By HRJ
The person in charge of the first violin is responsible for the musical and emotional balance of an orchestra. In fact, his function is so important that he has a special name: "concertmaster", which, in the case of the Orquesta Sinfónica de Minería, is "concertina": Shari Mason, whose function is not only sonorous (to lead the construction of a sound of excellence), but also sensorial (to feel the oscillations in the mood of the group to guarantee its stability).
It is an extraordinarily demanding job, both artistically and psychologically. On the one hand, it requires the interpretative level of a soloist; on the other, the emotional maturity and social tact of a human resources manager.
The concertina represents the link between the baton and the instruments. It is the link of dialogue and union, of musical demand and community management.
Shari Mason, the brilliant concertina of Minería, will perform as soloist with the Concerto for Violin and Orchestra No. 1 by Sergey Prokofiev this Wednesday, November 16 at 8:00 p.m. in the Nezahualcóyotl Concert Hall.
What is Shari Mason's violin style?
The violinistic style of Shari Mason, the brilliant concertmaster of Minería, is distinguished by a technical perfection that allows her to tackle with solvency different repertoires. Mexican theaters have seen her brilliantly interpret concertos with such different demands as Beethoven's and Schittke's (Concerto for two violins and strings). But in both there is a common factor in Shari Mason's interpretation: her absolute respect for the score. Her virtuosity is sober and elegant; she focuses her research on expressive coherence. One could say that her violinistic style is soft and refined. He turns to the exploration of subtleties and nuances. An expressive virtuosity that in Sergey Prokofiev's Concerto for Violin and Orchestra No. 1, whose sound world has one foot in romanticism and the other in modernity, finds an ideal means of showcasing itself.
Where can I see some of Shari Mason's outstanding performances?
Four years ago, during our 2018 Summer Season, Shari Mason performed the solo part of Sergey Prokofiev's Concerto for Violin and Orchestra No. 1 under the guest baton of Giancarlo Guerrero (the same work she will perform tomorrow).
Here is a video of those rehearsals, where you can see and hear not only how Shari Mason practices the most virtuosic passages of the piece, but also the way in which the conductor, the soloist and the instrumentalists interact to gradually build together a sound of excellence.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4t6UuRbE70
What should I know about Shari Mason's artistic career?
Shari Mason is a graduate of the National School of Music at UNAM and the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University. She has taken specialization courses with Pinchas Zuckerman and Joshua Bell.
His repertoire includes the Concerto for two violins and strings, Moz-Art á la Haydnby Alfred Schnittke, and concertos for violin and orchestra by Johannes Brahms, Ludwig van Beethoven, Jean Sibelius and Alexander Glazunov.
He is concertmaster of the orchestras Sinfónica de Minería (since 2013) and Sinfónica Nacional. He has performed with important Mexican orchestras (Filarmónica de la UNAM, Sinfónica de Aguascalientes and Sinfónica de Yucatán) under the baton of conductors such as Zuohuang Chen, Lior Shambadal and Antoni Ros-Marbá.
He has shared the stage with Philippe Quint, Paul Huang, Bruno Monsaingeon and Inon Barnatan. Barnatan.
In 2012, he recorded all of José Pablo Moncayo's chamber works for violin in the comprehensive the composer's integral discographic edition published by the Mexican Ministry of Culture.
When will Shari Mason perform as a soloist with the Orquesta Sinfónica de Minería?
Shari Mason will perform the soloist part of Concerto for Violin and Orchestra No. 1 by Sergey Prokofiev with the Orquesta Sinfónica de Minería under the baton of Carlos Miguel Prieto in a concert that also includes Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 4 and the Prelude from the opera Jovánshchina by Músorgski, which will be performed at the Nezahualcóyotl Concert Hall this Wednesday November 1November 6 at 8:00 p.m..
What should I know about Prokofiev's Concerto for Violin and Orchestra No. 1 to be performed by Shari Mason with the Orquesta Sinfónica de Minería?
In this regard, Juan Arturo Brennan has written:
"The concerto was completed in the summer of 1917, in a country house near St. Petersburg, shortly after the composer had put the finishing touches to Symphony No. 1.Classical. While Prokofiev was devoting himself to the concert, the Czar was abdicating the throne, Alexander Kerensky's provisional government was taking power, and the Bolsheviks (among whom the composer was certainly not one of them) were trying unsuccessfully to take over. Thus, while Lenin and Trotsky consulted each other on their political strategies, Prokofiev consulted with the Polish violinist Pavel Kochansky, who gave him advice on the solo part of the concerto. Originally, Kochanski was supposed to premiere the work in November 1917, in St. Petersburg, but again, the Bolsheviks, who now took power, got in the way and delayed the premiere of the concerto. The score had to wait six years until, on October 18, 1923, the violinist Marcel Darrieux premiered it in Paris, under the direction of Serge Koussevitzki".
