happens to be a volcanic violinist with a huge, fabulous tone that pours out of her like molten lava. But what makes her unique is the way she puts everything together. She has utter command of the material and the instrument. “ Los Angeles Times, 2011
This winter, celebrated violinist Lara St. John and Marie-Pierre Langlamet, principal harpist of the Berlin Philharmonic, present an album of J.S. Bach sonatas offering a new perspective and performed on violin and harp. The album will be released as an iTunes digital exclusive on January 17, 2012, with a wide release to all retailers on Valentine’s Day, February 14, 2012.
This is Lara St. John’s third foray into Bach on her Ancalagon label. About her first, The Concerto Album released in 2002, Gramophone wrote, “She makes the most ordinary passages come to life…. It is difficult to argue with such technically dazzling and unfailingly musical interpretations.” Of her second album, The Six Sonatas and Partitas for Violin Solo released in 2007, American Record Guide stated, “I simply don’t know where else you can go to hear Bach played at this level of artistry.”
Always a thought-provoking musician, St. John raises the question of authenticity and performance practice on this new disc. Bach was a prolific composer, but also an inveterate arranger of his own work and that of others. The adaptability of this music, its capacity to be reinterpreted in new contexts, by different instruments, is perhaps its most authentic quality. It is in this spirit that the pieces are performed here with violin and harp. What is the impact on the listener when hearing familiar pieces with new sounds?
St. John shares the inspiration behind this recording: “I have had a lifelong relationship with Bach’s solo instrumental works, from when I was four years old and first performed the double concerto with my brother, to my first E Major Partita movements a few years later. As a Canadian, I grew up with the omnipresent Glenn Gould. Oddly, as a pre-teen, I also developed an obsession with Bach’s organ works.”
“The Sonatas for Violin and Harpsichord eluded me. Of course I had known them for a long time, but somehow I never thought they quite clicked. With harpsichord, I found them rather unsubtle, and modern piano always seemed so heavy-handed and just not quite right.
“A few years ago, I was in Berlin staying with my old friend Marie-Pierre, and she wanted to read some Bach. We began with BWV 1016, and it was a revelation. All of a sudden, this music made sense. With harp as a partner, the degree of nuance made possible for the violin created an entirely new experience. I thought that evening that I had never heard or been part of anything so beautiful.
“For this recording, we chose sonatas that could be performed by Marie-Pierre exactly as written. In her hands, the harp is a true multi-voice instrument – an equal partner in the faster movements, yet capable of an aural luminescence in the quieter movements that no keyboard could ever match.”
Marie-Pierre responds, “Only Lara could have suggested such a crazy thing to do. I am really glad we did it, for I feel the result is quite original. It is fascinating to watch Lara work, a great mix of incredible professionalism and complete freedom.”
Lara St. John and Marie-Pierre Langlamet will tour together beginning on February 26 in Lambertville, New Jersey, at the Church of St. John the Evangelist. The concert program includes works of Bach as well as pieces by Saint-Saëns, Schubert and Sebastian Currier. St. John and Langlamet will then appear in New York City at Le Poisson Rouge on February 29 and Rockefeller University on March 2. They perform in Chicago at Lyon & Healy Hall on March 3, and in Lindsay, Ontario, at Glenn Crombie Theatre on March 4.
About Lara St. John
Canadian-born violinist Lara St. John has been described as “something of a phenomenon” by The Strad and a “high-powered soloist” by The New York Times. Lara has performed with orchestras on five continents and in recitals around the world. She formed her own record label, Ancalagon Records, in 1999, and has recorded with orchestras including the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela and the Royal Philharmonic. Her release, “Bach: The Six Sonatas and Partitas for Violin Solo,” in 2007 was the best-selling classical double album that year on iTunes, and her next recording, featuring two world-premiere 21st-century concertos with the Royal Philharmonic, had Gramophone saying, “It’s the sort of work that should get audiences running, not walking, back to concert halls.” Her “Mozart Sinfonia Concertante” album with her brother, Scott, and the Knights, won the Juno Award in 2011 for Best Classical Album. Strings magazine wrote, “This is a match made in heaven. Together, these gifted young musicians have made a flawless recording.” For more on Lara St. John, please visit www.larastjohn.com.
About Marie-Pierre Langlamet
Marie-Pierre Langlamet has been principal harpist of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra since 1993, when she was appointed by Claudio Abbado. Marie-Pierre was born in Grenoble, France, and has been earning international acclaim since she was 15, when she won the highest prize at the Maria Korchinska Competition in the United Kingdom. One year later, she won first prize at the Cité des Arts Competition in Paris, and was only 17 years old when she was appointed principal harpist of the Nice Opera Orchestra, a position she held until she left to continue her studies at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. At 20, she was appointed assistant principal harpist of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra under James Levine. During her five years there, she continued to win major awards. She was a first prizewinner in New York’s Concert Artists Guild Competition, and in 1992 won first prize at the International Harp Competition in Israel.
Marie-Pierre has performed as soloist with the Berlin Philharmonic, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and l’Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, among many others, and with conductors including Claudio Abbado, Sir Simon Rattle, Trevor Pinnock and Marek Janowski.
BACH SONATAS
Lara St. John, violin
Marie-Pierre Langlamet, harp
Sonata No. 1 in B minor, BWV 1014 (for violin and harpsichord)
Sonata No. 3 in E major, BWV 1016 (for violin and harpsichord)
Sonata in G minor, BWV 1020 (for flute and harpsichord – attributed to J.S. Bach)
Sonata in B minor, BWV 1030 (for flute and harpsichord)
Siciliano from Sonata in E-flat major, BWV 1031 (for flute and harpsichord – attributed to J.S. Bach)
St. John and Langlamet Concert Program
J.S. Bach: Sonata in G Minor, BWV 1020 (for flute and harpsichord – attributed to J.S. Bach)
Franz Schubert: Impromptus No. 2 and No. 4, Op. 90 (D. 899), performed on solo harp
Sebastian Currier: Night Time (1998) for Violin and Harp
Camille Saint-Saëns: Fantaisie for Violin and Harp, Op. 124
Gabriel Fauré: Sicilienne
Claude Debussy: La Fille aux Cheveux de Lin
J.S. Bach: Sonata No. 3 in E Major, BWV 1016 (for violin and harpsichord)