1715: The famed Italian luthier Antonio Stradivari constructs what will become one of his most legendary violins. Among its first owners is Giuseppe Tartini, he of the "Devil's Trill" sonata.

c. 1817: The violin is bequeathed to Polish virtuoso violinist Karol Lipinski who inspired many works for the instrument.

2008: After passing through many countries and collections, the "Lipinski" Strad arrives in the hands of Frank Almond, through an anonymous donor.

2013: Frank Almond releases "A Violin's Life", an album that traces the provenance of the "Lipinski" Strad, with music by Schumann, Tartini, Julius Rontgen, and Lipinski himself.

January 2014: Following a concert, walking towards his car, Frank Almond is tasered by an assailant and the "Lipinski" Strad is stolen. An FBI pursuit results in the recovery of the "Lipinski" Strad a few weeks later. International media coverage goes viral, including international TV coverage, a feature in Vanity Fair, NPR, BBC, and much more.

May 2016: Frank Almond releases "A Violin's Life, Vol. 2", featuring more music associated with the "Lipinski" Strad, including works by Beethoven, Amanda Maier-Rontgen, and Eduard Tubin, poised to create another classic release.

The "Lipinski" Strad lives on.

Ivan Zenaty and Sandra Shapiro met through their mutual love for chamber music, and their recent collaboration has created a stir in the classical music world. This album by the duo features works by Richard Strauss and Bohuslav Martinu. With a sound that is “airtight and commanding”, the group embodies the highest level of artistry and audience engagement.

The Thomas Christian ensemble, along with pianist Evgeny Sinayskiy, present this album of works by Vasilije Mokranjac (1923-1984). Included on this album are Mokranjac’s String Quartet in D minor, Sonata for Violin & Piano in G minor, Old Song for Violin & Piano in G sharp minor, and Dance for Violin & Piano in E minor. The Thomas Christian Ensemble is Thomas Christian and Fabian Rieser, violin, Gertrud Weinmeister, viola, and Bruno Weinmeister, cello.

This collaborative album, REACT, is the first from flutist Francesca Arnone and violinist Mikylah McTeer. The tracks on this album explore all timbres and ranges of both of these instruments, as well as electronic techniques, in an exciting journey through experimental and traditional sounds. Mikylah McTeer is professor of violin at West Virginia University, and was previously concertmaster of the San Juan Symphony in Durango, CO. Francesca Arcone is the principal flutist of the Waco Symphony, as well as professor of flute at Baylor University. She also frequently performs with the Brazos Ensemble.

One of the Netherlands’ foremost violinists,Yvonne Smeulers presents a programme of Eugene Ysaye’s Six Sonatas for Solo Violin. The recording is made on a Giovanni Battista Guadagnini violin from 1785. This disc includes a bonus video of Smeulers speaking about the sonatas.

In this CD, recorded by two outstanding Mexican musicians, Shari Mason (violin) and Manuel Gonzalez (piano), both composers, Brahms and Szymanowski, appear in their roles as guardians of the musical traditions that sustain and nurture their art.

Each one revives tradition in a personal way within their cultural context. Brahms’ Sonata op. 100, woven of elegant counterpoint, intertwines an equal and melodious dialogue between violin and piano, resuscitating the charm and harmony of Viennese music. Szymanowski’s Sonata op. 9, intense and contrasting, shows the dramas and conflicts of the end of the "old days" and the beginning of the modern era.

Classical Music

Arnold Schönberg in 1922 said of Max Reger, “In my view, Reger must be played often; 1. Because he wrote a lot; 2. Because he is dead and we still do not have any clarity about him. (I consider him a genius).; Arnold Schönberg founded the Society for Musical Private Performances in November of 1918 in Mödling. The purpose of the organization was ‘to give Arnold Schönberg the opportunity personally to carry out his intention of providing artists and art lovers with a veritable and precise knowledge of Modern Music’ (Alban Berg 1919). The group put special emphasis on performing works by Max Reger.; This arrangement of Reger’s Violin Concerto Op. 101 was written by Rudolf Kolisch (1896-1978), a violinist who studied under Schrecker and Schönberg.; Featured soloist on this recording is Winfried Rademacher, professor of violin at the Musikhochschule in Trossingen. He is respected both in the concert hall and in the recording studio.

The fourth and final volume of the complete recordings of Ludwig van Beethovens violin sonatas by Salzburg violinist Thomas Albertus Irnberger with Michael Korstick, piano, focuses on the sonatas op. 30/1 and 30/2. Composed in 1802, the year when he also wrote the "Heiligenst�dter Testament", these works reflect Beethovens emotional state: On one hand, there is a new affection, professional success and aspiration, on the other hand, above all his emerging severe hearing defect, threatening his artistic and psychological existence. Ever so different in style and characterized by heavy mood swings, the sonatas are composed in the keys of A major (No. 6, op. 30/1) respectively C minor (No. 7, op. 30/2). The Rondo in G major, WoO 41, and the Six German Dances, WoO 42, however, were written in 1794/96 and convey ease and almost juvenile cheerfulness - a trait also prevalent in the interpretation of Irnberger and Korstick.

There's an aura of mystery that surrounds the music of Leone Sinigaglia, and yet in his time he was esteemed and supported by the finest musicians of the period, from Dvor�k (with whom he studied in Bohemia, and who was responsible for nurturing his interest in folk music) to Nikisch, from Mahler to Furtw�ngler, from Toscanini to Kreisler. As pianist Massimiliano G�not explains in his liner notes, Sinigaglia was very much a victim of historical circumstance, his Viennese base causing him to suffer after Italy's withdrawal from the Triple Alliance, following the outbreak of the First World War, and the subsequent demise of German culture; he also had to contend with rising anti-Semitism, not to mention the fact that Italian taste of the time was oriented towards opera an singing rather than instrumental and chamber music, his two preferred genres. And yet Sinigaglia's inspiration was profoundly lyrical, with a propensity for melodic writing - one of the best examples is his 'swansong', the second movement of the Violin Sonata Op.44, which features on this album. And Sinigaglia was not without his triumphs: his Piedmontese Dances Op.31 for orchestra, performed in 250 cities before 1922, rivalled in popularity the dances by Brahms and Dvor�k; and he scored a great success with the Overture Le Baruffe Chiozzotte, whose brio, strength and comic vitality characterize the brilliant four-hand reduction found on this recording. Convinced of what he describes as 'the manifest injustice of an historical judgment that has condemned Sinigaglia for too long to oblivion', Massimiliano G�not has, together with his sister, violinist Alessandra, aimed to bring the composer's cause to the attention of modern listeners, uniting Sinigaglia's entire piano works and presenting them alongside other musical gems and transcriptions as detailed above. Both natives of Turin, the composer's home town, the G�not duo's affinity for the composer is naturally a special one, and they deliver confident, robust performances which aim to cast light on the composer's 'strong will to match expressive authenticity and formal perfection'. These will hopefully go some way towards furthering public appreciation for a composer who undoubtedly deserves to be better known. Other information: Recorded in Italy in 2009. Contains liner notes written by the artists especially for this release. Contains a biography of the composer & biographies of the artists.

Classical Music

Henry Vieuxtemps was a violin prodigy who became a towering figure in a line of violinist-composers that stretches from Viotti to Ysaÿe, and whose playing led to Schumann’s statement that he “holds us in a kind of magic circle”. Influenced in part by Paganini, Vieuxtemps’s solo works demand the full arsenal of virtuoso techniques from lightning speed to the purest singing tone. The Etudes, Op. 48 include a piece subtitled ‘Torment’, while the Six Morceaux represent the composer’s homage to Bach in their polyphonic style.

The great niece of the largely unsung early-mid 20th century Austrian writer Heimito von Doderer whose book "Die Wasserfalle von Slunj" brought him rare recognition and was conceived as a novelistic counterpart to Beethoven's 7th Symphony, this premiere of Johanna Doderer's 2nd Symphony 'Bohinj' is an artistic memorial to Lake Bohinj in Slovenia, around 300 km away from the Croatian waterfalls her great uncle wrote about to great effect. Doderer has said she "was fascinated above all by the superb scenery. In the course of time, I found out what happened there during the First World War. In short, the idyll utters a silent scream. My three-movement work also touches on this sound." With the Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz conducted by Ariane Matiakh, the release also features teh soprano Anne Schwanewilms as well as the violinist, Yury Revich and is an excellent introduction to U.S. audiences of this prolific and much commissioned contemporary composer.

Camille Saint-Saëns epitomizes French music of the 19th century. Versatile and prolific, he contributed voluminously to every genre of French musical literature and influenced musical life in France as composer, teacher, pianist, organist, conductor, critic, chronicler, poet, and playwright. Saint- Saëns qualified as the most “complete” musician of his time according to his devoted friend and student Gabriel Fauré. His creative work, of astonishing range, provides a rich source of aesthetic and historical interest, crucial for an understanding of the music and culture of this era. He was so honored and acclaimed both at home and abroad that he became a legend during his lifetime. The concerto provided Saint-Saëns the opportunity to display technical virtuosity as well as to express musical ideas. He explained: “It is virtuosity itself I mean to defend. It is the source of color in music. It gives wings to the artist to help him escape from the prosaic and commonplace.

Andrew Wan is equally at home as a soloist, chamber musician, and concertmaster. In 2008, he was named concertmaster of the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, making him one of the youngest leaders of a major symphony. His relationship with the OSM began with performances of Elgar’s Violin Concerto, which were hailed as one of the top two musical moments of 2007 by La Presse.

In an era that tolerated, expected and accepted far greater variety of interpretation and tone than the current and persistent "new internationalism" approach that admits far less in the way of regional and personal variation among players and ensembles, violinist Arthur Grumiaux offered the unmistakably noble, lissome timbre typical of the Belgian school - here heard in a varied live program recorded 27 July 1961 that spans the Classical (Beethoven), Romantic (Brahms) and Modern (Stravinsky, Debussy) eras. Pianist Istv�n Hadju, who often recorded with Mr. Grumiaux, provides accompaniment.