CONCERT | ACFNY AND FRIENDS OF THE LEOPOLDSTADT-BROOKLYN PARTNERSHIP PRESENT: SHKËLZEN DOLI / GOTTLIEB WALLISCH DUO

Shkëlzen Doli, violin

Gottlieb Wallisch, piano

Mozart             Sonata for Piano and Violin in B-Major, KV 454

Kreisler            Präludium & Allegro

—Intermission—

Brahms            Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 3 in d-minor, op. 108

J. Strauß            ‘Rosen aus dem Süden‘, Waltz

J. Strauß            ‘Wiener Blut’, Waltz

Member of the Vienna Philharmonic and former student of legendary Russian violin teacher Ewgenia Chugaeva, Shkëlzen Doli finds himself in the unique position of a musician who is capable of combining both the virtuosity of the Russian violin school and the unique style and sound of this world famous Viennese orchestra.

Born in Albania and raised in an artistic environment in Kosovo he made his first musical experiences as a young boy playing traditional Albanian folk music. His outstanding talent was discovered by professional music teachers who invited him to study at the renowned “Music Academy of Novi Sad”, at the time one of the best violin schools in Yugoslavia. At the age of 17 he won 1st prize in the National Yugoslavian Competition for Young Musicians. Under the guidance of Prof. Ewgenia Chugaeva Shkëlzen Doli built the foundation of his musicianship based on the discipline and virtuosity of the famous Russian Violin School. Leaving Novi Sad he followed his teacher to Vienna’s University of Music. Vienna quickly became his new artistic home where not only his exceptional dexterity on the instrument got highly appreciated but also his specific knowledge of autochthon music of the Balkans and the Eastern Mediterranean. Playing in the Vienna Philharmonic and the Orchestra of the Vienna State Opera sensitized the young musician for their distinctive interpretation of classical and romantic composers and has shaped his musical taste ever since. In addition to numerous solo-appearances he has performed with renowned chamber music ensembles of the Vienna Philharmonic such as “Wiener Virtuosen”, “Toyota Master Players”, “The Philharmonics” and the contemporary music “Ensemble Wiener Collage” and has toured Europe, North America, Africa, Israel and Japan. In 2013 Shkëlzen Doli founded his own chamber music group; the piano quartet based “Philharmonisches Ensemble – Wien” (“Philharmonic Ensemble – Vienna”).

Born to a Viennese family of musicians, Gottlieb Wallisch was admitted to the ViennaUniversity for Music and Performing Arts at the age of six years, and later graduated with distinction from the class of Heinz Medjimorec. He has participated in master classes given by Oleg Maisenberg and Dmitrij Bashkirov, and studied with Pascal Devoyon in Berlin and with Jacques Rouvier in Paris.  Gottlieb Wallisch is a prize winner of several international piano competitions, amongst which is the 1st Prize and the Grand Prix Ivo Pogorelich at The Stravinsky Awards (USA). He was also a finalist both at the 1999 Queen Elizabeth Competition in Brussels and at the XXI. Concours Clara Haskil in Vevey in 2005.  Gottlieb Wallisch has performed with leading orchestras including the Wiener Philharmoniker, the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester, the Sinfonia Varsovia, the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra, the Camerata Salzburg, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra and the Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra, under conductors like Giuseppe Sinopoli, Dennis Russell Davies, Lord Yehudi Menuhin, Louis Langrée, Sir Neville Marriner, Christopher Hogwood, Philippe Entremont, Kirill Petrenko, Lawrence Foster and Walter Weller. Numerous concert tours have taken him to the USA (Carnegie Hall, Washington DC, Krannert Center West Palm Beach), Great Britain (Wigmore Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall), Japan, Hong Kong, South America, the Middle East, Africa, and many European countries, including Spain, Germany and Switzerland. In the season of 2001/02 he participated in the international cycle “Rising Stars”, and gave solo recitals in the largest European capitals as well as in the USA (Musikverein Vienna, Konserthus Stockholm, Societé Philharmonique in Brussels, the Athens Concert Hall, Wigmore Hall, London and the Carnegie Hall, New York).  He has made appearances at renowned festivals and concert halls, for example the Lucerne Festival, Klavierfestival Ruhr, Beethovenfest Bonn, Schubertiade Schwarzenberg, Tonhalle Zürich, Festival de Wallonie, Singapore Arts Festival. In the summer of 2002, Gottlieb Wallisch gave his much-acclaimed debut at the Salzburg Festival. Recent seasons have seen him performing at the Musikhalle Hamburg, the Kölner Philharmonie, “De Doelen” Rotterdam, the Budapest Spring Festival, the December Nights in Moscow and his Chinadebut with the Camerata Salzburg in Beijing and Guangzhou. In the Mozart anniversary year 2006 and the Haydn anniversary year 2009 he gave a cycle of concerts in the Musikverein Vienna dedicated to the works of these composers. As a respected artist of the Viennese piano tradition Gottlieb Wallisch records exclusively for the British label LINN records. Three highly acclaimed albums dedicated to the music of Mozart have been issued since 2010, his next release, announced for 2014, will feature Haydn’s London Piano Sonatas.  Besides his soloistic activities Gottlieb Wallisch is a passionate performer of chamber music and serves as professor for piano at the Geneva University of Music and as visiting professor at the Franz Liszt Music Academy in Budapest. He was named a “Steinway Artist” in early 2012.

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