Matinée des Jeunes Etoiles II

Many of the so-called child prodigies focus primarily on virtuosity, but Hana Chang brings a blend of her skill and genuine originality to her Gstaad debut. While her technical finesse shines through the breathtaking Grand Caprice, Op. 26 “Der Erlkönig” by Heinrich Wilhelm Ernst, there’s a unique intuition revealed in seldom-heard pieces by Joseph Joachim (a close friend and dedicatee of Brahms’s Violin Concerto), John Harbison (a contemporary American composer celebrated for his exceptional choral and symphonic music), and another distinctive creation, the “F.A.E. Sonata”, jointly composed by Johannes Brahms, Robert Schumann, and Brahms’s student Albert Hermann. This sonata was crafted as a tribute to their friend Joseph Joachim, encapsulating the violinist’s personal motto: “Frei aber einsam.” (“Free but lonely.”)