Historic violin connects La Crosse Symphony performance with a classical master

Rachel Barton Pine recently thrilled Wisconsin symphony-goers with a masterful performance of Johannes Brahms’s Violin Concerto in D major, a performance you can hear by clicking the “Listen” button in this article.

The audience in attendance at the Viterbo University Fine Arts Center in La Crosse, however, might not have realized how closely connected they were to the great German composer in that moment.

The Instrument

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Pine plays a 1742 Joseph Guarneri “del Gesù” violin known as “ex-Bazzini ex-Soldat.” It is on a lifetime loan to her by an anonymous benefactor. Brahms himself hand-selected the instrument to be played by one of the era’s leading violinists, Marie Soldat.

A woman with long red hair holds a violin while seated indoors, smiling at the camera. She is wearing a floral-patterned blouse. — Rachel Barton Pine, holding the “ex-Bazzini ex-Soldat” violin built in 1742 by Joseph Guarneri “del Gesù.” *Photo courtesy of PBS Wisconsin*

“It’s amazing to play Brahms on an instrument that was among the first to ever perform the concerto,” Pine said. “It not only does everything I could possibly imagine, but it even suggests things to me that I would have never thought of.”

Pine’s performance of the Brahms concerto is the centerpiece of an upcoming WPR Music special, “An Evening with the La Crosse Symphony Orchestra,” which will aired statewide on Wednesday, Aug. 27 and which you can listen to by clicking the “Listen” link on this article. The broadcast will also feature the LSO’s performance of “La Valse” by Maurice Ravel.

The Ensemble

A conductor leads an orchestra as violinists play their instruments during a live performance on stage. — Alexander Platt conducts the La Crosse Symphony Orchestra during a performance of the Brahms Violin Concerto on May 3, 2025 at the Viterbo University Fine Arts Center in La Crosse, Wisconsin. *Photo courtesy of PBS Wisconsin*

Alexander Platt is the conductor and artistic director of the LSO. He is proud of what the orchestra has accomplished.

“The La Crosse Symphony is the crown jewel of the cultural scene in the Coulee Region,” he said. “We aim to give people an ideal beauty they now, more than ever, cannot find anywhere else.”

In addition to the ensemble’s musical capability, Executive Director Eva Marie Restel credits the community with uplifting the orchestra.

“This community embraces the Symphony as a critical part of our overall culture,” Restel says. “It’s quite rare to find a professional regional symphony in a town the size of La Crosse.”

More Music

The La Crosse Symphony Orchestra’s May concert was recorded by PBS Wisconsin for the television special, “Midnight in Paris,” which featured some of the Brahms and even more Ravel.

For more information about WPR Music, including livestreams, playlists and the community calendar, visit our music page.