Vieuxtemps: Works for Violin & Orchestra / Bosch, Kuppel, Qatar Philharmonic
Naxos
CD
$19.99Jun 12, 2020
Henry Vieuxtemps was a towering figure in the line of 19th-century violinist-composers, receiving admiration from Wagner, Chopin and Berlioz. A virtuoso in the Paganini tradition, Vieuxtemps was also one of the first to employ a full Romantic orchestral palette in his concertante works and to imbue them with a true ‘symphonic’ conception, as these examples show. They include the Duo brillant, Op. 39 – a dramatic and expressive mini double concerto for violin and cello, the bravura caprice Old England, Op. 42 and the Air varié, Op. 6 with its rich lyricism, four variations and dashing coda. As a soloist, orchestra concertmaster, chamber musician, and educator, violinist Reto Kuppel has been a prominent contemporary figure on the German musical scene. A winner of the International Château de Courcillon Violin Competition, he has performed throughout Europe, Asia and the US. Kuppel studied with Andreas Röhn at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg and Dorothy DeLay at The Juilliard School. He studied chamber music with Ralf Gothoni, Herman Krebbers and Felix Galimir, and is an avid chamber performer, also appearing with string quartets.
Max Bruch bequeathed three violin concertos to posterity - but only one of them continues to be present in today's concert halls. The composer himself regarded his op. 58 in D minor as much more finely composed than the popular G minor concerto. This benchmark recording by Andreas Krecher and the Wuppertal Symphony Orchestra disappeared from the catalogue many years ago, but now the D minor concerto is being re-released in an attractive double box featuring orchestral works by Bruch. Along with it's rarities repertoire, the phenomenal acoustic dimensions of the historic Wuppertal Stadthalle and MDG's legendary natural sound make this double album a musical feast for the ears. "Schon Ellen," a heroic ballad to a text by Emanuel Geibel, was one of the most frequently sung choral works during the nineteenth century. Even though Bruch had no qualms about transferring the action from the Indian colony to the Scottish highlands, the dramatic appeal is absolutely irresistible. The 'Swedish Dances' are a genuine discovery. Bruch unfolds an overpowering widescreen spectacle with a Nordic atmosphere in the two suites; with highly imaginative instrumentations and musical magic he evokes magnificent soundscapes. Bruch's Symphony No. 2 rounds off this program of rarities. In it Schmalfuss presents the Wuppertal Symphony Orchestra as an ensemble that produces a big sound and outstandingly captures the slightly melancholy tone of Bruch's music.
that Albinoni wrote excellent solo concertos is clear enough from this record, all players involved are splendid... very well recorded. These will please admirers of I Musici, the group is well-balanced and the soloists admirable. The oboe concerto No.2 is splendid, while the finale of No.5 is irresistible. Of the violin concertos Nos.7 and 10 are outstanding... Op.5 is an altogether tauter piece, and indeed a very distinguished one by any standards, with an exquisite central Adagio(Gramophone)
Following the success of her albums of Romantic and Late Romantic repertoire, Vilde Frang has recorded Mozart's Concertos Nos. 1 and 5 Turkish and the Sinfonia Concertante K364, enabling music lovers to hear the Norwegian violinist perform Classical repertoire on disc for the first time. The impetus for this album was a 2012 orchestral tour of Asia conducted by Jonathan Cohen in which Vilde performed Mozart's Violin Concerto No. 5. The vibrancy of their musical collaboration was something both artists were keen to repeat and commit to disc. Vilde Frang is joined by Jonathan's Cohen's chamber orchestra, Arcangelo, and by violist Maxim Rysanov in the Sinfonia Concertante.
The German violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter is celebrated for her exceptional talent and unwavering dedication to her craft. A child prodigy, she rose to international acclaim under the mentorship of Herbert von Karajan. Throughout her illustrious career, Mutter has collaborated with renowned orchestras and conductors, showcasing her versatility and technical brilliance. This LP features two of the most celebrated concertos for two instruments: Bach's Concerto for Two Violins and Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante for Violin and Viola, recorded in the 1982 and 1991. Anne-Sophie Mutter magnifies them with her powerful and distinguished playing, still imbued with a youthful energy in Bach (she was only 19 at that time). Her interpretations are marked by a perfect balance of sensitivity and power, making her a true icon in the world of classical music.
The young Dutch violinist Noa Wildschut has been described as "a miracle of musicality", while Anne-Sophie Mutter has singled her out as "undoubtedly one of the musical hopes of her generation". For her debut as a Warner Classics recording artist, Noa has chosen a programme of Mozart that combines concertante and chamber works. As she says: "I'm showing two sides of Mozart - and also two sides of myself." Noa Wildschut, the young Dutch violinist, turned 16 in March 2017, but was just 15 when she signed an exclusive agreement with Warner Classics and recorded her debut album for the label. It is entirely devoted to Mozart: the Violin Concerto No 5 and the Adagio K.261 (with the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra under the leadership of Gordan Nikolic), and the Violin Sonata in B flat major, K.454 (with prizewinning pianist and festival director Yoram Ish-Hurwitz - Noa's uncle). "Mozart's music has such a feeling of purity, " Noa says. "and the Fifth Violin Concerto is so gorgeous. Of all his violin concertos, this is the one that contains the most humour. It's almost like a kind of opera, with all those different characters, really, a story is being told." Noa herself composed the cadenzas she plays in the concerto, with some help from Dutch composer Max Knigge. "Max came up with the concept, and I invented some things around it... it really became something by us together. It has been written in a way that does justice to Mozart, including lots of little jokes." The album release coincides with the release date of the documentary 'Zusjes' (Sisters), about Noa and her family, which will run in cinemas in Holland in autumn 2017. Worldwide release of the documentary is planned for early 2018. Noa has been a member of 'Mutter Virtuosi' since 2014, a string ensemble led by Anne-Sophie Mutter, and since May 2015 Noa has held an official scholarship from the Anne-Sophie Mutter Foundation - their youngest ever member
AUGUSTIN HADELICH / RECUERDOS - wARNER CLASSICS - A subtle and profound Spanish theme runs through Recuerdos - 'Memories'. Violinist Augustin Hadelich has conceived an album that unites three works for violin and orchestra and a piece originally written for solo guitar. For Britten's Violin Concerto, Prokofiev's Violin Concerto No 2 and Sarasate's Carmen Fantasy he is joined by the WDR Sinfonieorchester and it's Chief Conductor, Cristian Macelaru; he remains alone for Ruggero Ricci's arrangement of Tarrega's shimmering Recuerdos de la Alhambra. "For years, I've been thinking about how to tell the story of the Britten violin concerto," says Hadelich. Written in 1938, the work expresses the pacifist composer's anguish at the Spanish Civil War, which broke out just months after Prokofiev's Violin Concerto No 2 was premiered in Madrid.
By popular demand, this Berlin Classics recording is reissued on Vinyl. Featured on it are Beethoven’s Concerto in D Major, originally written for the violin, and Concertante Variations by lesser-known composer Franz Schmidt played by virtuoso pianist Ragna Schirmer and the Hamburg Symphony Orchestra. Beethovens Concerto in D Major is a testament to his mastery of crafting music and his profound understanding of melody, harmony, and orchestration. Schmidt’s Concertante Variations are a masterpiece of late Romantic variation writing that not only allows the pianist ample scope for virtuosic display but is also remarkable for its sophisticated formal conception.
Gulda & Weill: Concertos for Violin & Wind Orchestra
Gramola Records
CD
$24.99Mar 07, 2025
Benjamin Schmid has long been considered one of the most versatile violin virtuosos of our time, being equally at home in the classical as well as in the jazz genre. Following his album with Jazz Violin Concertos, Schmid doubles down with the Salzburg Wind Philharmonic under the direction of conducted by Hansjorg Angerer with works by Friedrich Gulda and Kurt Weill. Gulda opened up a new era of musical freedom with his "Concerto for Violoncello and wind orchestra" (here in a version for violin) at it's world premiere in 1981 at the Vienna Konzerthaus in 1981. The zest of pop music, yodeling themes, brass bands from the Salzkammergut, brass music on Kirtag, swing, funk and free-jazz borrowings all come together to create a rousing whole that leaves not a dry eye in the house - with cheerfulness and joie de vivre. With the Violin Concerto op. 12, which was premiered in 1925, Kurt Weill's breakthrough. In Weill's oeuvre this work represents the peak of his avant-garde tendencies: The harmony tells of his admiration of Arnold Schoenberg, the formal characteristics of the influence of Busoni, the often motoric rhythm of the knowledge of Paul Hindemith. Two works for solo violin - "For Fritz" (dedicated to Fritz Kreisler) by Benjamin Schmid and "Youkali" by Kurt Weill - complement this brilliant performance.
Principal players of the London Symphony Orchestra display their virtuosic talents on this album of concertos for wind instruments by Mozart, recorded in concert with conductor Jaime Martin in the excellent acoustic of the Jerwood Hall at LSO St Luke's. Three of Mozart's wind concertos are included: the Oboe Concerto (K 314) with soloist Olivier Stankiewicz, the Clarinet Concerto (K 622) performed by former LSO Principal Andrew Marriner, and the Horn Concerto No 2 (K 417), played by Timothy Jones. Complementing these works is a performance of the beautiful Sinfonia Concertante (K 297b), in which oboist Juliana Koch, clarinettist Chris Richards, and bassoonist Rachel Gough join Timothy Jones in the solo roles. Also included is a recording of Mozart's popular Serenade No. 10 "Gran Partita", performed by the LSO Wind Ensemble.
Mozart composed his violin concertos in 1773 (K 207) and 1775 (K 211, 216, 218 and 219). These five works and the three single movements recorded here have been passed down complete and verified as authentic. The genesis of these works is closely linked to Mozart’s work as Kapellmeister at the Salzburg court, ending with the probably most important kick-out in music history. Mozart scored no solo cadenzas for his violin concertos; in the practice of the time, they were improvised. All the cadenzas on these recordings derive from Baiba Skride. Eivind Aadland writes: “Baiba is such an intuitive player. She has this rare quality of discovering the music as we play. So she never plays exactly the same. There is a wonderful sense of creating, discovering, of going finding new ways.“ Baiba Skride about her new album: “I know that there are so many different and super recordings of Mozart, but I think it is important to enjoy the music you have heard a thousand times and will hear a thousand times more with new eyes and simply allow the music to play.”
Andreas Speer writes of this new album: “A soft knock at the door. Who is it? Could it be? - Hopefully it is! - Hidden feelings, longings arise, a sense of who and what it could be, and then the door opens, and it's him – rather than crashing in he enters cautiously, and the reality is even sweeter and more beautiful than imagined - Please excuse me giving rein to such unrestrained romanticism, but these are pretty much the associations running through my mind as I listen to this recording. The tapping motif in the timpani and the singing lover are as one: Beethoven's Violin Concerto is chamber music. Daniel Gaede plays unaffectedly without any soloistic pretensions and on the same wavelength as the Polish Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra under Wojciech Rajski. As a prelude rather than an encore, the three brothers in spirit, Daniel, Thomas and Sebastian Gaede play the Serenade op. 3.”
Beloved worldwide, Chloe Chua returns to PENTATONE with Mozart's complete violin concertos - a project that began when she was just 15 years old. The album features Mozart's Rondo in B-Flat Major, K. 269 and Rondo in C Major, K. 373 as well as the Sinfonia Concertante for Violin, Viola & orchestra in E-Flat Major, K. 364. The latter also features the outstanding young Chinese violist Ziyu He, winner of the 2016 Yehudi Menuhin Competition at just 16. In this performance, he showcases his remarkable artistry alongside Chloe, herself a former winner of the same prestigious competition. The soloists are accompanied by the Singapore Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Hans Graf, for whom the relationship with the violin star is particularly special. For Chloe, Mozart's music holds a special place in her heart and she has embraced the challenge of following in the footsteps of so many legendary violinists. In these refined and fresh interpretations, her deep connection to the music - written by Mozart when he was around her age - is unmistakable. Even without a trained ear, one can appreciate her extraordinary technique, elegance, and effort to capture the vitality of these beloved works. This album continues Chloe's exclusive collaboration with PENTATONE, complementing the already released and acclaimed Butterfly Lovers & Paganini (2024) and Vivaldi Four Seasons and Locatelli Harmonic Labyrinth (2023).
Born in Havana in 1954, the Miami-based Orlando Jacinto Garcia studied with Morton Feldman and has inherited some of Feldman's concerns. His music likewise evolves gradually over slow-moving spans of time- here and there with an echo of West Coast minimalism. Like the still surface of the sea, the works on this album (three of them concertante pieces for virtuoso soloists) mirror the unhurried movement of natural phenomena. They often feature textures of considerable delicacy- and occasionally hint at larger forces behind the apparent stasis. This album presents some of his most recent choral compositions, in recordings conducted by the composer. Violinist Jennifer Choi is a frequent collaborator with composers, and has premiered solo and chamber works written for her by several well-known contemporary composers. Pianist Cristina Valdes is known for presenting innovative concerts with repertoire ranging from Bach to Xenakis. Fernando Dominguez, clarinet, is the leading exponent of the contemporary repertoire for clarinet in Mexico.
SOMM Recordings' new series, "Elgar from the Archives," explores Edward Elgar's music with rare archival recordings, not only from well-known British interpreters but also from lesser-known, yet equally laudable, international conductors and soloists. Volume 2 in the series features historic live performances of Sir Edward Elgar's Violin Concerto in B minor, Op. 61, with Tibor Varga, and the Cello Concerto in E minor, Op. 85, with André Navarra. Lani Spahr-whose work as a master recording engineer of historic reissues has been honoured by Gramophone Magazine-has once again expertly realised the audio restoration of these performances. The Royal Philharmonic Society of London commissioned the Violin Concerto from Elgar in 1909. Composed within a year of his First Symphony, it is one of his longest orchestral compositions and has the reputation of being one of the most difficult in the violin repertoire. He dedicated it to the noted violin master of his day, Fritz Kreisler, who gave the premiere performance in 1910 with Elgar conducting. The Hungarian violinist Tibor Varga (1921-2003) was six years old when he made his first public appearance, becoming one of the most prominent soloists of his generation. The Franz Liszt Academy appointed him an honorary professor-a rare distinction also awarded to Elgar, Emil Gilels, Richard Strauss, and Arturo Toscanini, amongst others. Varga moved to London in 1947, became a citizen, and lived in Britain for nine years. That experience is reflected in his fine, committed performance of Elgar's concerto. This recording, from 1957, is with the Dutch composer and conductor Jan Koetsier and the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra. Following the Great War, Lady Elgar noted that her husband's compositions were different in style and character. His four-movement Cello Concerto, completed in 1919, is barely longer than the first movement of his Violin Concerto, and it is a contemplative, elegiac work with a heartfelt third-movement adagio that is a masterful example of controlled emotion. Yet the concerto ends on a positive note, as the declamatory opening returns in a valedictory form at the end of the finale. The renowned cellist André Navarra (1911-1988) graduated from the Paris Conservatoire at the age of fifteen, and he was later mentored by Pablo Casals. He toured extensively in the United States, Europe, Asia, and the Soviet Union, playing with the great conductors of the era, and he was one of a number of distinguished French cellists who embraced the Elgar concerto. He chose it for his first public performance in Britain at the 1950 Cheltenham Festival with John Barbirolli-with whom he recorded the concerto in 1957. His recording here with German conductor Fritz Rieger and the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra comes from 1956.
Madsen: Nachtmusik - Gudmundsen-Holmgreen: For Violin & Orchestra / Duo Astrand/Salo, Danish National Symphony
Dacapo Classical
CD
$16.99Jan 03, 2020
This new release features concertante works from one of Denmark’s most iconic composers and one of its freshest new voices. Pelle Gudmundsen-Holmgreen was the great maverick of contemporary Nordic music until his death in 2016. For Violin and Orchestra ventures into the jungle in classic Gudmundsen-Holmgreen style, leading us to consider our place in a world full of noises. Allan Gravgaard Madsen’s double concerto Nachtmusik takes the opposite route, blossoming outwards from the microscopic examination of a single note. Danish National Symphony Orchestra concertmaster Christina Astrand brings both works to life, joined by her duo partner Per Salo in Nachtmusik written for them.
Leo Weiner was one of the most important of all Hungarian pedagogues as well as being a distinguished composer. The success of his Serenade, written when he was 21, was immediate - it's light, intimate and richly melodic qualities, some of which derive from stylised Hungarian dances, are still captivating today. The Divertimento No. 3 and Variations on a Hungarian Folksong mine joyful music from a collection in Budapest's Museum of Ethnography. The Violin Concerto No. 1 is a masterly orchestration of his Violin Sonata, Op. 9, alternating between the playful and the dramatic. The performance heard here restores 115 bars that were cut from the fourth movement, making this the first complete recording.
Mozart: Violin Concertos, Vol. 1 / Dego, Leonardi, Norrington, Royal Scottish National Orchestra
Chandos
CD
$16.99$21.99Save 20%Sep 03, 2021
Virtuoso violinist Francesca Dego joins forces with legendary conductor and period performance pioneer Sir Roger Norrington for this recording of Mozart’s 3rd and 4th violin concertos – the first time either soloist or conductor have recorded the works. The outstanding musicians of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra provide the accompaniment, with reduced numbers of strings and antiphonal violin seating to replicate the size and seating of the Salzburg court orchestra who gave the premier performances of these works. Norrington’s attention to detail and style is enthusiastically embraced by soloist and orchestra resulting in a beautifully fresh and captivating interpretation of these well-known works. Dego completes the album with the violin sonata Op.1 No.4 with her regular recital partner Francesca Leonardi.
Ned Rorem describes this performance of his Double Concerto for Violin and Cello as "perfect", so it would be presumptuous to challenge his opinion of it technically. Certainly the playing of Jaime Laredo and Sharon Robinson is excellent, as is that of the IRIS Orchestra under Michael Stern. Like some of Rorem's other concertante works, this takes the form of a series of short movements, eight in all, save that one of them (Conversation at Midnight) isn't so short, lasting for nearly a quarter of an hour, or about half the concerto's total time. The two soloists offer admirably focused playing here, with a real feeling of dialog both between themselves and with the orchestra. The scoring is Spartan--strings, eight woodwinds, and four brass--but there's no lack of color or incident. In short, this is a lovely addition to the string concerto repertoire, and a terrific piece for chamber orchestras to consider programming.
What keeps this disc from getting the highest rating is an admittedly personal issue, one that you may not share. After Reading Shakespeare, a suite for solo cello, was also written for Sharon Robinson, and it is very sympathetically performed (listen, for example, to how vividly she characterizes "Titania and Oberon"). Nevertheless, the pairing of an orchestral piece with this most chamber-like of chamber compositions strikes me as unconvincing, coming as it does after the concerto. In his notes Rorem emphasizes the fact that the movement titles of this piece should not be taken literally, the music having preceded some of them. If so, then why use them at all? And why suggest as opening and closing movements such weighty subjects as "Lear" and "Othello and Iago"? They really beg the question of whether or not Rorem's inspiration is up to Shakespeare's, and we don't want to go there, do we? There are times when composers might do better to resist the temptation to offer verbal clues, even if they are perfectly valid ones. Still and all, the music and performances themselves are self-recommending to the composer's many admirers, and on that basis I can recommend this fine new release without further qualification.
Walter Braunfels studied law and economics at the university of Munich until, after seeing a performance of Richard Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde, he decided to shift his focus to music. He went on to study with Theodor Leschetizky in Vienna before returning to Munich to study composition with Felix Mottl and Ludwig Thuille. His earliest success came with the opera Die Vogel. With the rise of the Nazis to power, however, he was dismissed from his positions and listed as being half-Jewish. Luckily, the war passed peacefully for his family, he returned to the public eye after the war was over. On this release, the Munchner Rundfunkorchester with violinist Henry Raudales, violist Norbert Merkl, and hornists Karl Reitmayer and Marc Ostertag present Braunfel’s String Quintet in F sharp minor in its version for String Orchestra, and his Sinfonia Concertante op. 68 for violin, viola, 2 horns, and string orchestra. These are world premiere recordings.
