Miroirs CA: Mirror in Mirror by Anne Akiko Meyers

Miroirs CA

Mirror, mirror on the wall, guess who released one of the most intriguing recordings of them all? Anne Akiko Meyers, of course. This boutique style CD features arrangements of works by composers of our time that contain a satisfying amount of spirituality and pathos. While Ravel is a composer for all time, the disc includes Tzigane, one of her go to pieces, and for good reason.

Read more here.

Anne Akiko Meyers Releases 37th Album, Mirror in Mirror, for Pre-Order

Video Preview of Mirror in Mirror

Anne Akiko Meyers will release Mirror in Mirror on Avie on September 7th. Now available for pre-order through Amazon and iTunes, this album features compositions written or arranged for Ms. Meyers by Jakub Ciupiński, John Corigliano, Philip Glass, Morten Lauridsen, and Arvo Pärt, and also includes Ravel’s Tzigane, in the original luthéal version.

“Almost a decade in the making, Mirror in Mirror is in many ways my most personal recording,” Ms. Meyers stated. “With the exception of Ravel, I collaborated with all of the composers or arrangers on this album and have created several new masterpieces to add to the violin repertoire. The music on this release is reflective and spiritual and captures the exquisitely beautiful array of colors of the violin.”

The release includes Arvo Pärt’s iconic Spiegel im Spiegel (Mirror in Mirror), Philip Glass’s hauntingly beautiful Metamorphosis II in a new arrangement for violin and piano, John Corigliano’s Lullaby for Natalie (written for the birth of Anne’s first daughter), the Japanese traditional song, Edo Lullaby, arranged for violin and electronics by Jakub Ciupiński, and Morten Lauridsen’s spellbinding O Magnum Mysterium for violin and orchestra. Other works include the original luthéal version of Maurice Ravel’s Tzigane, Pärt’s mesmerizing Fratres, and Ciupiński’s Wreck of the Umbria for violin and electronics written in 2009 for Ms. Meyers.

Anne Akiko Meyers is one of today’s most popular performing and recording artists.  Her recent recording of Rautavaara’s Fantasia was the only classical instrumental work to be selected on NPR’s 100 best songs of 2017. Meyers’ Vivaldi and American Masters albums topped the Billboard charts, making her the top-selling traditional classical instrumental soloist of 2014.

Highlights of Anne’s upcoming season include four performances celebrating the opening of the new Arvo Pärt Centre in Estonia this October and a Great Performances television broadcast of “Schindler’s List” in a special tribute which honors John Williams. These appearances are by exclusive special invitation of Maestros Pärt and Williams.  In December, she plays the European premiere of Rautavaara’s Fantasia and Mason Bates’ Violin Concerto with the Helsinki Philharmonic in a worldwide live-streamed performance, and in 2019, Anne returns to Japan to premiere Rautavaara’s Fantasia and tours with guitarist, Jason Vieaux throughout the United States.

Please visit www.anneakikomeyers.com for more info.

The Strad Cover – June 2018

The Strad
Terry Borman

This is an extract from the second part of Terry Borman’s detailed examination of the ‘Vieuxtemps’ Guarneri ‘Del Gesù’, with contributions from experts in the latest technologies, investigating acoustics, dendrochronology, varnish analysis and plate thicknesses. Download the June issue on desktop computer, via the The Strad App, or buy the print edition

Two months before his death in June 1881, Henri Vieuxtemps was considering selling his beloved 1741 Guarneri ‘del Gesù’ violin. He was no longer able to play, having suffered a stroke, and in a letter dated 9 April 1881 he told his friend, cellist Joseph Van der Heyden, that the instrument would ‘cost the buyer a lot, but it will be well worth it because this violin is a unique pearl’.

In early January 2013 the world found out how prescient his comment was, as the newspapers were flooded with reports about the violin’s sale to an anonymous buyer for an undisclosed sum – stating only that it was in excess of $16 million (£9.8 million).

That made it, at the time and still five years later, the most expensive violin in the world. The news also stated that it was to be a lifetime loan to the US violinist Anne Akiko Meyers.

The ‘Vieuxtemps’ Guarneri ‘Del Gesù’
Photo: J. & A. Beare Ltd

Read the full excerpt here.

Watch:  Anne Akiko Meyers plays Saint-Saëns’ Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso on the ‘Vieuxtemps’ Guarneri

Strings: Anne Akiko Meyers Reminisces on a Childhood Spent in Los Angeles

Strings
Anne Akiko Meyers

Anne Akiko Meyers as a child and onstage at the Emmy Awards Show

To quote Randy Newman, “I love L.A.!” I feel very fortunate to again call Los Angeles my home base. The year-round warm climate, beautiful ocean and mountain views, thriving music scene, world-class restaurants, and friendly people make it a wonderful place to live.

I was born in San Diego, moved to the middle of the Mojave Desert for a few years (my mother drove three hours each way for violin lessons in Los Angeles), and then grew up in L.A. until I was a teenager. It was the perfect place for an aspiring violinist to learn and grow.

When I was seven years old, I began studies with Alice Schoenfeld and had chamber-music coachings with her sister Eleonore. I had bi-weekly lessons, chamber-music studies, and classes at the Community School of Performing Arts (now the Colburn School) on the weekends. When driving around we listened to—and today still listen to—KUSC, with the comforting and friendly voice of Jim Svejda in the car.

To read the full article, click here.

The San Diego Union-Tribune: Meyers triumphs in Schoenberg concerto

San Diego Union-Tribune
Marcus Overton

Commissioned by and written in honor of San Diego native Anne Akiko Meyers, this meditation on age and memory (its title is “Orchard in Fog”) stands a good chance of entering the standard repertory, for it combines evocative tone painting with complex technical demands (like playing on the violin’s highest strings, where faulty intonation is ruthlessly exposed). Its two outer movements, wistful, silvery-gray like a Whistler painting, frame a devilishly syncopated dance movement that almost seems improvised.

Meyers’ playing is what it always has been: a national treasure. Her unshowy approach to her work has saved her from becoming a celebrity, and she has left a trail of unsurpassed achievement behind her in recordings, chamber music and orchestra solo appearances around the globe, as well as authorial collaborations and, best of all, active championing of living composers.

Above all, she is a musical wizard, with astonishing access to every kind of expressive color. Whether within a phrase or on just a single note, she can change tone color in a micro-second from smooth grain to rough, from dark to radiant, from thoughtful to assertive. And she can, like magic, bring new work to vibrant life.

Read the full article here.

Broadway World: Anne Akiko Meyers And San Diego Symphony To Stream World Premiere Of Adam Schoenberg's Violin Concerto

Broadway World

Superstar violinist Anne Akiko Meyers and the San Diego Symphony will present the world premiere of Adam Schoenberg's Concerto "Orchard in Fog" for Violin and Orchestra. 2018 Grammy-nominated composer, Adam Schoenberg, wrote this work for violinist Anne Akiko Meyers who will perform with Sameer Patel conducting the San Diego Symphony Orchestra in performances Saturday, February 10, 2018, at 8pm and Sunday, February 11 at 2pm.

The Sunday performance can be viewed at www.facebook.com/theviolinchannel/ at the following local times: 2:00 pm PST, 5:00 pm EST, 10:00 pm London (GMT), 7:00 am Tokyo (GMT+9).

Anne Akiko Meyers is one of the most popular violinists in the world, regularly appearing as guest soloist with the world's top orchestras, presenting groundbreaking recitals and receiving universal acclaim as a best-selling recording artist with 36 albums releases. She has closely collaborated and commissioned composers including Mason Bates, John Corigliano, Wynton Marsalis, Arvo Pärt and Einojuhani Rautavaara.

Composer Adam Schoenberg was recently named one of the top 10 most performed living classical composers by orchestras in the United States. He also received two 2018 Grammy nominations for his self-titled album.

Miroirs CA: In Conversation with Anne Akiko Meyers

Miroirs CA
Leonne Lewis

Violinist Anne Akiko Meyers doesn’t just set the standard; she is the standard. Her internationally acclaimed recordings and performances have a distinction that’s all about interpretative sophistication, silky sounds and crystal intonation. She also has a keen interest in promoting and commissioning works by composers of our time.

A child prodigy in the truest sense, Meyers performed with the New York Philharmonic under Zubin Mehta at age twelve. Her studies include the Colburn School in Los Angeles with Alice and Eleonore Schoenfeld, Indiana University with Josef Gingold and The Juilliard School with Felix Galimir and Dorothy DeLay.

Meyers received the Avery Fisher Career Grant award and in 2014 was Billboard’s number one classical charts instrumentalist. She performs a varied repertoire that includes Bach, Bruch, Barber, Prokofiev, Arvo Part and premieres of au courant works such as Somei Satoh’s Violin Concerto, Joseph Schwantner’s Angelfire for amplified violin and orchestra, John Corigliano’s Lullaby for Natalie (for Anne’s first-born daughter Natalie) and cadenzas by Wynton Marsalis for Mozart’s violin concerto No. 3, K. 216.

Meyers plays the legendary Ex-Vieuxtemps 1741 Guarneri del Gesu.

She discusses the importance of playing composers of our time with Editor Leonne Lewis.

HOW MUCH INPUT DO YOU GIVE WHEN COMMISSIONING WORKS BY COMPOSERS OF OUR TIME, SUCH AS MASON BATES’ VIOLIN CONCERTO, EINOJUHANI RAUTAVAARA’S FANTASIA FOR VIOLIN AND ORCHESTRA AND SAMUEL JONES’ VIOLIN CONCERTO?

Each experience is a unique collaboration, which is what makes commissioning new works so interesting and inspiring. At the start of a new project, a commission’s length, orchestration and type of piece (concerto, fantasy, shorter work) will be decided. From there, each composer has his or her own process of creation. The Mason Bates Violin Concerto was the first concerto he wrote for any instrument and he had many questions about playability, technical challenges, harmonics, etc. It was very collaborative work and we went through many revisions until reaching the final version.

I BELIEVE EINOJUHANI RAUTAVAARA’S FANTASIA HOLDS A SPECIAL PLACE FOR YOU. WHAT MAKES HIS MUSIC SO RELEVANT?

Einojuhani Rautavaara wrote his fantasy in record time, not changing a single note. I reworked the bowings and a bit fearfully asked if he was ok with this. He thanked me for changing them and said he always found violin bow markings super challenging. After I played Fantasia for him in his apartment in Helsinki he smiled and said how beautiful it was. I couldn’t agree more.

There’s a deep spirituality and feeling of transcendence that comes from Einojuhani Rautavaara’s works. His tonal palette is much like that of a master impressionist painter – Monet to be exact! You feel nature’s grand forces in his music and it deeply stirs the soul.

IN FEBRUARY, 2018 YOU WILL PREMIERE ADAM SCHOENBERG’S VIOLIN CONCERTO WITH THE SAN DIEGO SYMPHONY. COULD YOU PROVIDE A PREVIEW OF THE WORK AND ITS COMPATIBILITY WITH THE VIOLIN. {ADAM SCHOENBERG IS ON THE FACULTY OF OCCIDENTAL COLLEGE IN LOS ANGELES}

Funny you should ask this as I just got the first movement yesterday. Adam showed me a picture of the incredibly beautiful place where he got married. There was an orchard in fog that had a very ethereal quality to it. The first movement is based on that picture, as it possesses a feeling of wistfulness and quiet reflection. He told me to buckle my seatbelt because the second movement will be wicked and super challenging. The last movement returns to the original theme. To be able to discuss the music directly with the composer reveals so much more about a work than just seeing the notes on a printed page.

Miroirs CA: Anne Akiko Meyers with Philharmonia Orchestra

Mirroirs CA
By Leonne Lewis

Anne Akiko Meyers gives transcendent and breathtaking performances in this new release of works by Einojuhani Rautavaara (1928-2016), Karol Szymanowski and Maurice Ravel – using her Ex-Vieuxtemps 1741 Guarneri del Gesu - with beautifully crafted support from the Philharmonia Orchestra under Kristjan Jarvi.

Szymanowski’s first violin concerto, Op. 35, Ravel’s Tzigane and Rautavaara’s Fantasia all have the element of fantasy and rhapsodic sweep, particularly Fantasia which Meyers commissioned and premiered in March of this year with the Kansas City Symphony. While this celebrated Finnish composer’s works may not be well known to American audiences, Rautavaara’s early studies did include The Juilliard School with Vincent Persichetti and Roger Sessions.

One may detect in his writing hints of countryman Sibelius with overtones of The Swan of Tuonela, for example, but Rautavaara’s compositional style seems to contain a unique, lush and brooding landscape of intertwining melodies and imitative sequences between violin and orchestra.

From the opening chord, the listener enters a sound world that is absolutely mesmerizing for its dark, overlapping textures where demure to red-hot melodic waves of sonority from brass and strings provide a backdrop of atmospheric tension for Meyer’s flowing passagework. Her tone takes on an ethereal quality that goes right to the heart and core of the work’s veil of mystery.

She also displays an affinity for Szymanowski’s violin concerto (1916), an impressive piece of orchestrated splashes, clashes, interludes of harp, winds, especially flutes and an opening Vivace Assai that conjures up the opening temperament of Ravel’s piano concerto in G major. This composer’s Mazurkas for piano, among other compositions are worth a listen.

Meyer’s account contains a kinda introspective elusivity that includes lingering slides AND a display of turbocharged fingerwork in the Cadenza that has the characteristics of a Paganini Caprice gone avant-garde – of which we might also thank Polish violinist Paul Kochanski for input to this work, to whom it is dedicated.

Meyer’s declamatory bow strokes in the opening of Tzigane combined with rhythmic punch and rich harmonics brought this gypsy inspired work to a frenzied conclusion. It’s not often that collaboration between orchestra and soloist is so perfectly matched but supernova violinist Anne Akiko Meyers and the Philharmonia Orchestra under Kristjan Jarvi have hit a home run, even a grand slam with this recording!

WCNY: Anne Akiko Meyers

WNYC with host Diane Jones

Violinist Anne Akiko Meyers stopped by the WCNY studios to chat with mid-day host Diane Jones about her upcoming performance with Symphoria.  She talked about “Archeopteryx,” the violin concerto she commissioned from composer Mason Bates, as well as finding the emotion in new works.

More information about Symphoria can be found here.

Strings Sessions Presents: Anne Akiko Meyers

Strings Sessions Presents: Anne Akiko Meyers – Strings Magazine

Tucked away in a rehearsal room at the San Francisco Conservatory, violinist Anne Akiko Meyers took time out of her schedule to perform a few audience-favorites for our latest Strings Session. Watch Meyers, accompanied by pianist Jeff LaDeur, perform Ennio Morricone’s “Love Theme” from Cinema Paradiso; Arvo Pärt’s “Spiegel im Spiegel,” and Charlie Chaplin’s “Smile” (arr. for violin and piano by Claus Ogerman).