Label news: Boy wonder signs to DG

Label news: Boy wonder signs to DG

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norman lebrecht

June 15, 2016

The word has been out on Swedish violinist Daniel Lozakovich ever since his Moscow concerto debut six years ago, at the age of nine.

Now, 15, he signed today to DG to record the Beethoven concerto.

They think he’s the next Anne-Sophie Mutter (who also signed at 15).

Daniel Lozakovitj

Comments

  • Mike says:

    Next time, they should sign a 7 months old fetus. Just a suggestion.

  • Michael B. says:

    These are awfully snide comments and are made for no reason. I have not heard him play and cannot offer any opinion as to his musicality, technique, or understanding of the music, but please remember that Yehudi Menuhin recorded the Bruch First Violin Concerto for HMV (EMI) at age 15. Sarah Chang had her first recording issued by EMI when she was all of 10 years old. Obviously, those prodigies turned into major mature musicians.

    • Bill H. says:

      Just the other day I re-listened to the recording Menuhin made the following year (ca. 1932, when he was 16) of the Elgar Concerto, with the composer himself conducting. Definitely worth recommending.

    • M2N2K says:

      Please don’t mention SC in the same breath as YM.

      • Bruce says:

        Yehudi Menuhin, Sarah Chang. Yehudi Menuhin, Sarah Chang. Yehudi Menuhin, Sarah Chang. Yehudi Menuhin, Sarah Chang. Yehudi Menuhin, Sarah Chang.

        So there. Nyah nyah đŸ™‚

    • Adrienne Fischer says:

      I have heard him play and he is extremely sensitive and musical wth a maturity beyond his years. He’s the real deal.

  • Jeffrey Biegel says:

    In a world of shrinking profits in the recording industry, they must be well informed to make this signing. Looking forward to this release. Will be more exciting to watch how his playing develops over 20-30 years.

  • Milka says:

    He is a commodity for DG, the first down turn and he is gone…ain’t no Menuhin who
    was the once in a life time bird . That he may be the next Ann-Sophie Mutter would
    indeed be a unfortunate turn of events for the kid .

    • M2N2K says:

      Au contraire, ASM is a wonderful violinist who has been one of the world’s finest for over three decades now.

      • Milka says:

        If for you she is wonderful that’s all that matters ,others may find her pedestrian at best.

        • M2N2K says:

          Very true: those who have very little knowledge and understanding of violin playing after about 1980 (and/or those with hearing problems) may be unable to recognize and enjoy her superb artistry, but that is their loss only.

          • Milka says:

            One should note however that the three great violinists that left a mark of any sort
            on the art of violin playing were well before 1980 . There is a wonderfully interesting one now worth a listen and it ain’t ASM whose contributes nothing to the art.

          • Milka says:

            One should note however that the three great violinists that left a mark of any sort
            on the art of violin playing were well before 1980 . There is a wonderfully interesting one now worth a listen and it ain’t ASM who contributes nothing to the art.

          • M2N2K says:

            Fortunately for those of us who can listen and hear, and taking nothing away from the great violinists of the first three quarters of the last century, Anne-Sophie Mutter has indeed contributed to the art of making music by creating many outstanding interpretations of various works in violin repertoire.

    • Erik says:

      Bravo

  • Myrta says:

    DG has a hard time saying “No” to Asian musicians. They couldn’t resist Lang Lang after all.

  • Robert Roy says:

    I really look forward to hearing him. I’m sure he’s a terrific talent. And the doubters should remember that NOBODY is forcing them to buy his recordings or even listen to him.

  • ohglorioso says:

    Oh goodie, yet another recording of the Beethoven concerto. Just what we need.
    Yawn.

    • Robert Roy says:

      No one’s forcing you to buy, borrow or listen to it…

    • Bruce says:

      I have 7 or 8 recordings of the Beethoven, and am always open to buying another one if it looks like it might be good.

      • OHGLORIOSO says:

        The crippled recording industry depends on people – all eight of them – who will buy yet another (are there at least a hundred available of this concerto?) recording of some of the most over-recorded repertoire ever. Beyond boring.

  • Mark says:

    Just out of curiosity – what is this kid’s ethnicity ?

    • Peter says:

      The only person who could answer your question is the young man himself, since ethnicity is defined as a belief where one feels himself belonging, usually based on a subset of values such as language, culture, religion, etc.
      The passports held by his parents have not much to do with it.

      • Mark says:

        Ethnicity has an ancestral component to it, it’s not just a matter of one’s choice. The kid looks vaguely Asian, but has a Eastern European-sounding name.

        • M2N2K says:

          Just out of curiosity: why does it matter? He is a violinist and so all we should be interested in is his violin playing.

          • Mark says:

            Just idle curiosity, noting else

          • M2N2K says:

            You made that quite clear earlier, but you have not explained why of all information that you don’t have about the boy, including some that may be much more directly related to his violin playing, you are only curious about that one thing.

  • Peter says:

    This is not the 19th century anymore.
    What is an “Asian musician” anyway?
    Doesn’t that specifier only make sense, if the person we try to describe, practices and performs some kind of music that has its history and heritage based in Asia?

    Why is it important for you to label someone who was born in Europe, educated there, learned a classical European musical instrument (the violin) and performing music from 99% European composers as “Asian”?

    I’m curious to understand these strange mindsets.

    • Bruce says:

      In my (admittedly limited) experience, Europeans seem to consider a person’s ancestry more important than their birthplace or upbringing. You can be born and raised somewhere, but not really “from” there.

      • M2N2K says:

        My hope is that intelligent people from all continents consider a person’s qualities as a human being, including his/her professional mastery, as something that is far more important than anything else.

  • Marc says:

    Plenty of videos of the kid on YouTube. Everything from Mozart to Saint-Saens to Tchaikovsky and beyond. He’s more adorable than ASM was at his age, and he can certainly play the fiddle. Not sure why all those commenting snobs are dismissing him…without bothering to hear him play, I’m guessing. Probably jealous. My guess is that he’ll have a fine career. How can anyone resist such cuteness? ‘Course, if he grows out of it, he may become just another decent concert violinist, swallowed in the mad rush of a fickle public endlessly looking for the Next Big Thing…

  • Honeywell says:

    Daniel recently played Carmen Fantasy with my orchestra (the RLPO) and it was incredible. He is the real deal.

    To all the ignorant, snide commenters: get a life!

    • Erik says:

      @Milka

      • Milka says:

        Poor Erik always out of step .As for Honeywell , ………….the Carmen Fantasy
        tells you nothing except that one is technically proficient or not and as long as the false notes are at a minimum the crowd cheers the circus performance .The work is contrived
        to impress with finger dexterity and not much else, the music itself already very well
        known is used as a spring board to the circus act.One does not doubt that the kid plays
        it well but unless Honeywell lives under a bushel there are at least a dozen documented
        versions of this by kids the same age or younger who could match him note for note .
        The original observation holds. For most he is a commodity ,one hopes he survives
        the Carmen Fantasy phase promoters and becomes an artist who plays the violin .

        • Erik says:

          Pathetic Milkyway
          Blabla? Blablabla

          • Bruce says:

            But, if a violinist he respects played it — assuming that any violinist could retain Milka’s respect after playing such a piece — I am guessing he would admit that their mastery shines through no matter what the material, in spite of having just said that the piece shows nothing more than technical proficiency (i.e., for all we know, this kid could really be the next Heifetz, but no one could ever tell by hearing him play this piece).

          • Milka says:

            One notices you are learning words beginning with B,once you have passed
            Blabla you will be into learning words beginning with C … Keep at it

        • Erik-Anti Milka says:

          Whatever you try, it is always pathetic and will be. You are a joke… And unfortunately for you everybody knows it.
          So blabla is all what comes from your limited mind. I pity you. Milkitsh.
          Jascha, Nathan, Henryk, Fritz, David, Yehudi and so on, they would have a great laugh about you trying to defend their honor. They don’t need you at all. Nobody does.
          Looser. That’s the only word which surely describes you at best.

        • Erik says:

          Blabla
          This is all you are.
          Hope to meet you in real very soon…pitiful sad pathetic figure.

  • janos says:

    Please see: http://nashagazeta.ch/news/peoples/18241

    His mother is of Kyrgyz origin, and his father from Belarus, his name is typical Slavic name, so he is mixed-blood, but it seems that he does not look like typical European or typical Asian(such as Eastern-Asian Chinese or Korean), maybe he is more of Central-Asian origin

  • Kennan Cole says:

    I’d like to know if anyone of you “critics” are a professional musician who has soloed with major orchestras and pay their bills doing so? ( I know Jeffrey Birgel is) I’ve often thought that so called critics have forgotten how to listen as an audience. A performance of any work must be listened to with fresh ears and mind at the moment the music hits the air; not by the pre-chosen favorite in your brain. Maybe all soloists should take a lesson with one of you two weeks prior to a concert so we give you the performance YOU want to hear. I say BRAVO Daniel and to all concert artists who freshen up centuries of music and keep it alive for us all.

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