J.S. Bach’s Time at the Collegium Musicum

 

 

Based in Minnesota, Michael “Mike” Antonello collects fine art and has performed with multiple orchestras as a violinist. Michael J Antonello has been a featured soloist with groups such as Milano Classica and has played works by composers such as Tchaikovsky and Bach.

In 1729, Johann Sebastian Bach was given a director position at Collegium Musicum, a private society founded by Georg Phillip Telemann. The society enabled university students with a strong interest in music to interact, share ideas pertinent to music, and hone their musical skills. Twice a week, they performed two-hour concerts in a local coffeehouse. It is likely that Bach violin concertos were performed during those sessions.

Prior to joining the , Bach already had written a series of church cantatas. However, in the new setting, Bach demonstrated unquenchable joyfulness and an overwhelming sense of vitality in his violin concertos. Joining the Collegium Musicum also likely enabled Bach to become well-acquainted with concertos by Antonio Vivaldi, including The Seasons. Bach also dedicated time studying and transcribing many other composers’ music.

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The Long Road to Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto

A featured soloist with the Erato Chamber Orchestra of Chicago, Michael J Antonello studied violin at the Interlachen Arts Academy in Michigan. A patron of the fine arts, Michael “Mike” Antonello has recorded 18 classical CDs and performed classical music by a variety of composers, including Glazunov and Tchaikovsky.

Prior to writing his violin concerto, Tchaikovsky traveled across Europe, including stops in Paris and Italy, with the support of his friend and benefactress, Nadezhdah Von Meek. Along with violinist Losif Kotek, Tchaikovsky played through one of Lalo’s violin concertos, titled Symphoniè Espagnole, in Switzerland.

In 1878, Tchaikovsky wrote the concerto, which Kotek refused to premiere. This disagreement resulted in the pair parting ways. Tchaikovsky rededicated it to violinist Leopold Auer, who also rejected it due to its score. Tchaikovsky, once again, rededicated his concerto, this time to violinist Adolf Brodsky, who eventually premiered it in Vienna.

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Rewards and Challenges of a Newly Purchased 1720 Rochester Stradivari

Minnesota’s Michael “Mike” Antonello is a widely known classical violinist able to imbue warmth and beauty into the compositions of composers such as Mozart and Brahms. Interviewed in Fanfare Magazine, Michael J. Antonello spoke in depth on his 1720 Rochester Stradivari.

Challenging to play at first, the legendary instrument was purchased “sight unseen” while he was on tour in Scotland. His wife had long been urging him to take a break from collecting American fine art to focus on acquiring an exceptional violin. For his part, he maintained that his 1736 late Stradivari, purchased at an excellent price, was a perfectly acceptable workhorse, particularly for recordings.

The 1720 Rochester Stradivari was an impulse buy from Kenneth Warren and Sons that came at an excellent price. A clear indication that the violin, previously owned by a Japanese amateur collector, had not been played was that the strings were elevated above the fingerboard to an extent that playing the instrument was challenging.

With the instrument having perhaps never been played extensively in concert settings, he had his work cut out in trying to keep the 1720 Rochester Stradivari in tune. It took him three years of work to get the vibrations to a point where the instrument was pulling him into notes, rather than pushing him off.

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How Violinist Michael Antonello Began His Recording Career

  A prominent professional concert violinist and fine art collector, Minnesota resident Michael J. “Mike” Antonello has recorded 18 classical music albums. In addition, Michael Antonello has served as a concertmaster for several orchestras, including Michigan’s Grand Rapids Symphony.

After accepting the concertmaster position with the Grand Rapids Symphony, Mr. Antonello became acquainted with Philip Greenberg, a conductor, violinist, and a connoisseur of fine violins. Mr. Greenberg was instrumental in encouraging Mr. Antonello to rekindle his passion for performing as a concert violinist.

The friendship between the two violinists began in the late 1960s, when Mr. Greenberg invited Mr. Antonello, the new Grand Rapids concertmaster, to join him in playing the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto with the Western Shore Symphony. Mr. Greenberg was impressed with Mr. Antonello’s skill and expression.

After losing track of Mr. Antonello when he began working in the insurance sector, Mr. Greenberg found him again by chance in Rochester, Minnesota, where Mr. Antonello was playing a violin solo in the orchestra. The elder violinist encouraged Mr. Antonello to record his musical repertoire while he was still young.

Mr. Greenberg, then the director of the Kiev Philharmonic, facilitated recording sessions for Mr. Antonello, beginning with Mendelssohn and Beethoven concertos, then moving on to other musical masterpieces of the classical violin.