B. Molique

Violin Concertos No.3 & 6 B. Molique

Molique: Violin Concertos 3 & 6 / Steck, Spering, L'Arpa Festante, Composer: Wilhelm Bernhard Molique, Performer: Anton Steck, Conductor: Christoph Spering, Orchestra/Ensemble: L'Arpa Festante, Number of Discs: 1. The virtuoso violinist Bernhard Molique (18021869) was what is today called a child prodigy. At the age of fifteen he performed violin concertos of Kreutzer and Rode in Munich? at 18 he was appointed concertmaster there and, at the age of 24, took up a position as concertmaster in Stuttgart, where he remained for almost a quarter of a century. This successful career was rounded off by a professorship at the Royal Academy in London. Contemporary critics praised the clarity, grace and purity of his playing, placing him on a par with Paganini. Anton Steck - one of the leading German baroque violinists with a weakness for the romantics - has taken on the task of changing this state of affairs. He has gone into the archive and dug up the violin concertos of Molique. Having freed them from the dust of decades, he is now presenting - with the support of L'arpa festante (on historical instruments) conducted by Christoph Spering; two concertos that are not only able to convince listeners with their demanding, virtuoso violin parts, but can also surprise them with their completely new treatment of the orchestra.