Tartini and Franck, Fantasy and Friendship

Julian Rhee, Violin and Kate Liu, Piano

  • Giuseppe Tartini (1692-1770) - Sonata in G Minor, "Devil's Trill" (1713) (13”)
  • Larghetto affettuoso
  • Allegro energico
  • Grave - Allegro assai
  • César Franck (1822-1890) - Sonata for Violin and Piano in A Major, FWV 8 (1886) (24”)
  • Allegretto ben moderato
  • Allegro
  • Recitativo-Fantasia: Ben moderato - Molto lento
  • Allegretto poco mosso
  • Program Notes:
  • Dear listeners, for me, one of the many joys of being a performer is the art of programming. To have a blank slate and use one’s imagination to weave a narrative together is a thrilling privilege. Following that theme of imagination, Kate and I will begin the program with a work inspired by fantasy: the Devil’s Trill Sonata by Giuseppe Tartini.
  • The legend goes that Tartini dreamed the Devil appeared to him, accepted Tartini’s challenge of playing the violin, and demonstrated unimaginable virtuosity and mastery. As a result, Tartini made out to compose a work reproducing what he had heard, featuring the technique of trills. Tartini himself was an acclaimed violinist, and composing a work that blended the harmonic and structural beauty of the time, with an out of the ordinary flare for virtuosity made him ahead of his time. As a performer, it’s no wonder this work has remained a staple in the literature; the purity and sheer beauty, coupled with the physical challenge of making it seem easy (which it is not!) makes for a thrilling start to any program.
  • The other work on the program, Franck’s Violin Sonata, similarly synthesizes refinement and virtuosity in its own unique capacity, and demonstrates a transformation and evolution from the Italian baroque traditions. Franck composed this sonata later in his life at the age of 63 in 1886, as a gift for his dear friend and the great Belgian violinist Eugene Ysaye’s wedding. For me, Franck’s ability to take a four movement work, and seemingly weave them into one breath is singular. Motives heard in one movement are transformed in another, and the kind of cyclical nature of the work creates for a singular life force. Like Tartini, Franck allows both instruments to act as one, be in conversation, and individually; virtuosity is utilized as a tool for expansive expression.
  • My hope is that by programming two contrasting works that span nearly two centuries, there’s a clarity of consequence and evolution in harmonic, motivic, and emotional expression. While Tartini and Franck never met, for me, there is an organic conversation that occurs between these two while playing their music. As a performer, serving as a conduit not just between audience and musician, but composers that lived centuries apart is what keeps everyday a new and surprising experience.

Winner of the 2024 Avery Fisher Career Grant, Korean-American violinist Julian Rhee has enthralled listeners internationally, praised for his refinement and beauty of sound, and “the kind of poise and showmanship that thrills audiences.” (The Strad)

Rhee came to international prominence following his prize winning performances at the 2024 Queen Elisabeth International Violin Competition and Silver Medal at The 11th Quadrennial International Violin Competition of Indianapolis. He has appeared with orchestras including the Milwaukee Symphony, Belgian National Orchestra, Antwerp Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony, Pacific Symphony, Oregon Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony, Stuttgart KammerOrchester, and San Diego Symphony alongside conductors including Alexander Shelley, Antony Hermus, Nicolas McGegan, Valentina Peleggi, Leonard Slatkin, and David Danzmayr. Highlights of the 2026-2027 season include debuts with the Gürzenich-Orchester and Andrés Orozco-Estrada, La Orquesta Clásica Santa Cecilia and Daniel Raiskin, and returns to the Richmond and Milwaukee Symphony Orchestras.

Rhee is a member of Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s prestigious Bowers Program. He has performed at and attended festivals including the Bridgehampton, Spannungen Heimbach, Music@Menlo, Marlboro, and NorthShore Chamber Music Festivals, performing alongside esteemed musicians such as Vadim Gluzman, Christian Tetzlaff, and Mitsuko Uchida.

Rhee received his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees as teaching assistant of Miriam Fried at the New England Conservatory, and currently studies with Christian Tetzlaff at the Kronberg Academy.

Rhee is the recipient of the outstanding 1699 “Lady Tennant” Antonio Stradivari violin and Jean Pierre Marie Persoit bow on extended loan through the generosity of the Mary B. Galvin Foundation and the Stradivari Society.2026.

Pianist Kate Liu first came to international prominence after winning Third Prize at the 17th International Fryderyk Chopin Competition in Warsaw, where she also received the Best Mazurka Prize and the Audience Favorite Prize. Since then, she has toured widely and built a reputation for her poetic sound, musical depth, and expressive individuality.

Liu has appeared in major venues around the world, including Seoul Arts Center, Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre, Warsaw National Philharmonic, La Maison Symphonique de Montréal, Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, Severance Hall in Cleveland, the Kennedy Center, Shanghai Concert Hall, Osaka Symphony Hall, and the Phillips Collection. She has collaborated with orchestras such as the Warsaw Philharmonic, Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra, The Cleveland Orchestra, Daegu Symphony Orchestra, and the Rochester Philharmonic. A frequent guest at the Chopin and His Europe Festival in Warsaw, she received the Olivier Berggruen Prize in 2024 as part of the Gstaad Menuhin Festival.

In 2025, Liu released her debut album of Beethoven and Brahms sonatas with Orchid Classics. Born in Singapore, she began piano studies at the age of four before moving to the United States, where she studied at the Music Institute of Chicago. She later earned her Bachelor’s degree from the Curtis Institute of Music and both a Master’s degree and Artist Diploma from The Juilliard School, studying with Robert McDonald and Yoheved Kaplinsky.

About the Dame Myra Hess Concerts

The concerts are generously sponsored by the Paul Angell Foundation, the Illinois Arts Council and by individual donors.

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