The day before her debut Stella x Schubert performance at Herbst Theater in San Francisco, Stella Chen came to the Strings studio (1700 ex-Petri Stradivari in tow) to record this Strings Session.
You’ll notice there is no Schubert in this solo violin Session. Chen performs Paganini’s Caprice No. 9 and Vieuxtemp’s Capriccio (Homage a Paganini). “Schubert is my favorite composer and he suffered a lot in his life because of Paganini,” says Chen. “Paganini was taking Vienna by storm and everyone was so thrilled and captivated by Paganini’s virtuosity.”
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“I was always afraid of Paganini. I didn’t feel the sort of bravado I thought one needed, but it’s required for all competitions. And after I won Queen Elizabeth [International Violin Competition, in 2019], I thought ‘This is fantastic, I’ll never have to play Paganini again!’ Of course, then, every opportunity that came my way I thought, ‘Maybe I’ll play Paganini!'”
For more on the Stella x Schubert project, look out for an interview with Chen in the upcoming May/June 2023 issue of Strings magazine.