Renowned Violinist Isabelle Faust to Perform at Ithaca College

By Dave Maley, November 14, 2019
Recital is part of the Louis K. Thaler Concert Violinist Series.

Violinist Isabelle Faust will give a concert of Beethoven sonatas at Ithaca College on Tuesday, Nov. 19. Her performance will be held at 7 p.m. in Hockett Family Recital Hall in the Whalen Center for Music, and it is free and open to the public.

Faust will be accompanied by pianist Alexander Melnikov. Audience members are invited to stay for a post-concert talk back immediately following the recital.

At an early age, Faust won the prestigious Leopold Mozart and Paganini competitions and was soon invited to appear with the world’s leading orchestras, including the Berlin Philharmonic, Boston Symphony Orchestra and NHK Symphony Orchestra Tokyo. Her vast artistic curiosity encompasses all eras and forms of instrumental collaboration, performing a wide-ranging repertoire from J.S. Bach to contemporary composers.

Faust shares a longstanding recital partnership with Melnikov, with whom she has released many discs on the Harmonia Mundi label. Their recording of the Beethoven sonatas for violin and piano won a Gramophone Award and was nominated for a Grammy Award.

Melnikov graduated from the Moscow Conservatory and has been awarded prizes at the International Robert Schumann Competition and the Concours Musical Reine Elisabeth.

The recital is sponsored by the Louis K. Thaler Concert Violinist Series, which was established at Ithaca College by the Thaler/Howell Foundation in memory of Louis Thaler and to honor his lifelong love of the violin. The impetus for this gift was provided by Louis Thaler’s son Manley and his immediate family.