THE RED VIOLIN • Virtuoso Violinist and Her Legendary Stradivarius Join the SBSO for Season Finale

Violin virtuoso Elizabeth Pitcairn is one of more significant soloists circulating in the world of classical music, distinguished not only by her talent but also the unique partnership she shares with her 1720 Red ‘Mendelssohn’ Stradivarius violin, which inspired the award winning film, The Red Violin.

Both this legendary instrument and its world-class owner will return to the stage at Saginaw’s historic Temple Theatre on Saturday, May 3^rd, joining the Saginaw Bay Symphony Orchestra for their season finale at The Temple Theatre with Return of The Red Violin, where Pitcairn will grace the stage in  collaborative performances of Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto op. 64 along with timeless and powerful classic, Bruckner’s Symphony No. 1.

Antonio Stradivari, who remains the most famous violinmaker of all time, crafted Pitcairn’s historic instrument in Cremona Italy back in 1720. Not long after its creation, the instrument vanished from the radar screen, with nobody knowing where or to whom the violin belonged for more than 200 years, spawning many historians, writers, journalists, and critics, as well as Canadian filmmaker, Francois Girard, to speculate on the violin’s mysterious history.

The 305 year-old  Stradivarius eventually surfaced in 1930s Berlin, where it had been purchased by an heir to the great composer, Felix Mendelssohn. Years later the violin was purchased by a New York industrialist who kept the instrument in impeccable condition. In 1990 the industrialist anonymously put the Red Violin on the auction block at Christie’s of London, which ignited a media frenzy of sorts, since both seller & buyer remained anonymous.

While some of the world’s most powerful people sought to win the coveted instrument, it landed in the hands of a then 16-year old American violinist named Elizabeth Pitcairn, who is the first known musician to ever play it. She remained silent about owning the violin until her burgeoning solo career brought her into the public eye on international concert stages after nearly three decades of rigorous training by the world’s most esteemed violin teachers.

Pitcairn last performed with the SBSO in 2011, and back in 2006 when she first performed in Saginaw for the SBSO’s 75^th Anniversary concert, I had the opportunity to interview Pitcairn from her home in San Diego about this unique marriage between artist & instrument.

“It was a gift from my Grandfather,” she explains, “who was a great benefactor of the Arts and supported many composers and their works.”

Born into a musical family (her mother is a Juilliard trained cellist and Elizabeth, by the way, also has ‘perfect pitch’) Pitcairn started playing violin at age 3 and was only 16 years-old when she first encountered the ‘Mendelssohn Red Violin’. She and her mother flew to London to visit the auction house, where Pitcairn was allowed to play the instrument for 20 minutes.

“It has the most beautiful sound and of all the violins Stradivarius made, this instrument is considered to be one of the finest examples of his work,” she notes when asked to distinguish it from other violins.

“It has attributes of a beautiful human being in terms of its qualities being in proportion and balanced. There is a glow about the sound and it has a voice, a personality, and its own essence. You can hear the perfect sound of it in the back of a concert hall as well as you can in the first seat. But mainly it was created to be played in a big concert hall. That’s where it really shows off. It was not created to be enshrined in a closet or on a shelf.”

While she will not reveal exactly how much the winning bid for this precious instrument was, speculation places it well into the seven figure range. In the film The Red Violin the instrument makes its way through several owners over several centuries and countries, including 17th century Italy, an 18th century Austrian monastery, 19th century England, China during the Cultural Revolution, and modern Montreal, where a collector tries to establish the identity and secrets of the ‘red violin’.

In possession of it since Thanksgiving Day, 1990, I can’t help but ask if Elisabeth gets nervous traveling with her infamous Strad, or takes many precautions with it.  “Actually, it can fit in overhead luggage,” she laughs. “No one knows what I’m carrying on, but sometimes they ask. Once a guy joked to me, ‘Is that a Strad?’ And I just smiled and said, ‘Oh, yeah’ Of course, they don’t believe me.”

When asked if she recalls any favorite ‘stand-out’ performances, Pitcairn is reflective. “I don’t consider that question in terms of audience numbers or concert halls. To me a stand out performance is that rare occurrence where everything comes together, which hardly ever happens for an artist. But once in a while, everything converges. When I truly feel in the zone, that’s what I consider a great performance. But to me performances are a lot like children, none of them are favorites, really.”

When asked about the two main pieces the orchestra will be performing with Pitcairn and her red Stradivarius, SBSO conductor and Maestro Fouad Fakhouri notes how Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto is a great piece of music but hard to describe. “It’s a continuous piece where all the movements weave into one piece and tell this beautiful story,” he reflects. “Its a virtuoso piece that combines instrumental ability and talent with real artistry in terms of expression. I’ve never worked with Elizabeth before, so I’m really looking forward to partnering with her on this piece.”

“People today look at instruments such as the red Stradivarius more as investments or pieces of art  to be hung on a wall instead of as an instrument meant to be performed, so I’m glad she is out there performing with it,” he adds.

“I remember reading about her grandfather and the famous auction where it was acquired, so am excited to be working with her. We’ve had one conversation on the phone and she seems really interesting.  I’ve been aware of her for a long time and watched a video recently of her performing and was blown away by her talent.   Unfortunately, the legacy and notoriety of the instrument itself often overshadows her own artistry as a virtuoso violinist, so that’s another reason I’m excited to be working with her”

When asked if he’s ever worked with an orchestra featuring a Stradivarius before, Fakhouri says he’s had one opportunity to do so previously. “The tone of those instruments is simply unique,” he explains. “When you hear it on a recording or in a concert hall there’s a distinct difference between their sound and other string instrumental sounds. They possess a fullness of sound that is incredible.”

Regarding the second featured composition, Bruckner’s Symphony No. 1, Fakhouri notes how Bruckner is  composer that’s always held a special place in his heart.

“The more I listen to his pieces the more I appreciate and fall in love with his music,” he reflects. “He’s a German composer who writes broad music and very romantic symphonies and is known for nine of them. He wrote two prior to this first one, but they were student pieces so he didn’t label them. This first one consists of four movements with the piece running approximately 46-minutes. A few seasons ago we did his 4^th Symphony, and this one marks the beginning of that style of writing, so I wanted to re-introduce audiences to his works and styles of interpretation.”

“One thing about his music that always appeals to me is how if you compare it to contemporary works, it’s very similar to the music you hear from. Lord of the Rings - his work is very atmospheric and filled with both space and depth. I find him so interesting because of the simple structuring he does, which makes his work sound so interesting and powerful. Unlike other composers who have an idea and then transition away from that into another idea, Bruckner takes that empty space and simply stops in order to start a different new idea, which I find very interesting.”

“He was known for revising his pieces, which is something I also appreciate,” concludes Fakhouri. “It was not because he was uncertain of his work, but more a case of striving to make the work better. Some of his symphonies have undergone as many as three, four, or ix different revisions.  People hear these pieces on stage and think God put these ideas into his head, but instead he is constantly revising and striving to make the piece better.”

The Return of the Red Violin featuring the Saginaw Bay Symphony Orchestra and Elizabeth Pitcairn takes place on Saturday, May 3^rd at Saginaw’s Temple Theatre. The show starts at 7:30 PM and tickets to this event are available by calling 989-755-6471 or visiting saginawbayorchstra.com