Poème Mystique: Strauss | Bloch | Schubert | Fauré Danbi Um & Juho Pohjonen

• Richard Strauss (1864- 1949): Violin Sonata in E Flat Major, Op. 18:
• 1 Strauss: Violin Sonata in E Flat Major, Op. 18: I. Allegro, ma non troppo 11:28
• 2 Strauss: Violin Sonata in E Flat Major, Op. 18: II. Improvisation: Andante cantabile 07:19
• 3 Strauss: Violin Sonata in E Flat Major, Op. 18: III. Finale: Andante - Allegro 08:03
• Gabriel Fauré (1845 - 1924): Trois mélodies, Op. 7:
• 4 Fauré: Trois mélodies, Op. 7: No. 1 Après un rêve 02:47
• Ernest Bloch (1880 - 1959): Violin Sonata No. 2, B. 58 “Poeme Mystique”:
• 5 Bloch: Violin Sonata No. 2, B. 58 “Poeme Mystique”: I. Andante moderato 04:22
• 6 Bloch: Violin Sonata No. 2, B. 58 “Poeme Mystique”: II. Animato 03:33
• 7 Bloch: Violin Sonata No. 2, B. 58 “Poeme Mystique”: III. L’istesso tempo (ma un poco mento lente) 05:12
• 8 Bloch: Violin Sonata No. 2, B. 58 “Poeme Mystique”: IV. Animato 06:57
• Franz Schubert (1797 - 1828): Ave Maria, D. 839 (Arr. for Violin & Piano by August Wilhelmj):
• 9 Schubert: Ave Maria, D. 839 (Arr. for Violin & Piano by August Wilhelmj) 04:33
• Total Runtime 54:14

Info zu Poème Mystique: Strauss | Bloch | Schubert | Fauré

Themen wie Kunstlied, Poesie und Spiritualität ziehen sich durch Poeme Mystique, das zweite Soloalbum der koreanisch-amerikanischen Geigerin Danbi Um. Nach Danbis gefeiertem Solo-Debütalbum Much Ado - einem Schaufenster für ihre Virtuosität und ihren vergoldeten Ton - erkundet Poeme Mystique Werke von lyrischer Schönheit und tiefem persönlichen Ausdruck. Richard Strauss' Violinsonate, die er in dem Jahr schrieb, in dem er seine zukünftige Frau kennenlernte, ist von Romantik und Intimität durchdrungen. Ernest Blochs zweite Violinsonate, das Titelstück des Albums, ist abwechselnd ekstatisch, spirituell und fantasievoll. Inspiriert von einem Traum, lässt Bloch ein breites Spektrum an Spiritualität einfließen, darunter Motive aus seinen jüdisch geprägten Werken, das gregorianische Credo, das Kyrie der Messe und das traditionelle Amen.

Danbi webt zwei kürzere Werke in die Sonaten ein. Gabriel Faure's Apres un reve („Nach einem Traum“), ursprünglich ein französisches Kunstlied, wird in dieser Transkription für Violine zu einem exquisiten Lied ohne Worte. Den Abschluss des Albums bildet Franz Schuberts Ave Maria, ebenfalls ursprünglich für Gesang und Klavier, hier in einer Bearbeitung von August Wilhelm.

Danbis raffinierter Partner ist der finnische Pianist Juho Pohjonen. Gemeinsam liefern sie eine technisch virtuose und zugleich emotional nuancierte Darbietung.

Danbi Um, Geige
Juho Pohjonen, Klavier

Danbi Um
Praised by The Strad as an “utterly dazzling” artist, with “a marvelous show of superb technique” and “mesmerizing grace” (New York Classical Review), violinist Danbi Um captivates audiences with her virtuosity, individual sound, and interpretive sensitivity. A Menuhin International Violin Competition Silver Medalist and winner of the prestigious 2018 Salon de Virtuosi Career Grant, she showcases her artistry in concertos, solo recitals, and in collaboration with distinguished chamber musicians.

Ms.Um's recent and upcoming engagements include appearances with the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia (Kimmel Center), Ridgewood Symphony, and her Washington D.C.'s recital debut at the Phillips Collection. This season will also see Ms. Um's return to People's Symphony, Saratoga Performing Arts (SPAC), Santa Fe, North Shore Music Festivals, as well as La Musica Festival (Sarasota).

An avid chamber musician, Ms. Um returns to Chamber Music San Francisco, the Society of Four Arts in Palm Beach, Chamber Music Society of Fort Worth, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center for both national and international tours. Ms. Um's chamber music collaborators have included Anthony Marwood, Vadim Gluzman, Pamela Frank, Cho-Liang Lin, Paul Neubauer, Frans Helmerson, David Finckel, David Shifrin, Wu Han, and Gilbert Kalish. A recording artist for Avie Records, Ms.Um's debut album, Much Ado: Romantic Violin Masterworks, was released worldwide in fall of 2023. Her second album is slated for release in Feburary 2025.

In 2018, Ms. Um made her New York recital debut at Lincoln Center presented by the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. After winning the 2014 Music Academy of the West Competition, Ms. Um made her concerto debut in the Walton Violin Concerto with the Festival Orchestra, conducted by Joshua Weilerstein. Past concerto engagements include appearances with the Israel Symphony, Auckland Philharmonic, Vermont Symphony, and the Dartmouth Symphony. She also recently appeared in recital and in chamber music performances in such venues as the Kennedy Center, Philadelphia’s Kimmel Center, Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, the Harris Theatre in Chicago, Wigmore Hall in London, and at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art.

Born in 1990 in Seoul, South Korea, Ms. Um began violin lessons at the age of three. In the year 2000, she moved to the United States to study at the Curtis Institute of Music, where she earned a Bachelor’s degree. She also holds an Artist Diploma from Indiana University. Her teachers have included Shmuel Ashkenasi, Joseph Silverstein, Jaime Laredo, and Hagai Shaham. Ms. Um is a winner of Astral Artists’ National Auditions. She plays a 1683 “ex-Petschek” Nicolo Amati violin, on loan from a private collection.

Juho Pohjonen
Lauded for his “impeccable technique” (The Washington Post) and “elegant musicianship” (The New York Times), pianist Juho Pohjonen is in demand internationally as an orchestral soloist, recitalist, and chamber performer. An ardent exponent of Scandinavian music, Pohjonen’s growing discography offers a showcase of music by Finnish compatriots such as Esa-Pekka Salonen, Kaija Saariaho and Jean Sibelius.

The “fast rising Finnish star” has garnered acclaim as a “delightfully unassuming but bewitching soloist” (The Guardian) in recent engagements with the German Radio Philharmonic, Taiwan, BBC, and Los Angeles Philharmonic orchestras; Cleveland and Minnesota Orchestras; the Symphonies of San Francisco, Atlanta, New Jersey, and Colorado; National Arts Centre Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Danish National Symphony, Finnish Radio Symphony, Philharmonia Orchestra of London, and the Mostly Mozart Festival.

He recently performed Sauli Zinovjev’s Piano Concerto with the Lahti Symphony and Daniel Bjarnason’s concerto, Processions with the Helsinki Philharmonic, both with Bjarnason at the podium. Pohjonen has also collaborated with today’s foremost conductors, including Marin Alsop, Lionel Bringuier, Marek Janowski, Fabien Gabel, Kirill Karabits, Osmo Vänskä, Pietari Inkinen, Stefan Asbury, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Robert Spano, Markus Stenz, and Pinchas Zukerman.

Highlights of the 2024-2025 season include recitals and chamber performances presented by Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Washington University in St. Louis, Society of the Four Arts in Palm Beach, and Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival. Additionally, Pohjonen performs Grieg's Piano Concerto in A Minor with the Philharmonia Orchestra, under the baton of Vinay Parameswaran, and makes an appearance at Wigmore Hall alongside violinist Stephan Waarts and cellist Jonathan Swensen. Pohjonen has performed in recital at New York’s Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center, at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, the Steinway Society in San Jose, and in San Francisco, La Jolla, Philadelphia, Detroit, Savannah, and Vancouver.  He made his London debut at Wigmore Hall, and has played recitals throughout Europe in Antwerp, Hamburg, Helsinki, St. Petersburg, and Warsaw. Following a program at the 92nd Street Y in New York featuring Salonen’s Dichotomie, the New York Times commented, “[Pohjonen] played it like a master.”

Pohjonen is an alumnus of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s Bowers Program and enjoys an ongoing relationship with the organization. With CMS, he has performed at Alice Tully Hall, the Saratoga Performing Arts Center and Wolf Trap. He appears several times on CMS’s 2024-2025 season, including a solo recital featuring the world premiere of Prélude oublié for Piano by Finnish composer Jyrki Linjama, commissioned by Pohjonen. He is also featured on CMS’s Sonic Spectrum contemporary music series, performing the world premiere of a new work for flute, percussion, and piano by Elise Arancio as well as works by Alejandro Viñao and Viet Cuong.

Pohjonen has played alongside the Escher and Calidore String Quartets, and has collaborated in a program at the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg. He has played festivals in Lucerne, Finland, Norway, and Germany; at the Gilmore Keyboard Festival; the Marlboro Music Festival; and ChamberFest Cleveland.

Pohjonen’s growing discography includes the recently released album Visionaries of the Keyboard (Orchid 2024), featuring works by Rameau and Scriabin and showcasing Pohjonen's ability to navigate both baroque elegance and modernist mysticism. Previous recordings include The Dvořák Album, recorded with Jan Vogler and the Moritzburg Festival (Sony Classical 2022); cello works (Inbal Segev) of Chopin, Grieg and Schumann (AVIE 2018); Bach: 6 Sonatas for Violin (Nicolas Dautricourt) and Piano (La Dolce Volta 2018); Music@Menlo Live:  Maps and Legends (2010); and Plateaux, works by Pelle Gudmundsen-Holmgreen, recorded with Ed Spanjaard and the Danish National Symphony. Pohjonen is a founding member of the Sibelius Piano Trio, who released “a gorgeous debut” (Stereophile) in honor of Finland’s 1917 centennial of independence (Yarlung Records 2016).

Pohjonen earned a master’s degree from Meri Louhos and Hui-Ying Liu-Tawaststjerna at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki. He was selected by Sir András Schiff as the winner of the 2009 Klavier Festival Ruhr Scholarship. In 2019, Pohjonen launched MyPianist, an AI-based app that provides interactive piano accompaniment.

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