How the Waghalter Violin Concerto was discovered

Irmina Trynkos met the grandson of Ignatz Waghalter by chance at the end of 2009. This fortuitous encounter set the stage for a long overdue reappearance of the composer’s both genial and original music. The pervading dominance of the avant-garde after the War meant Waghalter’s melodic gift was side-lined for more than half a century.

Having been given the score, the young violinist was immediately struck by the astounding beauty and lyricism of these unknown themes, rare qualities in the music of the last hundred years. It didn’t take long for other musical personalities to see a true potential for a unique project which would return Waghalter to his deserved place among the immortals of classical music. Now his time has come.

A team of the highest calibre was assembled – virtuoso violinist Irmina Trynkos was joined by the highly-regarded British conductor Alexander Walker, the great Georgian-American pianist Giorgi Latsabidze and the world renowned Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London.

The journey begins with a CD recording of Waghalter’s entire violin repertoire, which was released in 2011. The album includes premiere recordings of the Violin Concerto in A major, Op.15 and Rhapsody for Violin and Orchestra, Op.9 as well as the Violin Sonata Op.5 and two encore pieces for violin and piano: Idyll, Op.19b and Geständnis.

The ambitions for a project of such artistic value and importance are far broader in scope that just a recording. The essence of the project is to popularize this incredible music and to make it accessible worldwide to music lovers and musicians themselves.

To give wide audiences a chance to appreciate and enjoy Waghalter’s timeless romanticism, a series of concerts and seminars will be organized in the near future.

Violin Sonata Op.5 in F minor – III. Con brio (live at Berliner Philharmonie)

Idyll Op.19b (live at Berlin Philharmonic)

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