Award-winning Spanish-born violinist Francisco Fullana releases his second solo album for Orchid Classics this May 28, 2021. Titled Bach’s Long Shadow, the recording is an intimate look into the impact and influence of Bach’s work over a 300-year span and Fullana’s personal journey as an artist.
In his liner notes, the artist writes, “The entirety of solo violin repertoire stands on the shoulders of Johann Sebastian Bach, whose monumental Sonatas and Partitas redefine the violin as a polyphonic instrument. Bach’s Long Shadow explores the chain of influence and inspiration extending from Bach to other legendary artists over 300 years.”
Technique, interpretation, and musical friendships, both in terms of the historical connections of the chosen works and the artist’s own life are highlighted. Fullana elaborates, “Bach constructs a sonic cathedral that captures the beauty of the natural world in sound ….it fills us with unadorned awe…. My album juxtaposes baroque and modern bow, gut and steel strings, in its exploration of Bach’s solo violin legacy.”
Recorded in England on the 1735 "Mary Portman" ex-Kreisler Guarneri del Gesù violin, Bach’s Long Shadow features Bach’s Partita No.3 in E major for Solo Violin, BWV 1006, and two works by Eugène Ysaÿe, including Ysaÿe's second sonata in which the composer metamorphosizes Bach's original E major Partita into an obsessive display of virtuosity. The Recitativo & Scherzo, Op.6 by Fritz Kreisler -a dedicatee and muse of Ysaÿe, is performed on Kreisler's original violin. Two Spanish works from the 1890’s, Isaac Albéniz’s, Asturias (Leyenda), arranged by Patrick Loiseleur & Francisco Fullana, and Francisco Tárrega’s Recuerdos de la Alhambra, arranged by Ruggiero Ricci, link back to Fullana’s native country and his own family origins. Fullana, who enjoys success on both the modern and baroque stages, pays tribute to both styles in the album as he performs compositions spanning 300 years.
Joined by his close friend violinist Stella Chen in the encore, Ysaÿe’s Sonata for Two Violins, Fullana returns to the overall theme of influence and inspiration as he writes, “To close this album, I pay tribute to a source of inspiration that has guided me in my artistic journey: my friendships with other violinists.”
A digital EP introduction to the album will be released on May 14, 2021 (click here for more information.) The EP continues the theme of Bach's Long Shadow of contrasting old and new, featuring Bach's original Partita in D minor (Chaconne), performed on Baroque strings and bow, in juxtaposition to Spanish contemporary composer Joan Valent’s 2010 tribute to Chaconne, Punta Campanella: Ciaconna, performed on modern strings and bow.
BACH’S LONG SHADOW
Orchid Classics ORC100165
RELEASE: May 28, 2021
Eugène Ysaÿe: Sonata for Solo Violin, Op.27, No.2 “Jacques Thibaud”
Johann Sebastian Bach: Partita No.3 in E major for Solo Violin, BWV 1006
Isaac Albéniz, arr. Patrick Loiseleur & Francisco Fullana: Asturias (Leyenda)
Francisco Tárrega, arr. Ruggiero Ricci: Recuerdos de la Alhambra
Fritz Kreisler: Recitativo & Scherzo, Op.6
Encore:
Eugène Ysaÿe: Sonata for Two Violins
Stella Chen & Francisco Fullana, violins
About Francisco Fullana
Acclaimed by BBC Music Magazine as a “rising star”, Spanish-born violinist Francisco Fullana is making a name for himself as a performer on the modern and baroque stages. A 2018 Avery Fisher Career Grant recipient, as a soloist, he has performed the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto with the Bayerische Philharmonie led by the late Sir Colin Davis, the Sibelius Concerto with the Münchner Rundfunkorchester, and the Brahms Violin Concerto with Venezuela’s Teresa Carreño Orchestra under the baton of Gustavo Dudamel. Additional conductors with whom he has worked include Hans Graf, Alondra de la Parra, Christoph Poppen, and Joshua Weilerstein, to name a few. Fullana’s versatility as a performer has resulted in appearances with such distinguished orchestras as the City of Birmingham (UK), Vancouver, Pacific and Buffalo symphony orchestras, the chamber orchestras of Saint Paul and Philadelphia, the baroque ensemble Apollo’s Fire and the new music driven Metropolis Ensemble.
Upcoming Summer 2021 engagements include performances at the Bellver Festival (Spain), Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (Germany), Market Square Concerts Summermusic 2021 series, (Pennsylvania), and Colorado's Moab Music Festival. Fullana makes recital debuts at Germany’s Gezeiten Konzerte and at Spain’s Caiassa Festival and continues his residency as soloist and guest leader with the Balearic Islands Symphony Orchestra. Chamber music concerts include Classical Music Institute's Chamber Orchestra (Texas) and Music in the Vineyards (California). Other performances of note include a duo recital on the Violin Channel’s Vanguard Series at NYC’s Merkin Hall in collaboration with Argentinian bandoneonist / composer J.P. Jofre and guitarist Pablo Sainz-Villegas. Fall 2021 highlights include a multi-city US tour featuring Vivaldi’s Four Seasons with the Grammy Award-winning baroque ensemble Apollo’s Fire and Jeannette Sorrell, and the upcoming cd release of the same work for Avie Records.Also this fall, Fullana will make his concerto debuts with the Austin and Tallahassee Symphonies, as well as a return appearnace with Vancouver Symphony (WA). In Asia, two recital tours of eastern China and Japan have been rescheduled for 2022.
In 2018 Orchid Classics released Francisco’s acclaimed debut recording Through the Lens of Time, which includes Max Richter’s 2012 composition The Four Seasons Recomposed—performed with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra under Carlos Izcaray—along with other 20th century works exploring connections with the baroque era, by Alfred Schnittke, Salvador Brotons, and Isang Yun. The Strad praised, "His Execution of Yun's [Konigliches Thema] many acrobatics - quick string-crossings, left-hand pizzicato, harmonics and the like - were played effortlessly.”
A popular performer on the chamber music stage as well, Fullana is a performing member of The Bowers Program at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. He has participated in the Marlboro Music Festival, the Musicians from Marlboro tours, the Da Camera Society, and the Moab, Music@Menlo, Mainly Mozart, Music in the Vineyards, and Newport music festivals. Musical collaborators have included violinist Viviane Hagner, violist Nobuko Imai, composer/clarinetist Charles Neidich, pianist Mitsuko Uchida, and members of the Guarneri, Juilliard, Pacifica, Takács, and Cleveland quartets.
In addition to recieving an Avery Fisher Career Grant, Fullana holds First Prize in Japan’s 2015 Munetsugu Angel Violin Competition, as well as all four of that competition’s special prizes, including the Audience and Orchestra awards. He also holds First Prizes at the Johannes Brahms and Julio Cardona International Violin Competitions, the Pro Musicis International Award, and the Pablo Sarasate National Competition.
A native of Mallorca in the Balearic Islands of Spain, Francisco is a graduate of the Royal Conservatory of Madrid, where he matriculated under the tutelage of Manuel Guillén. He received Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from The Juilliard School following studies with Donald Weilerstein and Masao Kawasaki, and holds an Artist Diploma from the USC Thornton School of Music, where he worked with the renowned violinist Midori.
Fullana performs on the 1735 "Mary Portman" ex-Kreisler Guarneri del Gesù violin, kindly on loan from Clement and Karen Arrison through the Stradivari Society of Chicago.
Click here for the CD EPK.
FEATURED JOBS
RENT A PHOTO
