The Music Treasury, airing this week from 19 :00 to 21:00 PDT, is featuring the exceptional violinist from last century, Franco Gulli. The show may be heard on KZSU in the Bay Area, and on line at kzsu.stanford.edu, hosted by Dr Gary Lemco.
The show will feature a broad range of Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and Contemporary pieces, including concerti, chamber music, and solo violin (Bach’s D-minor Chaconne).
Franco Gulli, Violinist, Part I
Franco Gulli (1926-2001) was considered one of the world’s finest violinists. He traveled extensively as a guest soloist, touring Europe, the former Soviet Union, North and South America, Africa, and Japan and gave performances all over United States, including Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center, Library of Congress, and Metropolitan Museum of Art. He was a jury member of major violin competitions worldwide and held positions at international festivals in Vienna, Paris, Dubrovnik, Lucerne, Venice, and Sienna.
Born in Trieste, Italy, in 1926, he launched his career as concertmaster of the Milan Chamber Orchestra and soloist of the renowned ensemble I Virtuosi di Roma. Subsequently, he had numerous engagements performing with principal orchestras under the baton of great masters such as Sir Yehudi Menuhin and Maestro Rostropovich. Equally a fan of intimate chamber music, Gulli performed the sonata repertory with his wife Enrica Cavallo, a distinguished pianist. Gulli’s discography is long and covers many centuries of music ranging from Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, the complete violin concerti of Mozart, to Strauss and Respighi. In1966 he and his wife were awarded the Prize of the Critic for their recording of Mendelssohn’s Concerto for Piano, Violin and Strings and his Sonata in F Major.
Perhaps his most well known recording was his 1959 premiere of the then newly-discovered Paganini Concerto No. 5, a best seller ever since. In addition to his career on stage, Franco Gulli has touched the lives of many musicians through his love of teaching. He gave master classes at home and abroad in Switzerland, France, and England. In 1972, he was appointed Professor of Music at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana, and held this position for nearly 30 years, imparting his love of music to students, faculty, and the community.
The Music Treasury celebrates the new Rhine Classics release of 11 CDs that capture Franco Gulli in concert. Host Gary Lemco shares memories of having met and interviewed Gulli in Atlanta, GA, after the Maestro had performed Bloch’s Baal Shem with the Atlanta Symphony under Louis Lane.
Program List:
Mozart: Sonata No. 18 in G Major, K. 301 (w/E. Cavallo)
Bloch: Baal Shem – Three Pictures of Hassidic Life
Vieuxtemps: Romance in C Minor, Op. 7, No. 2 “Desespoir”
Paganini: Violin Concerto No. 5 in A Minor (w/Rossi)
Bach: Chaconne from Violin Partita No. 2 in D Minor, BWV 1004
Schubert: Grand Duo in A Major, D. 562: Andantino and Scherzo
Schoeck: Violin Concerto in B-flat Major, Op. 21 “Quasi una fantasia” (w/Aesbacher)
