Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2005 | 7:33 a.m.
Most music prodigies begin to perform publicly at an early age. With Jennifer Frautschi, it's a little different.
Frautschi, at 32, is an accomplished rising star, literally. She was part of European Concert Hall Organization's Rising Star series.
But unlike younger musicians, she brings to her performances emotional and intellectual life experiences.
"A lot of people told me, 'If you don't get your start early, you won't get your start,' " Frautschi said from Chattanooga, Tenn., where she was performing with the Chattanooga Symphony.
Ignoring the "early start" theory, Frautschi took her own road, enrolled at Harvard, where she studied linguistics before attending the New England Conservatory of Music, and then moved to Juilliard, where she studied with violinist Robert Mann.
In 1999 she won Avery Fisher Career Grant; shortly afterward she was loaned a 1722 Stradivarius previously played by Joseph Fuchs.
Today her live performances garner strong reviews, and her recordings of early 20th-century music have received equally favorable acclaim.
Frautschi will perform Aram Khachaturian's "Concerto for Violin and Orchestra" at Artemus Ham Hall with the Las Vegas Philharmonic on Saturday.
The piece will be preceded by the debut of George Walker's commissioned composition that celebrates the Las Vegas Centennial. It will be followed by "Symphonie Fantastique," a breakthrough early 19th-century masterpiece that placed French composer Hector Berlioz at the forefront of the Romantic era.
Although the Khachaturian piece was written in 1940, Frautschi said, "It's very much in the vein of the romantic violin concerto. It's very accessible, uses folk elements from Armenia, has a lively spirit and soaring melodies."
The fact that it's her first time is hardly nerve-racking.
"It's par for the course. I'm playing a lot of things for the first time. The reason I didn't do much solo performing before (is) most do solo performances when they're 12 and 13. The bulk of it has happened in the last few years," Frautschi said.
"I did have some (solo experience), but I was more of a normal child, student. I went (to college) with the intention and desire to become a violinist. It wasn't that I changed course. I just wasn't in a hurry to start my career."
However, she said, "There were times when I was 15, 18, 21 and people were touring having success, then I would think about it. But I had great experiences at school (Harvard), and I made friends who were not in the music business."
Frautschi has performed with symphonies in various cities, including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Seattle Symphony, as well as in national venues.
She has performed solo recitals and chamber music. In 2003-04, Carnegie Hall selected her to perform in its Distinctive Debuts series.
Although she has a wide repertoire that includes Bach, Stravinsky and Schumann, Frautschi's discography is composed of 20th-century music: Prokofiev, Bartok, Davidovsky, Stravinsky, Ravel and Schoenberg.
"I have a particular soft spot for all things 20th century -- Bartok, Schoenberg, Stravinsky and Berg," Frautschi said. "To me it was such a remarkable time of creativity and different way of looking at things -- not just music. Things were going in a different directions.
"To me it's so rich and fascinating. There are so many exciting works coming out of different styles of compositions."
The Khachaturian piece is a 40-minute concerto with three movements.
Las Vegas Philharmonic Music Director Hal Weller says the piece has "all the pyrotechnics for violin and concerto."
"It's Cirque du Soleil, all in one fiddle," he said.
Weller refers to Frautschi as a musician with an impeccable and sonorous tone.
"She's a spectacular violinist," Weller said. "The Khachaturian is one that is her cup of tea. She has a Russian temperament. Judging by her Prokofiev recording -- that sold me on Jennifer."
Kristen Peterson can be reached at 259-2317 or at [email protected].
archive
