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These two concertos - one a staple of the repertoire, the other almost unknown - share melodic richness and a Spanish influence. Lalo's Symphonie espagnole reflects the quicksilver technique of its dedicatee, Pablo de Sarasate, in its ingenious and virtuosic passagework, with its moods and rhythms indelibly Iberian in feel. Juan Manén, in his day almost as famous as his fellow Catalan Pau Casals, was an admired virtuoso violinist and a prominent composer. His Concierto español, the first of three violin concertos, is suffused with technical demands, lyric warmth, and rhapsodic nostalgia. Soloist Tianwa Yang's Sarasate recordings have received international acclaim.

REVIEW:

Yang seems to have a natural affinity for Spanish works, having already recorded the complete violin works of Pablo de Sarasate, and her dazzling brilliance seems perfectly suited to the nature of the music. As in the Sarasate set, Yang is paired with a Spanish orchestra for even more authenticity.

– The WholeNote (CA)

This is the second volume of Mieczyslaw Weinberg's works for violin and piano. Weinberg's Violin Sonata No. 1 covers the path from C minor to C major, a popular tradition of the time while Sonata No. 2 reveals his increasing creative ambitions. Sonata No. 3, has a lyrical tone which dominates the first movement. The structural design is more economical and grows more elaborately throughout.

This unique work by Alessandro Cazzato gives us a glimpse of interesting contemporary authors whose work for solo violin have roots that lie deep in musical tradition. A past that leaves it's traces in new sounds, a revisited past with new signs and gestures, a new type of music, deeply influenced by the past; this is the theme of this project, forcused on "rewriting."

Eugene Ysaÿe was considered to be one of the world's best violinists and was mentioned in one breath alongside such celebrities as Paganini, Vieuxtemps and Wieniawski. In the 1920's was when Ysaÿe wrote his best-known violin masterworks, the echoes of his fascination with impressionism and symbolism. "I allowed free improvisation to reign. Each sonata constitutes a kind of little poeme where I abandoned the violin to it's fantasies. I wanted to associate musical interest with grand qualities of true virtuosity". - Ysaÿe

The music of Austrian composer Erich Wolfgang Korngold is found in several Hollywood soundtracks. His Violin Concerto D major Op. 35 includes several themes and melodies from his film scores. While the only work from Julius Conus that is still frequently performed and recorded is his Violin Concerto in E minor, a notable inclusion on this release is his Elegy Op. 2 No. 1 for violin and piano, which is a world premiere recording. Violinist Thomas Albertus Irnberger has won many awards and performed at festivals all over the world. He frequently performs with the Israel Chamber Orchestra, and the orchestra “Spirit of Europe.” Here he is joined by the Israel Symphony Orchestra, which was the first orchestra in Israel to perform standard works by Richard Strauss, Alexander Zemlinsky, and others. +

The programming Philippe Graffin is always surprisingly remarkable. He is a master in making a logical connection between unknown or forgotten repertoire and "main" repertoire, and also a master in breaking new ground, on this release by introducing a cadenza of his own. For this release, on the one side, he has chosen the often-recorded Violin Concerto in E Minor by Mendelssohn with the cadenza written by himself, and on the other side, included the not-often recorded and controversial Violin Concerto in D Minor. Philippe Graffin has established an indisputable reputation for his interpretations of the French repertoire. Philippe made his first recording with Yehudi Menuhin conducting the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and his many highly acclaimed recordings since then bear witness to a questing mind and include many world premieres. He has rediscovered original settings of Chausson's Poeme and Ravel's Tzigane and has championed the forgotten violin concertos of Faure and the English composer Coleridge-Taylor.

Strings Magazine calls Jennifer Koh’s new album of Tchaikovsky’s complete works for violin, “remarkable… thoughtful and vibrant.” Jennifer Koh won Musical America’s 2016 Instrumentalist of the Year award. Before that, she received top prize in the 1994 Tchaikovsky International Competition in Moscow, where she won three special prizes, including best performance for Tchaikovsky’s concerto. This is Koh’s eleventh album for Cedille Records. Her previous record String Poetic, was recently nominated for a Grammy Award.

For the first time, internationally acclaimed violinist Philippe Quint records two of the most intoxicating violin concertos of the Russian repertoire. Masterly supported by the Bochumer Symphoniker led by Steven Sloane, and recorded in state of the art sound, Philippe Quint exhales all the excitement and infinite flavours from these thrilling yet melodious masterpieces.

Fernando Suarez Paz joined the Quinteto Nuevo Tango at the request of Astor Piazzolla in 1978, and he toured with the ensemble until their disbandment in 1988. In his decade of performing alongside Piazzolla, Paz recorded 18 albums all over the world. The first track on this album, Escualo by Piazzolla, is dedicated to Fernando Suarez Paz. The New York Times gave Paz a 7-star rating after his performances alongside vibraphonist Gary Burton at various jazz festivals across Europe, Japan, and the United States. Fernando’s son, Leonardo Suarez Paz is featured on this release. Leonardo grew up alongside Astor Piazzolla and was mentored by both Piazzolla and his father. He directs tango projects all over the globe, and his productions have appeared in such venues as the Lincoln Center in New York, and the Teatro Colon Opera House in Buenos Aires.

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The works on this recording were written by four roughly contemporary Polish composers who settled and pursued their careers in different parts of the world. Grayna Bacewicz's first Violin Concerto displays her own glittering virtuosity as a performer, while Alexandre Tansman wrote his Baroque-infused Five Pieces for the great Josef Szigeti. Michal Spisak considered his neo-classical Andante and Allegro to be "a little story for violin and orchestra", while Andrzej Panufnik's wide-ranging Violin Concerto became a "pilgrimage into my past" and is richly suffused with Polish atmosphere.

Review:

There are four rewarding works to be discovered on this disc, although only two of them are technically concertos. Andrzej Panufnik's Violin Concerto, written in 1971 and recorded in concert in 2014 by ?ód?-born violinist Piotr P?awner, the Kammersymphonie Berlin and conductor Jürgen Bruns. The second movement, with its seemingly endless lines of melody, reminds us that the concerto was written for Yehudi Menuhin and his famous nonstop vibrato. P?awner does those long lines justice here, before wrapping up the piece in a spiky, frenetic Polish dance.

– Guardian

This new release is a live recording of one of the greatest conductors of the twentieth century, Paul Kletzki. Recorded at Lucerne, Kunsthaus, on September 7, 1946, this concert includes Brahms’ Symphony No. 4, Schubert’s Symphony No. 7 Unfinished, and Beethoven’s Leonore Overture No. 3. The original recordings of this concert have been impressively remastered to preserve all of the nuances of this concert.

Krzysztof Penderecki’s works for string instruments constitute a rather abundant group of compositions of different forms and genres. The selection presented on this release comprises concerto pieces created at various stages of Penderecki’s creative path. The Polish Sinfonia Iuventus Orchestra was established in 2007. The Orchestra’s mission is to bring together the most talented students and graduates of musical academies who are under thirty years of age. They are deeply convinced that an opportunity to cooperate with outstanding artists will inspire many talented musicians and make them more eager to continue to develop as artists, and the personal artistic responsibility of each musician will translate into shared responsibility for the shape and quality of the orchestra. They believe that the Polish Orchestra Sinfonia Iuventus will be perceived by young musicians not so much as an institution, but as a community of shared objectives.

All of Ludwig van Beethoven’s works for violin and piano are gathered on this new album from Thomas Albertus Irnberger and Michael Korstick. Michael Korstick is a recognized internationally as a Beethoven specialist, and the duo have been hailed as “the current champions in the Beethoven Ring.” (W. Shaper, Radio Bremen. This four-disc collection includes detailed information on the compositional background, written by T. A. Irnberger.

Norwegian violinist Peter Herresthal holds a unique dedication to music of modern day. He has become known as an exceptional interpreter of contemporary violin works through his previously released concertos and chamber works. This release combines two previous digital-only releases by Herresthal, featuring the work of composers Henrik Hellstenius and Orjan Matre. The violin concertos featured on this album were written expressly for Peter Herresthal. The Stavanger Symphony Orchestra conducted by Rolf Gupta join Herresthal for this recording.

Although not entirely accepted by his contemporary composers, Louis-Francois-Phillipe Drouetwas an outstanding flutist, even being called the Paganini of flute. The works performed on this release are Drouet’s transcriptions of Beethoven’s violin sonatas. He has left the piano part untouched, and made very little adaptations to the violin part. These rarely recorded works are performed here by flutist Francesca Pagnini and pianist Stefano Malferrari.