Antje Weithaas plays the solo part of the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto, whilst also leading the Camerata Bern orchestra.

“Admittedly, it is quite exceptional for an orchestra and a soloist to record the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto without a conductor... Essential questions remained with us throughout: how do we stay in sync while ensuring that the music remains lively and flexible; how can we go on interacting? What we are applying here is indeed a chamber music approach, which is supposed to allow us to gain in terms of freedom and clarity…Listening to the result, I must concede that the adventure was well worth the effort, even though such projects can only succeed when the soloist and the orchestra know one another very well, as is the case with myself and the Camerata. After several days of intense recording sessions, I feel thoroughly grateful to all members of the ensemble and to the marvellous additional wind section for the incredibly stimulating, creative time we spent together.

“I view Tchaikovsky as a gracefully elegant, thoroughly aristocratic Russian, and I wanted to help the listener clearly discern his moving sadness and yearning: however, this music always remains elegant and noble in spite of its emotional depth. These aspects are thoroughly Russian, but in a very fine, subtle way. I extend my heartfelt thanks to all members of Camerata Bern for this thrilling production. What a luxury to be able to make music together in this way!”

Antje Weithaas plays a violin made by Peter Greiner in 2001. Her broad, multi-faceted concerto repertoire comprises not only the great concertos of Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms and Schumann, but also new works such as Jörg Widmann’s Concerto for Violin and Orchestra, a series of modern classics, and seldom-performed gems.

Founded in 1962 as a flexible instrumental ensemble without a conductor, the Camerata Bern quickly rose to international success. Its members are highly gifted soloists and chamber musicians. Under the artistic direction of Antje Weithaas and guest concertmasters such as Erich Hörbarth, Patricia Kopatschinskaja, Amandine Beyer, Rachel Podger and Enrico Onofri, the ensemble stands out with its subtle and perfectly homogeneous sound, its freshness and mastery of style. The Camerata Bern now extends its focus to historically informed performance on period instruments, while maintaining a lively, fruitful dialogue with the music of our time.