hr-Sinfonieorchester

As a conductor, he has the chance to paint with a ‘huge brush’, says Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider. As a violinist, the brush is much smaller. Szeps-Znaider knows and can do both: he is one of the few people who are equally successful as a violin soloist and conductor, and is happy to do both on the same evening - as in this concert by the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra. ‘I was simply curious and only knew the diverse orchestral and operatic literature as a listener,’ says the Copenhagen-born musician with Polish roots, explaining his dual career path. ‘The repertoire for solo violinists was ultimately too narrow for me.’ And narrowness simply does not suit the musical understanding of this artist, who knows how to deal with even such well-known violin concertos as the popular one in G minor by Max Bruch in an incredibly reflective and undogmatic way. Szeps-Znaider's credo is to scrutinise every note for its relationship to the whole - ‘that's why when I play it, it feels like I'm discovering the piece for the first time. It's never boring.’ Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider can be experienced as a violinist and conductor with two absolute classics - Bruch's 1st Violin Concerto and Dvořák's 7th Symphony - as well as surprising orchestral music by focus artist Unsuk Chin. (hr-Sinfonieorchester)