My new CD Point Counter Point has been out for about 5 weeks and has already received a few great reviews, and a nomination for the Bach CD Prize 2016 from the Dutch radio station Concertzender! Below are two reviews translated from Dutch to English for your enjoyment.
From Opus Klassiek, Aart van de Wal (this is a loose, partial translation, because the original is even longer than this):
http://www.opusklassiek.nl/cd-recensies/cd-aw/kapustin01.htm
"It's been a long time since record companies have had large amounts of money at their disposal to attract promising artists. Nowadays it's often the other way around: the artist must come up with his/her own financial plan to be able to make a CD at all. Classical musicians have learned how to make do with the limited resources available, a process that has already been going on for years, although I'm surprised with how many new CDs are still being produced; this includes lots of repertoire which is continuously being recycled. For me it is increasingly difficult to keep an overview, let alone for the average music-lover. We see many new releases which are never talked about, not even noticed. Even the gems have the risk of being lost in the jungle.
Sarah Kapustin is one of these musicians who, as talented as she is, was forced to use an ever more common (and usually effective) medium to gather the funds needed for her new CD: crowdfunding. She set out to find appropriate funding, in this case a mix of grants and sponsoring, which related not only to the CD itself but also the tour associated with it.
Tour
One of Sarah's goals is to make classical music more accessible for people of all ages/backgrounds; a wish that she shares with many of her colleagues. Therefore she developed a unique lecture-recital format wherein she leads her public through the landscape of the music. She explains how each piece is put together structurally, melodically and harmonically. In this way a 'normal' concert can be transformed into an informed and active listening experience. One example of this is the video on her YouTube channel entitled 'Sarah Kapustin presents Bach and Bartok solo sonatas'.
The less-trodden path
I see this as a fantastic initiative by a formidable artist who sees no mountain high enough to prevent her from sharing her love of the violin and this repertoire, and for reaching a broader international public than she could on the concert stage through the means of a CD. The fact that there seemed to be no other way of attaining this goal than resorting to crowdfunding may come as a surprise, because Sarah Kapustin is anything but an unknown figure. She was the first violinist of the Rubens Quartet, is concertmaster of Sinfonia Rotterdam and violin professor at ArtEZ Conservatory in Zwolle. She is also active as a chamber musician and soloist. It may also come as a surprise that Sarah's chosen repertoire for the CD was not the 'easily accessible' program that 'sells easily'.
Point Counter Point
The CD is out. Point Counter Point, named after the synonymous novel by Aldous Huxley. In her own words: 'The official definition [of counterpoint] is the relation between voices which are interdependent harmonically yet independent in rhythm and contour'. Counterpoint is a difficult feat to realize on the violin, which is by nature a melodic instrument. Based on this, I find the title to be a very appropriate choice, because in the book's main characters we can certainly recognize this polyphony.
It is brave to make a CD with such an unusual combination of pieces: Bartok's solo sonata, the brand new work 'Sirens' by David Fulmer (written especially for her), and Bach's C Major Sonata BWV 1005, which has grown gradually to become a true 'evergreen' among great violinists. Both sonatas fit Sarah, and the CD itself, like a glove, because in both the technical possibilities of violin playing are pushed by unsurpassed musical challenges to the furthest boundaries. Over time they have also grown to be two of Sarah's favorite pieces to play. Although Bartok's sonata is deeply rooted in a unique idiom of solo violin writing, the relationship between the two pieces is unmistakable, certainly in the interpretation by Sarah Kapustin.
In this context David Fulmer's 'Sirens' seems to be a 'filler' piece, but it isn't. David and Sarah are friends and former classmates, and naturally he was thrilled to write a new piece for a violinist who is so interested in contemporary music. The result is the demanding 'Sirens', which functions on this CD as the modern middleman.
Lesson in rhetoric
Sarah Kapustin is a great violinist. The program which she chose for this CD is in itself a proof of that. Who would have expected otherwise? It rains accolades, the exclamation points are endless, and this is mainly due to perhaps her greatest strength: her power of storytelling. How deep can you go as a musician to reach the stage where you are experiencing every note to the fullest? Sarah shows us: very deep. For the listener it begins with flawless articulation and impeccable intonation. That is the essential basis, which leaves us open to experience the expressivity of the music. Then come the real exclamation points, where such an impressive story is told so convincingly that the listener is mesmerized. That is what happens here, in a grandiose lesson in musical rhetoric. Perhaps it helps that Sarah plays on a Rogeri violin from Brescia made at the end of the 17th century? In my opinion, she can do anything, regardless of the instrument. Her choice to work with the sound engineer Daan van Aalst was yet another masterful stroke. Because that can make all the difference. Daan created a true sound paradise for Sarah. I salute them both deeply for the end result.
From journalist Hans Visser (published in several Dutch newspapers):
Make sure the house is quiet and empty your head. Then listen to the rich world of melodies present on Sarah Kapustin's first solo CD. The American [former] first violinist of the Rubens Quartet surprises us with the 'refined combination of flavors in gourmet cuisine' in music. Kapustin studied Bartok's solo sonata (1944) with Robert Mann, one of the first authorities on the piece. She opens her CD with this work in its technically complex original version. But don't be alarmed by 'technically complex', because throughout the intricate polyphonic writing, she makes the violin sing intensely. Bach's third solo sonata was the inspiration for Bartok to write his own solo sonata, and Sarah also makes this piece burst to life. Placed in between these two works is the brand new 'Sirens' by David Fulmer, which fits perfectly in this context. Sarah also presents all three of these works in a special lecture-recital format.
