Grammy-, Juno-winning musician James Ehnes performs Beethoven with Vancouver Symphony, June 2

The virtuoso plays a famed Stradivarius from 1715

Vancouver Symphony Orchestra presents James Ehnes Plays Beethoven on June 2 at 7:30 pm at the Orpheum

THE “MARSICK” Stradivarius of 1715 is an antique violin named for Belgian violinist and teacher Martin Pierre Marsick (1847-1924), who owned the instrument made by Antonio Stradivari in Cremon, Italy, during the so-called Golden Age of the violin. The extremely valuable piece now belongs to David Fulton, the collector behind the Seattle-based Fulton Collection, and is played by James Ehnes.

Ehnes will perform Beethoven’s Violin Concerto on that famed instrument when he appears in concert with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra under the baton of maestro Otto Tausk.

A Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, Member of the Order of Canada, and 2021-22 artist in residence with the National Arts Centre of Canada, Ehnes was named Artist of the Year at the 2021 Gramophone Awards. He performs around the world and has won multiple awards for his recordings, including two Grammys and several Junos, among others.

As part of the celebrations for Beethoven’s 250th birthday in 2019-20, Ehnes was invited to perform the complete cycle of the legend’s sonatas at the Wigmore Hall. His third and final instalment of Beethoven violin-sonatas recordings with Andrew Armstrong was released by Onyx in 2020 and earned praise from Gramophone: “[Ehnes gave us] the flawless technique, the purity of his sound, and the extent to which everything always feels elegant and just right, with no attention-grabbing quirks or determined originalities… a huge spectrum of colour and articulation [is] employed”.

In addition to Beethoven’s Violin Concerto, one of the most important works of the violin repertoire, also on the June 2 concert program is Mozart popular Symphony No. 40, “The Great G minor Symphony”.

More information is at the VSO.