María Dueñas, the exceptional 20-year-old Spanish violinist, was our guest soloist at the Richmond Symphony last weekend. She performed Édouard Lalo’s Symphonie espagnole. Dueñas was the first prize winner in the 2021 Menuhin Violin Competition, which was hosted in Richmond. In 2022, she signed an exclusive recording contract with Deutsche Grammophon. She performs on the 1736 “Muntz” Guarneri del Gesú violin.
Paganini: Caprice No. 4
The fourth of Niccolò Paganini’s Twenty Four Caprices is an exercise in double stops and thirds. Dueñas’ expansive and singing approach honors Paganini’s interpretive marking, maestoso.
Fauré: Après un rêve (Version for Violin and Piano)
Après un rêve (“After a dream”) is the opening song in Gabriel Fauré’s 1878 set, Trois mélodies for solo voice and piano. In this violin transcription, María Dueñas is accompanied by Itamar Golan.
Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64
This December 2020 performance features María Dueñas with conductor Gustavo Gimeno and the Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra. We explored this piece in a previous post.
Recordings
- María Dueñas’ discography at Deutsche Grammophon
Featured Image: photograph by Tam Lan Truong