violinist
Ort Belgien, Brussels
Biografie
www.youtube.com/antalzalai
"One of the most wonderful young violinists I have ever heard." - Yehudi Menuhin (1996)
Antal Zalai is unique among today's young violin soloists: he is a strong believer in the traditions established by the greatest violinists of the 20th century and has been described by Igor Oistrakh as "...an exceptional violinist who has perfect technique, beautiful, large, tone; real musical finesse and maturity as well as a noble personality".
He received his initial musical training in Budapest from Laszlo Dénes and Peter Komlos, then furthered his violin studies under Pinchas Zukerman at the Manhattan School of Music and Kati Sebestyen at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels, winning the "Lecrinier" and "Darche" prizes upon graduation. In addition, Antal attended masterclasses with Yehudi Menuhin, Shlomo Mintz, Isaac Stern, Erick Friedman, Tibor Varga and Lewis Kaplan. He has since won twenty prizes at such international competitions as the Sion-Valais International Violin Competition, the George Enescu International Violin Competition, the Queen Elisabeth International Violin Competition and the Paganini-Moscow International Violin Competition.
Antal was recognized as a child prodigy when, at age eleven, he performed Mozart's Violin Concerto in A major with the Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra. At age twelve he shared the stage with Monica Bellucci at UNESCO's gala concert in Paris. He performed the Bartók Violin Concerto No.1 at Lord Yehudi Menuhin's 80th anniversary tribute at age fifteen further enhancing his international reputation. Antal was later invited to play for Leopold Auer's anniversary tribute recital at the St. Petersburg Academic Philharmonic, for Prince Charles as a recipient of the Sir George Solti Foundation Scholarship at Kensington Palace in London, and at the Chi Mei Museum in Taiwan, playing the 1722 "ex-Mischa Elman" Stradivarius from the Museum's collection.
Recently, Antal made his Berlin debut with the Deutsches Symphonie Orchester Berlin under Ludovic Morlot at the Berlin Philharmonic Hall. His Viennese debut followed at the Wiener Symphoniker's "Springtime in Vienna" gala concert conducted by Fabio Luisi in the Wiener Musikverein. This last event was broadcast on ORF2 and 3SAT television. In addition to Ludovic Morlot and Fabio Luisi, he has worked with conductors Paavo Järvi, Yoel Levi, Lawrence Foster, Gilbert Varga, Shlomo Mintz, Enrique Bátiz, Yip Wing-sie, Laurent Petitgirard and Gábor Takács-Nagy, among others.
Antal makes regular appearances alongside the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Irish Chamber Orchestra, Orchestre National de Belgique, Orchestre Royal de Chambre de Wallonie, Orchestre National d'Ile-de-France, Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte Carlo, Moscow State Symphony Orchestra, Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra of Moscow Radio, Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra, National Philharmonic of Ukraine, Prague National Philharmonic Orchestra, Budapest Philharmonic Orchestra, Hungarian Telekom Symphony Orchestra, Hungarian National Philharmonic, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Hong Kong Sinfonietta and State Symphony Orchestra of Mexico.
Antal has performed twenty five concertos ranging from Bach and Vivaldi to Nielsen, Khachaturian, and Bartók. As a tribute to this achievement composer Filip Sande dedicated his violin concerto op.69 to him in 2007.
He has played in such prestigious venues as Carnegie Hall, Weill Recital Hall in New York City, Kennedy Center Terrace Theater in Washington, the Grand Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, Victoria Hall in Geneva, the Concert Hall of the Royal Conservatory of Brussels and the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts in Vancouver as a recitalist.
His festival appearances include the Istanbul International Music Festival, David Oistrakh Festival in Estonia, Al Bustan Festival in Lebanon, Budapest Spring Festival, Sarajevo Winter Festival, Festival Cultural de Mayo in Mexico, Russian Spring Festival and the "Virtuosos of the Planet" Festival in Kiev. He also appeared in the "Naumburg Orchestral Concerts" at the Naumburg Bandshell in New York's Central Park.
Antal has received exceptional acclaim as a recording artist since the release of his debut album of solo pieces by BMC Records which received a 10/10 review from Classics Today and earned praise from BBC Music Magazine, Gramophone and Diverdi. His tribute album to Leopold Auer released by Hungaroton Classic was described by Fanfare Magazine as follows: "At times Zalai plays with the aristocratic aplomb of Milstein - and with a tonal luster to match. Occasionally, he's more eclectic: his reading of the Hebrew Melody combines Elman's beauty of tone, Heifetz's intensity, and Grumiaux's pure flow of sound." The most recent recording released by Brilliant Classics in 2010 features Antal playing George Enescu's violin sonatas accompanied by Jozsef Balog, with whom he has played since he was eight years old. He is currently recording a 4-CD boxed set for Brilliant Classics of the complete violin music of Béla Bartók.
Antal plays the 1733 "ex-Garay" Antonius Stradivarius.
Renato Ocampo Dienstag 17-Mai 14:41:23
. . .
Aimee Margolis Donnerstag 31-Dez 22:13:51
Congratulations on your win:) You are fantastic!