Unusualities abound in the story of a new CD, Avlana Eisenberg conducting the MÁV Symphony Orchestra, Zina Schiff soloist, of the Sibelius and Barber violin concertos.
To begin with, according to Schiff, "this CD is a historic mother-daughter first — I'm the violin soloist, and my daughter, Avlana Eisenberg, is conducting the orchestra."
Item 2: although the recording was made in Budapest, and Schiff lives in Boston (and Marin), the two musicians have Bay Area connections to burn — Schiff attended UC Berkeley and won a San Francisco Symphony Foundation Award; she recently performed on a concert series in San Francisco and Berkeley. Eisenberg was born in San Francisco, and served as the concertmaster of the Marin Youth Symphony and later as assistant conductor of the Stanford Symphony.
Now the RR angle (my favorite): The orchestra making the recording is world's only railroad symphony — and a good one. In 1945, with Hungary in ruins, the country's largest — and still somewhat functioning — corporation, the Hungarian National Railroad, created the MÁV Szimfonikus Zenekar.
Among those conducting the 100-piece railroad symphony during its ore than six decades: János Ferencsik, Lamberto Gardelli, Roberto Benzi, Ottmar Suitner, Hans Swarowsky, Kurt Masur, Herbert Blomstedt, James Levine, Carlo Ponti Jr., and many more. The orchestra has toured in Tokyo, Amsterdam, Vienna, Stuttgart, Hong Kong, and elsewhere.
Schiff attended Curtis, became of protégée of Jascha Heifetz, made her debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra, and met Samuel Barber, whose Violin Concerto she later introduced to audiences throughout the U.S.
Eisenberg is music director of the Boston Chamber Symphony, has conducted orchestras throughout the United States and in France, Germany, Austria, Scotland, Spain, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, and Hungary. A Fulbright Fellow in Paris and winner of Glamour magazine’s Top Ten College Women, Eisenberg began conducting while an undergraduate at Yale University, where she founded and directed the Silliman Symphony. She received her J.D. with from Stanford Law School and was awarded a research fellowship at Harvard Law School.
The CD also includes the orchestral world premiere of Ben-Haim's Songs Without Words.