Jean Balissat

Review

Rückblick [Looking back] is a reconstructed version by the composer of a work which originally was subtitled 'Elegia notturna'. During the thirteen minute work, the solo violin, this instrument that symbolizes our highest cultural values, attempts to prevail with its lyrical tradition against a harrowing dramatic fight as reflected by a subtly orchestrated environment of shadows and violent sounds, all of which ends up with a desperate questioning and repeated ritornello, escaping into the endless silence… Rückblick was the set piece of the 1980 'Tibor Varga' International Violin Competition in Sion (Switzerland) and the first performance was given August 8th in the Matze Hall of Sion by Liviu-Mircea Casleanu, violin, with the Philharmonica Hungarica, conducted by Tibor Varga. The CD recorded by Bettina Boller, violin and the Orchestra della Radiotelevisione della Svizzera Italiana conducted by Jean Balissat (Grammont CTS-P 17-2, Lausanne, 1988) obtained the Prix de l'Académie Charles Cros in 1989.