Violinist Nemanja Radulović made a sensational debut at the BBC Proms performing Barber’s Violin Concerto, Op. 14 with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and frequent collaborator, conductor Kirill Karabits. The 21 July programme also features Adams’ Short Ride in a Fast Machine and Holst’s Planets.
Barry Millington writes in The Evening Standard that Radulović’s “beguilingly sensuous tone and eloquent phrasing were immediately apparent and perfectly attuned to the genial expressive qualities of Samuel Barber’s late Romantic Violin Concerto”.
Aliya Al-Hassan writes in Broadway World:
“The Franco-Serbian violinist Nemanja Radulović made his eagerly-anticipated Proms debut as a soloist. With his long black hair, skin-tight trousers and lush, brocade tails, he is certainly eye-catching to look at, but it is his playing that immediately grabs onto every sense. A child prodigy, it is easy to see the passion and skill, as he became totally immersed in his music. ..Radulović was wonderful throughout, but excelled in the tricky and controversial third section. The finale was deemed too difficult to play when debuted, but Radulović tackled the piece with breath-taking skill and a truly virtuoso performance. He followed this up with a giddy rendition of a Serbian folk tune that had the audience in raptures”.
Barry Creasy in musicOHM notes, “[Radulović] is an engaging performer – swaying, dancing, and in complete communication with the orchestra, catching the eye of each section that accompanies him, as though sharing a special moment. Normally the concerto opens with a spurt of optimistic bravura into the engagingly lush melody, but Radulović opted for the softest of entries that dissolved from the air – and this perfect pianissimo playing (particularly on long bow strokes) became a feature throughout the concerto, as if he had replaced his strings with silk; the low entry of the theme in the second movement was utterly magical. … Radulović, though, packed a punch when it was needed, and the final movement was full of virtuosic sawing that elicited a well-deserved roar from the audience at its completion.
“…The energetic encore of a folk dance from his native Serbia sealed the deal, ensuring his place in the Proms Hall of Fame.”
Nemanja Radulović’s recent highlights include critically acclaimed residency with the Bournemouth Symphony [“Radulović had his audience spellbound for the entire concert…” Andy Martin, Bournemouth Echo]; his orchestral debut at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic; the opening of the Jeunesse Musicale series at the Vienna Konzerthaus; a play/direct performance with the Munich Chamber Orchestra (resulting in an immediate re-invitation to work with the ensemble); and a special new collaboration with clarinettist Andreas Ottensamer, accordionist Ksenija Sidorova, and pianist Laure Favre-Kahn, performing to audiences at Schleswig-Holstein, Gstaad, Périgord Noir, and Impérial Annecy festivals. Additional highlights include a very successful return to the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Vasily Petrenko conducting, and a European tour with the I, CULTURE Orchestra and Kirill Karabits, featuring visits to the Radio France Festival in Montpellier and the Tivoli Concert Hall in Copenhagen.
Born in Serbia in 1985, Nemanja Radulović studied at the Faculty of Arts and Music in Belgrade, the Saarlandes Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Saarbrücken, the Stauffer Academy in Cremona with Salvatore Accardo and the world-renowned Conservatoire de Paris with Patrice Fontanarosa.
