Young soloist

Camerata Salzburg enchanted in Dornbirn

Julia Hagen took the Dornbirn audience by storm.

(Bild: Julia Wesely / Wiener Konzerthaus)

Simply fabulous: a top-class chamber orchestra and a young, brilliant soloist at Dornbirn Klassik on Tuesday.

Nowadays, the main theme of Joseph Haydn's Cello Concerto No. 1 in C major is sure to trigger an "aha" effect in every classical music lover. But this was not always the case, as this concerto was lost until the 1960s. It has since become part of the core repertoire of cellists. Julia Hagen from Salzburg has also performed this concerto on several occasions. The 29-year-old comes from a good family, is the daughter of Clemens Hagen, the cellist of the world-famous Hagen Quartet, and her grandfather Oskar Hagen, who incidentally comes from Lustenau, was a violist in the Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg.

Julia Hagen comes from a musical family.

(Bild: Julia Wesely)

Outstanding career
This family background has certainly helped Julia Hagen to what is now an outstanding career, but it is above all her ability that impresses. She elicits wonderful tones in warm timbres from her Cremonese cello from 1684, and of course she has a commanding technique in all registers. She was able to make particular use of this in the last movement of the Haydn concerto, while in the middle movement, together with the string section, she was able to spin out lyrical cantilenas. Her encore came across very sympathetically: For a cello duet by Jean-Baptiste Barrière, Julia Hagen sat down with Paolo Bonomini, who was once her teacher, as the cello section leader in the orchestra. The remarkable performance of this young virtuoso in her wide swinging golden skirt was framed by two symphonies. The first was a rarely heard one, namely the F major No. 38 by Michael Haydn, the brother of the more famous Joseph Haydn, who is also known as the "Salzburg Haydn". The Camerata, led by Gregory Ahss from the concertmaster's desk, already demonstrated its unique character here: The velvety sound of the strings contrasts with the rather crisp playing of the winds, which is in keeping with the "historically informed" playing of this wonderful, traditional ensemble.

The magic of the work
After the interval, Franz Schubert's Fifth Symphony in B flat major delighted the gratefully applauding audience. Fresh tempi in the outer movements, a pithy minuet and a songful slow movement: all this brought out the magic of this work by the nineteen-year-old composer. In just three weeks' time, on April 28, the Bruckner Orchestra Linz will make a guest appearance at the Kulturhaus Dornbirn.