David Frühwirth (born 15 June 1974) is an Austrian classical violinist. He has played internationally as a soloist and chamber musician, with a focus on contemporary music which he also recorded. He has given international master classes.

Life and career

Born in

Salzburg Salzburg is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020 its population was 156,852. The city lies on the Salzach, Salzach River, near the border with Germany and at the foot of the Austrian Alps, Alps moun ...

, Frühwirth began playing violin at age six. He made his debut at age eleven in the

Mozarteum Mozarteum University Salzburg ( German: ''Universität Mozarteum Salzburg'') is one of three affiliated but separate (it is actually a state university) entities under the "Mozarteum" name in Salzburg municipality; the International Mozarteu ...

's great concert hall, playing Vivaldi's '' Four Seasons''. He studied violin in the

in his hometown with Paul Roczek and

Ruggiero Ricci Ruggiero Ricci (24 July 1918 – 5 August 2012) was an American violinist known for performances and recordings of the works of Paganini. Biography He was born in San Bruno, California, the son of Italian immigrants who first named him Woodr ...

. He continued his studies in Germany from 1990 to 1995 with

Zakhar Bron Zakhar Bron ( ; born 17 December 1947) is a Russian violinist and renowned pedagogue He has been living in Western Europe since 1989. Background Bron was born in Oral, Kazakhstan to a Jewish family. His parents fled to the Soviet Union in th ...

, graduating at age 20. On an invitation of

Pinchas Zukerman Pinchas Zukerman (; born 16 July 1948) is an Israeli-American violinist, violist and conductor. Life and career Zukerman was born in Tel Aviv, to Jewish parents and Holocaust survivors Yehuda and Miriam Lieberman Zukerman. He began his musica ...

, he took post-graduate studies with him in New York City, completing in 1998 with honours. He advanced chamber music playing with

Jaime Laredo Jaime Laredo (born June 7, 1941) is an American violinist and Conducting, conductor. He was the conductor and music director of the Vermont Symphony Orchestra, and began his musical career when he was five years old. Laredo was born in Cochabamb ...

Isidore Cohen ''For the composer born with this name, see Isidore de Lara'' Isidore Cohen (December 16, 1922 in Brooklyn, New York – June 23, 2005 in Bronx, New York) was a renowned chamber musician and violinist and member, at different times, of both the Ju ...

and Walter Levin. Frühwirth made his debut at the

Salzburg Festival The Salzburg Festival () is a prominent festival of music and drama established in 1920. It is held each summer, for five weeks starting in late July, in Salzburg, Austria, the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Mozart's operas are a focus of ...

in 2004, performing with pianist Henri Sigfridsson music of the 20th century, music from Korngold's opera '' Das Wunder der Heliane'', the ''Sonata in D'' by

Hans Gál Hans Gál Officer of the Order of the British Empire, OBE (5 August 1890 – 3 October 1987) was an Austrian composer, pedagogue, musicologist, and author, who emigrated to the United Kingdom in 1938. Life Gál was born to a Jewish family in ...

William Walton Sir William Turner Walton (29 March 19028 March 1983) was an English composer. During a sixty-year career, he wrote music in several classical genres and styles, from film scores to opera. His best-known works include ''Façade'', the cantat ...

's Toccata (1922/23), Korngold's Suite from his

incidental music Incidental music is music in a play, television program, radio program, video game, or some other presentation form that is not primarily musical. The term is less frequently applied to film music, with such music being referred to instead as th ...

to ''

Much Ado About Nothing ''Much Ado About Nothing'' is a Shakespearean comedy, comedy by William Shakespeare thought to have been written in 1598 and 1599.See textual notes to ''Much Ado About Nothing'' in ''The Norton Shakespeare'' (W. W. Norton & Company, 1997 ) p. ...

'', Op. 11 (1916), and

Ernst Krenek Ernst Heinrich Krenek (, 23 August 1900 – 22 December 1991) was an Austrian, later American, composer. He explored atonality and other modern styles and wrote a number of books, including ''Music Here and Now'' (1939), a study of Johannes Ock ...

's first Violin Sonata, Op. 3 (1919). The duo performed some of these works for a recording titled ''Trails of Creativity'', featuring music from the

interwar period In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period, also known as the interbellum (), lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days) – from the end of World War I (WWI) to the beginning of World War II ( ...

. Frühwirth has played at international festivals such as

Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival The Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival (SHMF) is a classical music festival held each summer throughout the state of Schleswig-Holstein in Northern Germany. History The festival was founded in 1986 by German concert pianist and conductor Justus Fr ...

and

Cheltenham Festival The Cheltenham Festival is a horse racing-based meeting in the National Hunt racing calendar in the United Kingdom, with race prize money second only to the Grand National. The four-day festival takes place annually in March at Cheltenham Race ...

. As a chamber music player, he has worked with

Jörg Widmann Jörg Widmann (; born 19 June 1973) is a German composer, conductor and clarinetist. In 2023, Widmann was the third most performed living contemporary composer in the world. Formerly a clarinet and composition professor at the University of ...

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and Adrian Brendel, among others. He is the first violinist of the Klenze Quartett, Munich. In 2013, he recorded music for violin and piano by

Nikolai Rakov Nikolai Petrovich Rakov (, ''Nikolaj Petrovič Rakov''; , – 3 November 1990), was a Soviet violinist, composer, conductor, and academic at the Moscow Conservatory where he had studied. He composed mostly instrumental works, for orchestra, chambe ...

, including three sonatas, with Milana Chernyavska. Barry Brenesal noted in

Fanfare A fanfare (or fanfarade or flourish) is a short musical flourish which is typically played by trumpets (including fanfare trumpets), French horns or other brass instruments, often accompanied by percussion. It is a "brief improvised introdu ...

about this only recording of the music: "Frühwirth has a lean, sleekly attractive tone. He negotiates Rakov’s moderate figurations without problems, and demonstrates a convincing grasp of Rakov’s phrasing and big-hearted manner." In 2015, he participated in a concert in

Landsberg am Lech Landsberg am Lech (Landsberg at the Lech (river), Lech) is a Town#Germany, town in southwest Bavaria, Germany, about 65 kilometers west of Munich and 35 kilometers south of Augsburg. It is the capital of the district of Landsberg (district), Lands ...

of English chamber music, including the

String Sextet In european classical music, classical music, a string sextet is a composition written for six string instruments, or a group of six musicians who perform such a composition. Most string sextets have been written for an ensemble consisting of two ...

, Op. 1, by Graham Waterhouse. Frühwirth has given master classes internationally, including the

UCSI University UCSI University is a private university in Malaysia. The university is accredited by the Malaysian Qualifications Agency (MQA), the Malaysian Medical Council (MMC), the Malaysian Nursing Board (MNB), and several other professional bodies. ...

in Manila. He plays on a

Stradivari Antonio Stradivari (, also , ; – 18 December 1737) was an Italian luthier and a craftsman of string instruments such as violins, cellos, guitars, violas and harps. The Latinized form of his surname, ''Stradivarius'', as well as the colloqui ...

instrument from 1707 called "ex-Brüstlein", on loan from

Oesterreichische Nationalbank The (, , abbr. ) is the National central bank (Eurosystem), national central bank for Austria within the Eurosystem. It was the Austrian central bank from 1923 to 1938 and from 1945 to 1998, issuing the Austrian schilling, shilling. It star ...

References

External links

* * *
David Frühwirth / Violin
austrian-master-classes.com

Kammermusik Pasing
EDA 32: The Vienna Connection – Violinsonaten
Eda Records
Farbenfroh
crescendo.de * Rob Barnett

musicweb-international.com 2010 {{DEFAULTSORT:Fruhwirth, David 1974 births Austrian male classical violinists Living people Mozarteum University Salzburg alumni 21st-century Austrian classical violinists 21st-century Austrian male musicians