MENDELSSOHN / BRUCH
Violin Concertos (with Ravel's Tzigane) Niki Vasilakis (violin) / Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra / Sebastian Lang-Lessing (conductor) [ ABC Classics / CD - released 6/Jul/2006 ] This disc marks the solo debut of Niki Vasilakis, winner of the String Final of the Symphony Australia Young Performers Award in 2003, in her first ever solo album for ABC Classics performing three of the most well-known pieces in the violin's... |
EDWARD ELGAR / GERALD FINZI
Elgar / Finzi: Violin Concertos Ning Feng (violin) / Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Carlos Miguel Prieto [ Channel Classics / CD - released 1/Dec/2018 ] 'Ning Feng delivers all these demanding works with the fire, ice, and sugar, in different measures, that they require. His technique is beyond cavil, of course, but he also plays with a purity and sweetness of tone rare among the current crop" AudAud |
GANG CHEN / ZHANHAO HE
Chen & He: The:Butterfly Lover's / Three Chinese {oeces Takako Nishikazi (violin) / Shanghai Conservatory Symphony Orchestra [ Naxos Romantic Violin Concertos / CD - released 2/Feb/1992 ] "[Nishizaki] a violinist with gratifying tone and impressive agility ... the beautiful sound is assisted by Naxos's clear engineering" Fanfare |
Solon MICHAELIDES / Manolis KALOMIRIS / Yannis CONSTANTINIDIS / Nikos SKALKOTTAS
TOPOS - 20th-Century Greek Orchestral Music Noé Inui (violin) / Thessaloniki State Symphony Orchestra, Zoi Tsokanou [ Naxos / CD - released 25/Aug/2023 ] Greek-Cypriot composer Solon Michaelides's evocative Dawn at the Parthenon is infused with impressionist elements whereas Manolis Kalomiris, the leading figure in Greek national music, turns more to the voluptuous richness of Rimsky-Korsakov. |
W. A. MOZART
Noa Wildschut plays Mozart Noa Wildschut (violin) / Netherlands Chamber Orchestra, Gordan Nikolić, with Yoram Ish-Hurwitz (piano) [ Warner Classics / CD - released 22/Sep/2017 ] 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,... |
SERGEY IVANOVICH TANEYEV
Taneyev: Orchestral Works Novosibirsk Academic Symphony Orchestra & Russian Philharmonic Orchestra, Thomas Sanderling, with Ilya Kaler (violin) & Gnesin Academy Chorus [ Naxos / 4 CD Box Set - released 27/May/2022 ] Sergey Taneyev was a monumental figure of late 19th-century Russian music. He was a student of Rubinstein and Tchaikovsky, and became teacher to Rachmaninov and Scriabin. |
OLA GJEILO
Ola Gjeilo: Voices - Piano - Strings Ola Gjeilo (piano) Thomas Gould (violin) Ciaran McCabe (violin) Jon Thorne (viola) Matthew Sharp (cello) / Voces 8 / Chamber Orchestra of London [ Decca / CD - released 15/May/2016 ] A rising composer's debut release on a major label, Gjeilo's album on Decca is an important release of heavenly, bewitching, eternal new choral music for our time. Ethereal yet tangible, this is music with wide appeal; music of purity and beauty;... |
BLOCH
Violin Concerto / Poems of the Sea / Suite Symphonique Oleh Krysa (violin) Malma Symphony Orchestra / Sakari Oramo [ BIS / CD - released 8/Jan/2002 ] Great music of Ernest Bloch |
SCHNITTKE
Violin Concerto Nos. 3 & 4 Oleh Krysa (violin) / Malmo Symphony Orchestra / Eri Klas (conductor) [ BIS / CD - released 1/Jun/1991 ] Alfred Schnittke was born on 24 November 1934 in Engels, on the Volga River, in the Soviet Union. |
GUBAIDULINA
Offertorium, Concerto for Violin and Orchestra / Rejoice! Sonata Oleh Krysa (violin) / Royal Stockholm Symphony Orchestra/ James DePreist; Torleif [ BIS / CD - released 1/Feb/1993 ] Great music of Sofia Gubaidulina |
MARK BOWDEN
Bowden: Sudden Light Oliver Coates (cello), Julian Warburton (percussion), Hyeyoon Park (violin), Huw Watkins (piano), BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Grant Llewellyn (co [ NMC / CD - released 16/Jan/2017 ] "the systems Bowden sets up [in Sudden Light] generate climaxes of great power, and his confidence in handling such large orchestral forces is unmistakable." The Guardian |
SCHUMANN
Concerto for Orchestra / Concerto for Violin and Orchestra Olivier Charlier (violin) / BBC Philharmonic, Gerard Schurmann [ Chandos Classics / CD - released 6/Mar/2002 ] premiere recordings from this Dutch East Indies composer |
CYRIL SCOTT
Festival Overture / Concerto for Violin and Orchestra / etc Olivier Charlier (violin) / Sheffield Philharmonic Chorus / BBC Philharmonic / Martyn Brabbins [ Chandos Classics / CD - released 20/Apr/2007 ] "Another strong entrant in the Scott renaissance which continues to assault both ignorance and the accumulation of ill-informed assumptions about this fine composer" (MusicWeb July 2007) |
ARVO PART / PETERIS VASKS / JOHN TAVENER / etc
White Light: The Space Between O/Modernt Chamber Orchestra, Hugo Ticciati (violin / artistic director) [ Signum / 2 CD - released 6/Apr/2018 ] "It is simply wonderful restorative music to unwind to. The high level of production (recording, design, and essays) is an added bonus. Highly recommended." Nicholas Butler/Marbecks |
JOSEF HAYDN
Haydn: Violin Concertos / Symphonies 26, 52 & 53 Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment / Elizabeth Wallfisch / La Petite Band / Sigiswald Kuijken [ Virgin Veritas / 2 CD - released 5/Jul/2000 ] 'These are fresh, vital, cleanly articulated performances which wear their authenticity lightly' Penguin Guide |
VIVALDI
The Four Seasons Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment / Kati Debretzeni (director & violin) [ Signum / CD - released 21/Mar/2014 ] With its vivid poetry and technical ingenuity, Vivaldi's 'Four Seasons' was ground-breaking at the time of its composition and to this day remains as influential and transfixing as ever. |
GERSHWIN / KHACHATURIAN / DEBUSSY / RAVEL / BEETHOVEN / RACHMANINOV / etc
A Rhapsody In Blue - The Extraordinary Life of Oscar Levant Oscar Levant (piano), with Isaac Stern (violin) / New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Morton Gould & Orchestra, Columbia Concert Orchestra [ Sony Classics / 8 CD Box Set - released 17/Oct/2018 ] Special eight CD edition celebrating the musical genius of multi-talented Hollywood star Oscar Levant (An American in Paris). His complete recordings meticulously restored from the original analogue masters using 24 bit / 192 kHz technology. |
W. A. MOZART
The sonatas for violin and piano [recorded 1977] (4 CD set) Oscar Shumsky (violin) Robin Miller (oboe) / Scottish Chamber Orchestra, John Tunnell, violin and director [ Nimbus / 4 CD Box Set - released 20/May/2010 ] It is particularly felicitous that Shumsky and Balsam, both very experienced chamber musicians, should have come together to record Mozart's music for violin and piano. |
ALEXANDER GLAZUNOV
Glazunov: The Seasons; Ballet Op.67 / Concerto for Violin and Orchestra Op.82 Oscar Shumsky (violin) / Royal Scottish National Orchestra / Neeme Jarvi [ Chandos Classics / CD - released 10/Aug/2007 ] "Neeme Jarvi is always at his best in big, splashy Romantic pieces, and this performance is no exception. He whips the orchestra up to a fine frenzy where necessary, and given Chandos's fine sound and a sensible coupling, you're in for some good... |
EDMUND RUBBRA
Rubbra: Violin Concerto / Improvisations Krysia Osostowicz (violin), Ulster Orchestra [ Naxos / CD - released 3/Oct/2005 ] Edmund Rubbra's 11 symphonies and large-scale choral works are his best-known efforts, but his occasional forays into the concerto genre are also worth noting, though one should explore them with diminished expectations. Violinist Krysia Osostowicz... |