Catherina Lee ignites the Fidelio Orchestra under a reborn Raffaello Morales who followed every move of the Tchaikowsky Violin Concerto with a cat and mouse attention to the sublime beauty of the most sumptuously mellifluous of all concertos. Swanning it on a lake of sublime beauty as Catherina moved with the same subtle movements of an ‘Étoile’ as in the unsurpassed ballet scores of this theatrical genius.
But it was The Fidelio Post that moved written by that Renaissance man Raffaello Morales.
At the time of his composing Ullman still did not know that he would die himself in Auschwitz, in the gas chambers part of Crematorium III. Tonight the Fidelio played his Second Symphony which he never wrote. An orchestration made by his friend Bernard Wulff of his seventh sonata for piano, which Ullman completed in 1944. It was left full of annotations on how to orchestrate it, including which instruments to use and is in five movements.
As Ullman state : ‘ I have bloomed in musical growth and not felt myself at all inhibited:we simply did not sit and lament on the shores of the rivers of Babylon that our will for culture was not sufficient to our will to exist.‘
Raffaello has gathered some very fine musicians around him and it was fitting that the concert should start with violin in Ballet shoes to allow an unsuspecting audience to share the harrowing message of Ullman or the Glory and justification of Art with Bach’s greatest work for solo violin.
In Brahm’s words : ‘ On one stave , for a small instrument, the man writes a whole world of the deepest thoughts and most powerful feelings’
Catherina Lee is one of the most gifted and promising violinists to have emerged from Queensland, Australia. She is described as possessing exceptional musicianship with a unique charm, poignancy, and sensitivity that place her in a league of her own. Leading conductor Marin Alsop recently commented, “I am hugely impressed. Catherina is a beautiful violinist and musician.”
Catherina gave her first public recital at 9, debuting with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra at 13, performing Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto. At 15, she was accepted into the class of renowned violinist and teacher Gerhard Schulz, a former member of the famed Alban Berg Quartet at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna. Catherina was the first candidate to pass the gruelling requirements of the ‘Solo Profile’ for her master’s degree, graduating with distinction. Subsequently, she was selected to be mentored by Internationally renowned soloist Janine Jansen in Sion, Switzerland.
In 2023, Catherina plans engagements as a soloist and chamber musician at the Oberösterreichische Stiftskonzerte, Beethoven Triple Concerto with the Junge Philharmonie Wien, and Mendelssohn Violin Concerto with Camerata – Queensland’s Chamber Orchestra. Following Steven Isserlis’s recommendation, Catherina was invited to be a Fellow at the Lunenburg Academy of Music Performance in Nova Scotia, where she will spend several weeks working and performing with artists Gidon Kremer, Kim Kashkashian and Steven Isserlis.
A commanding and sensitive chamber musician, Catherina has appeared with Steven Isserlis, Kim Kashkashian, Philippe Graffin, Wilfried Strehle, Justus Grimm, Rick Stotijn, David Waterman, Garfield Jackson and Hyungki Joo. Her 2020 collaboration with composer Thomas Larcher on his piece ‘Madhares’ followed with its performance at the Ernen Festival.
As a soloist, she has performed with numerous orchestras throughout Europe and Australia, including Göttinger Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra di Padova e del Veneto, Queensland Symphony, Camerata – Queensland’s Chamber Orchestra, the Vienna Ensemble, Wiener Akademische Philharmoniker, Junge Philharmonie Wien, and Camerata Orphica Festival Orchestra. Her recent solo debut at the Konzerthaus in Vienna was described as an outstanding success.
Her work is supported by masterclasses from several leading musicians, including Steven Isserlis, Serguei Azizian, Ivry Gitlis, Boris Brovtsyn, Ivan Straus, Johannes Meissl, Nikolaj Szeps- Znaider, Michael Frischenschlager, Jean Jacques Kantorow, Ilya Gringolts, Johannes Meissl, Pavel Vernikov, Jennifer Stumm, Reka Szilvay, and Erich Gruenberg.
Catherina plays on a GB Guadagnini, Turin c1771, generously on loan by a private sponsor.
ChristopherAxworthy-MusicCommentary 