NATCHITOCHES – Northwestern State Professor of Violin Andrej Kurti will perform Nicolo Paganini’s “Twenty-Four Caprices for Solo Violin, op. 1” in a concert at NSU on Tuesday, Oct. 15 at 7:30 p.m. in Magale Recital Hall. Admission is free and open to the public.
Kurti is recording the work by Paganini in Magale Recital Hall this week. The CD is being produced by Dr. Sergei Kvitko. The concert will the first in a nationwide tour by Kurti to perform the entire opus.
“A milestone for every violinist is Nicolo Paganini’s ‘Twenty-Four Caprices for Solo Violin, op. 1.’ It is technically extremely challenging and musically very charming and emotional. This masterwork is an essential repertoire and source for more advanced violin studying and growth in the performance field,” said Kurti. “So far, this Opus was recorded only by a few violinists, some of them being the leading artists of our time and role models for many aspiring performers.”
Kurti “believes that every artist (pedagogue and performer) has, or should have, certain compositions or opuses as their ‘dream goals’ or ‘dream achievements,’ which they set as one of the ultimate performing/teaching/recording milestones.”
Kurti said in the world of solo violin repertoire, three Opuses come to his mind: Bach’s “Six Sonatas and Partitas, BWV 1001-1006,” Paganini’s “Twenty-Four Caprices, Op. 1” and Ysaye’s “Six Sonatas, Op. 27,” chronologically.
“I feel very honored and fortunate that in 2012 one of my dreams came true: I recorded Ysaye’s “Six Sonatas for Solo Violin, op. 27” for classical label Blue Griffin Recording, with Dr. Kvitko as the executive producer and sound engineer,” he said. “The process of preparation and the completion of such a project has had immediate positive results in the areas of research/teaching/performing aspects. First, personally, I had to work very hard on excelling in my performing skills, combined with the in-depth research regarding the Opus 27, which widened my teaching approaches and methods used in a daily studio teaching. I believe that if (performance wise) I get better- my students get better.”
Kurti said the CD is nationally and internationally distributed, with the name of Northwestern State University of Louisiana in the biographical credits, “which has already begun to bring much attention to our music program through inquiries by potential students and their teachers throughout the United States and Europe.”
According to Kurti, the release of the CD, containing one of the most challenging and loved Opuses, has helped attract talented students to NSU’s music program and his violin studio.
