New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Daniel Lozakovich, the 17-year-old violinist, amazes audiences and critics alike with his mature, carefully considered playing. His debut album, Johann
Sebastian Bach: Violin Concertos Nos. 1 & 2; Partita No. 2 is out now via Deutsche Grammophon/Universal
Music Canada, the country's leading music company. Listen to the album below:
https://umc.lnk.to/lozakovich
"More than a child prodigy" was the headline in the German daily newspaper Der Tagesspiegel following a concert given by Lozakovich in Berlin this past February. "A thoroughly serious young performer; you can hear that he is his own man." Lozakovich comes across not as a teenage virtuoso, but as a thoughtful young musician. His playing is exceptionally mature and he has already convinced such prominent musical colleagues such as conductors Valery Gergiev and
Andris Nelsons.
Lozakovich has many interests and, although his parents originally imagined he would embark upon a career as a professional tennis player, he is now making his way in the world with up-bows rather than backhands. That there is not only raw talent at play when he performs, but also a complete understanding of the work in question, is clear from his debut recording, as an exclusive Deutsche Grammophon artist, of works by Johann
Sebastian Bach.
"The boy has a stunning technique, near-perfect intonation, and his bowing shows real assurance, enabling him to produce a pure, airy, luminous sound. Lozakovich's Beethoven is highly sensitive, with subtle colourings and wonderfully shapely phrases controlled right to the end of the note, eschewing any temptation to play to the gallery." Le Monde was deeply impressed by Lozakovich in December 2017, when he played the Beethoven Violin Concerto - one of the pillars of the violin repertoire - in Paris, affirming that the young violinist's most astonishing quality was his restraint. Whereother virtuosos emphasize their technique for effect, Lozakovich gives the music space and leaves his playing to speak for itself. His admiration for past masters of the violin such as Christian Ferras, Jascha Heifetz, Leonid Kogan and Yehudi Menuhin may have helped shape this approach. He has also been very much influenced by his teacher,
Josef Rissin, and also by Eduard Wulfson, who has been mentoring him since 2015.
It was only by chance that Lozakovich, who was born in Sweden in 2001, began playing the violin at the age of six. His parents, neither of them musicians, sent a sports-mad
Daniel to a music school where he resolutely chose the violin as his instrument. After his very first lesson, his teacher declared him exceptionally talented, and two years later he made his debut with the Moscow Virtuosi and Vladimir Spivakov. In the years that followed, his concerts and numerous prize-winning competition appearances drew the attention of industry insiders and won him some prominent backers: Valery Gergiev invited him to make a solo appearance as early as 2015. Concerts with, among others,
Andris Nelsons, Semyon Bychkov, Hartmut Haenchen and
Robin Ticciati followed.
In 2016, Deutsche Grammophon announced that it was signing an exclusive contract with Lozakovich, with a view to working with him long-term. Today's release of his first recording will give him a chance to introduce his musical thinking to a wider public. The choice of Bach spotlights a composer whose music, according to Lozakovich, shows your true colours as a musician because it is impossible to hide behind the notes. Whether collaborating with the Chamber Orchestra of the Bavarian
Radio Symphony Orchestra in Bach's First and Second Violin Concertos or playing solo violin in the Second Partita, Lozakovich's debut recording demonstrates his enthusiasm and aptitude for chamber music utterly convincingly. Playing with Ivry Gitlis,
Daniel Hope and
Martin Fröst, he has also proved it on stage.
Despite being a talented musician, Lozakovich is also open to the world beyond music and has many interests. Although his career as a tennis player has been cancelled, as well as pursuing his studies at school in Geneva, he remains an avid sports enthusiast with a particular love of football and boxing. He has as much time for The Beatles, Eric Clapton, and Django Reinhardt as he does for Bach, Beethoven or Bartók, and is relaxed about his own development, preferring to study and consolidate his repertoire properly and broaden it only when he feels ready. As a young musician with a firm grasp of how to communicate his musical interests with confidence and style, Lozakovich is certainly one to watch - and far more than just a teenage prodigy.
Daniel Lozakovich - Johann
Sebastian Bach: Violin Concertos Nos. 1 & 2; Partita No. 2:
Violin Concerto No. 2 in E major, BWV 1042
Allegro
Adagio
III. Allegro assai
Violin Concerto No. 1 in A minor, BWV 1041
Allegro moderato
Andante
III. Allegro assai
Partita for Solo Violin No. 2 in D minor, BWV 1004
Allemande
Courante
III. Sarabande
Gigue
Chaconne
