"One of Britain's liveliest musical forces, the indefatigably adventurous violinist Madeleine Mitchell" |
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"A violinist in a million..staggering virtuosity and unparalleled musicianship..Mitchell's amazing big-toned, sweetly lyrical, vibrantly intense playing is unmistakable...virile Elgar, exuberant Mozart, breathtakingly rumbustuous Dvorak, spell-binding MacMillan written for her..a tour de force of a recital."
NEW RELEASES - Violin Songs dda25063 with Andrew Ball piano - popular melodies by Schubert, Elgar, Massenet, Ravel, Bridge, Copland, Berg and Boulanger (also featuring Elizabeth Watts soprano in Strauss 'Morgen') - Classic FM CD of the week October '07. Purchase direct from http://www.divine-art.com/CD/25063info.htm £12.
'A particularly successful album...Madeleine Mitchell's playing is most appealing. Her tone is sweet and bright..unfailingly sensitive to the nuances and character of each piece.'
'A beguiling programme (and) an enjoyable disc.'
'A CD full of small joys, wonderfully played.'
Alwyn Chamber Music & Songs Madeleine Mitchell & Friends, Naxos 8.570340 2007
'winningly lyrical' |
'Outstanding' |
FiddleSticks with ensemblebash SIGCD111 www.signumrecords.com - released November 07
'My favourite contemporary music CD of 2007..Brilliant stuff'
'In Sunlight: Pieces for Madeleine Mitchell' NMC D098 with Andrew Ball, piano. Nyman, MacMillan, Elias, Osborne, Montague, Woolrich, Powers, Jones 2005
"The magnificent Mitchell...dedicated penetrating musicianship"
"A most rewarding survey of new music..Mitchell turns in a wonderfully accomplished, irreproachably sensitive set of performances"
Hummel violin sonatas with Lyn Garland Meridian CDE 84439 2003
"Stylish playing" |
"Appealing, lively performances" |
'British Treasures' - violin sonatas by Goossens, Hurlstone, Turnbull with Andrew Ball, piano - Somm CD 031 2003
"Three fine English sonatas..excellent recordings..both artists play con amore with plenty of spirit and attack..most enjoyable"
The solo violin and piano movement 'Louange a L'Eternité de Jesus' from her recording of Messiaen Quartet for the End of Time for Collins Classics with Joanna MacGregor is available on SoundCircus 'Quiet Music' SC904
"An all star team which manages to outdo all its rivals... Mitchell leads the work to its sumptuous, ethereal apothosis with a winning blend of poise and fervour. The competition sounds almost dull in comparison"
CD Purchase/Mailing List - if you would like to be on the free postal or email mailing lists for advance notice of concerts, Friends' events and recordings please send your address to info@redviolin.co.uk
Sat 26 April - Bach Violin Concerto & Elgar 'Salut D'Amour' etc with Ten Tors Orchestra - Tavistock Festival Opening Gala: St Eustachius Church, Tavistock 7.30 pm www.tavistockmusic.co.uk
Sat 10 May - Bach Violin Concertos - 7.30 Shipley Arts Festival, West Sussex www.BMGLive.com
24/25 May - CD Recording Howard Blake Violin sonata for Naxos
Sun 8 June - Recital Chiswick Town Hall, Heathfield Terrace, London W4 4JN 6pm Tickets £10 on the door (students free). London Launch for 'Violin Songs' CD: Faure Violin Sonata and pieces by Schubert, Prokofiev, Bridge etc with Andrew Ball piano. http://www.concert-diary.com/89026
Fri 27 June - Lou Harrison Violin Concerto with Percussion Orchestra etc with Ensemble Bash, 'FiddleSticks' - Corsham Festival 7.30 Pound Arts Centre, Wiltshire www.corshamfestival.org.uk
Early July - Schlern International Music Festival, Italian Alps www.schlernmusicfestival.org - concerts, teaching
"The dynamically talented Madeleine Mitchell"(Barry Millington, Evening Standard) is one of Britain's most celebrated violinists, performing as a soloist and chamber musician in over 40 countries. She was a finalist in both the European Women of Achievement and the Creative Briton Awards, Helen Wallace, Editor of BBC Music Magazine describing her as "not only a violinist of great virtuosity but also of a very special poetic character...visionary imagination...she has been an independent pioneering figure in the violin world...a tremendous inspiration".
She broadcasts frequently for both television and radio including ABC-Australia, SABC, European and BBC television and the BBC Proms with Joanna MacGregor including their own arrangement of Bach.
Madeleine performs a concerto repertoire from Vivaldi to contemporary and has played with major orchestras throughout Europe such as the Polish Radio Symphony - Stravinsky violin concerto: ISCM Masters' of C20 Music Warsaw, Czech Radio Symphony - first Czech broadcast of Vaughan Williams 'The Lark Ascending', Wurttemburg and Munich Chamber orchestras, London orchestras including the Royal Philharmonic - Bruch violin concerto under Sir Alexander Gibson, Mozart on tour with the Welsh Chamber Orchestra and for the BBC including the violin concerto 'Quadruple Elegy' written for her by Piers Hellawell, with the Ulster Orchestra and Charles Hazlewood. Most recently she performed Lou Harrison's Violin Concerto with Percussion Orchestra in Symphony Hall Birmingham International Series in a new collaboration with Ensemble Bash supported by Arts Council England.
She has performed in numerous international festivals - Aspen, Bayerischer Rundfunk, Brazil, Canberra, Dvorak (Karlovy Vary), ISCM Warsaw, Kiev, Paris, Schwetzingen (Mozart), Stuttgart, Toronto and at Lincoln Center when she represented Britain with a recital in the festival UKinNY. She has performed at most of the UK's major music festivals - including the Proms, BBC Millennium Series, Aberystwyth, Arundel, Bath, Belfast (Sonorities/BBC), Brighton, Cardiff, Cheltenham, Dartington, Harrogate, Huddersfield, Malvern, Norfolk & Norwich, Orkney, Spitalfields, Vale of Glamorgan and York. Her idea for a violin concerto with voices replacing orchestra resulted in 3 unique works by Jonathan Harvey, Roxanna Panufnik and Thierry Pecou which she premiered at the Bath, Spitalfields festivals with the Joyful Company of Singers.
"This highly imaginative artist...charismatic playing and musical personality"
As a recitalist Madeleine Mitchell is well known for her imaginative programming and wide repertoire combining classics and contemporary with her particular love of late romantic and early C20 works. Her recitals with Andrew Ball have frequently been broadcast by BBC Radio 3, including Live from the Wigmore Hall, St David's Hall Cardiff, BBC Millennium Series, and many festivals. Her performance of the Franck sonata was repeated during the Proms as well as televised. She has given recitals in venues such as Sydney Opera House and Seoul Center for the Arts - (part of a 3 month world tour), toured for the British Council and frequently performed in London.
"Assured technical brilliance and impressive musicality"
The original programme she devised, An American in Paris, was praised by The Times:
"Madeleine Mitchell is an uncommonly intelligent and accomplished musician... her own highly effective arrangement of Gershwin"
After a Wigmore Hall recital with pianist Andrew Ball, Rob Cowan wrote in The Independent:
"When the highly personable Madeleine Mitchell launched into pieces written for her she had her audience tamed...(Brahms was) musically involving enough to prompt two encores."
A creative, lively personality, Madeleine Mitchell devised The Red Violin, the first international festival of the violin across the arts, held successfully in Cardiff in 1997 (before the film of the same name). As Artistic Director she secured Lord Menuhin as Patron and extensive BBC coverage. It took place again in October 2007 very successfully over 10 days with a daily podcast on Classic FM and wide national and international media coverage.
She is Director of the London Chamber Ensemble which includes Vivaldi Seasons with solo strings. The LCE has given many broadcasts including St George's Bristol, S4C TV and BBC Music Live - and concerts with Roger Chase, Michael Thompson, Kathryn Stott and Paul Watkins. Madeleine was invited by Norbert Brainin to join him for his 80th birthday concert at the Wigmore Hall.
"this was the new generation such as violinist Madeleine Mitchell..to whom the torch is passed"
She has a new group Serenade, with Guitarist Craig Ogden and tenor Michael Bennett with popular repertoire from Handel to Piazzolla.
Madeleine Mitchell has been a Professor since 1994 at the Royal College of Music, where as a Foundation Scholar she won the Tagore Gold Medal. As Fulbright/ITT fellow she studied for a master's degree in New York at the Eastman and Juilliard schools with Donald Weilerstein, Sylvia Rosenberg and Dorothy DeLay. She frequently gives master classes and is on the Faculty of the Schlern International Festival - held each July in the spectacular Dolomites in Italy.
"A world class violinist"
with Madeleine Mitchell (violin), Joanna MacGregor (piano).
Click here to hear an extract from Louange à L'immortalitité de Jésus (Presented in Real Audio format.)
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