CD · 1 disc
CD · 2 discs
CD · 6 discs
Herbert Kefer was born in Austria in 1960. At the age of five he received his first musical education on the violin. He continued his studies with Professor Karl Frischenschlager in Leoben and with Professor Karl Stierhof at the University of Music in Vienna. He graduated with distinction in 1986. In 1980 he founded, together with three colleagues, the Artis-Quartett. From 1984 to 1985 they spent one year in Cincinnati, Ohio with the LaSalle-Quartet to profit from their knowledge as much as possible. After that, an international career including concerts at all well known festivals began. The quartet has made more than thirty recordings, some of which have been honored with the Grand Prix du Disque and the Diapason d'Or. In 1991 Herbert Kefer was appointed to head of Viola at the University of Music in Graz. From 2005-2010 he was director of the Weinklang-Festival. He is in demand as a soloist as well as a sought after partner for chamber music groups.
Francescatti who was a year younger than Heifetz, was among the foremost violinists of the mid-20th century, from about 1935 to 1975. In the words of critic Henry Roth, there was "a special character, a vitality and a savoir faire to his playing that set him apart from a host of gifted virtuosi who possessed vibrant sound and creditable musicianship." The concert performances collected here, all of them previously unissued, provide good examples of his Italianate lyricism and ravishing tone.
SACD · 1 disc
Born in Zurich 1988, into a traditionally Jewish family, Anne grew up in Zurich, Washington D.C. and Basel. She started to play the violin at the age of six and was immediately drawn to the beautiful sound of this instrument. After graduating from Music-Gymnasium in Basel, Anne pursued her studies at the Zürcher Hochschule der Künste (ZHdK) with the renown teacher Nora Chastain. Another important influence she gained from an Erasmus year in Munich, studying with Ingolf Turban, famous for his virtuoso violin playing. In 2013 and 2015 Anne finished her Masters of Performance and Masters of Pedagogy with distinction. The album recording 'The Essential Hebrew Violin' with arrangements for violin and chamber orchestra recorded for the first time was inspired by a concert Anne Battegay played in 2020 on the occasion of the European Day of Jewish Culture at the Zwinglihaus in Basel.
