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JOSEPH HAYDN
Haydn: String Quartets Op. 76, Nos 4 - 6 Alina Ibragimova & Pablo Hernán Benedí (violins), Emilie Hörnlund, (viola), Claire Thirion, (cello) [ BIS SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 5/Mar/2021 ] The Chiaroscuros complete Haydn's last full set of quartets. |
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W. A. MOZART
Style Galant: Concertone Amandine Beyer & David Plantier (violins) / Ensemble 415, Chiara Banchini (violin & direction) [ Zig-Zag Territories / CD - released 10/Apr/2010 ] Ensemble 415, Chiara Banchini (violin & direction) |
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BARTOK
44 Duos for Two Violins (with music by Ligeti and Kurtag) Andras Keller, Janos Pilz (violins) [ ECM Records / CD - released 26/May/2002 ] "These performances are exemplary, hitting exactly the right tome of folk-like melancholy or exuberance (and sometimes both)." ***** Five Stars (BBC Music Magazine) June 2002 |
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MARTINU / SHOSTAKOVICH / MILHAUD / YUN
Fantasy Angela & Jennifer Chun (violins) [ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 1/Mar/2012 ] "Gifted violinists with elegant style, their unique approach to Bach double concerto was memorable." (Washington Post) |
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BELA BARTOK
Bartok: Solo Violin Sonata Duos Gyorgy Pauk, Kazuki Sawa (violins) [ Naxos / CD - released 10/Aug/2009 ] Pauk and Sawa make for an admirable partnership and Naxos's recordings are entirely satisfactory... I've often said that when it comes to recommending a CD on musical grounds, price is irrelevant. That claim still stands, although I'm happy to... |
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ADRIAN JONES / DANIEL REID
Nybyggnan Daniel Reid (soprano, tenor and baritone saxophones), Jeanette Eriksson & Sérgio Crisóstomo (violins), Adrian Jones (viola), Anna Wallgren (cello) [ BIS SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 10/Aug/2015 ] Nybyggnan is a folk music saxophone concerto in chamber music format. Its title, meaning 'new building', is a nod to other tunes in Swedish traditional music associated with buildings and construction work. |
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David Owen Norris, square pianos, with Sonnerie: Monica Huggett, Emilia Benjamin - violins; Joseph Crouch, cello
The World's First Piano Concertos (Bach, Abel. Hayes, Hook, etc) [ Avie / CD - released 1/May/2003 ] Performed on the tiny square piano that dominated the European keyboard market for about 15 years in the late 18th century. |
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NICOLAI PAGANINI
Paganini: Music for Violin & Strings Gabriele Pieranunzi (solo violin), with Salvatore Lombardo, Loana Stratulat (violins), Luca Improta (viola) & chamber ensemble [ Brilliant Classics / CD - released 6/Oct/2023 ] Paganini was the first great 'star' of instrumental music, the precursor of the rock stars of today, able to induce collective hysteria as well as to dictate fashion and to influence the behaviour of entire generations. He did this by transforming... |
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ROMANTIC VIOLIN
Romantic Violin (violin pieces by Dvorak, Mendelssohn, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Bruch, etc) Gil Sharon, Bohuslav Matousek, Emmy Verhey, Ilya Grubert (violins) [ Brilliant Classics / 2 CD - released 20/May/2008 ] Gil Sharon lives in the Netherlands, where he is concertmaster of the Limburg Symphony Orchestra. In 1971 he won first prize in the "Internatyional Emily Anderson Violin Competition" in London. As a result of this he was invited for solistic... |
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BACH / BEETHOVEN / MOZART / MENDELSSOHN / SIBELIUS / etc
Violin Concertos [special priced boxed set] Giuliano Carmignola, Ilya Grubert, Leonid Kogan, David Oistrakh, Dimitry Sitkovetsky (violins) [ Brilliant Classics / 10 CD Box Set - released 10/Dec/2010 ] A delightful collection of Violin concertos, featuring some rarer works amongst the well known. |
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WILLIAMS / MORRICONE / BONFA / PREVIN / BERNSTEIN / LEGRAND / etc
John Williams Conductor Itzhak Perlman, Joshua Bell (violins) Yo Yo Ma (cello) / Pittsburg Symphjony Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Boston Pops, John Williams [ Sony Classics / 20 CD Box Set - released 20/Jan/2018 ] In 1980, composer John Williams became one of the most visible conductors on the planet after being named Music Director of the Boston Pops Orchestra. Since then he has lead hundreds of high-profile concerts with the Pops and with many other leading... |
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SIBELIUS
Piano Quintets and Melodramas Jaakko Kuusisto, Laura Vikman (violins) Anna Kreetta Gribajcevic (viola) Joel Laakso (cello) Folke Grasbeck (piano) Monica Groop (mezzo-soprano ) [ BIS / CD - released 1/Mar/2007 ] Apart from Voces intimae, his final string quartet, the chamber music of Jean Sibelius has been rather over-shadowed by the orchestral masterpieces. |
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SIBELIUS
Complete works for Violin & Piano Jaakko Kuusisto, Nils-Erik Sparf, Madoka Sato (violins) with Bengt Forsberg, Folke Grasbeck (pianos) [ BIS Complete Sibelius Edition / 5 CD Box Set - released 1/Sep/2008 ] 'The soloists, violinist Kuusisto and pianist Gräsbeck, display consummate expertise as partners as well as in their individual expressions' (Classics Today.com) |
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LOUIS SPOHR
Spohr: Violin Duets 2 Jameson Cooper, James Dickenson (violins) [ Naxos / CD - released 13/Dec/2019 ] Louis Spohr's reputation as one of Germany's leading violinists was at its height when he composed his 'Duets for Two Violins, Op. 39', and while it appears his intention was to finance an Italian concert tour with marketable duets, the publishers... |
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CHARLES AUGUSTE de BERIOT
Duos concertants / 6 Duos caracteristiques John Marcus, Christine Sohn (violins) [ Naxos / CD - released 1/Jun/2009 ] Complementing the release of Bériot's Violin Concertos Nos. 1, 8 & 9 (8.555104) and Nos. 2, 3 & 5 (8.570360), this disc presents his equally virtuosic Duos concertants for two violins whose disarming lyricism, cheerful vivacity and Classical... |
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ASSANDRA / CACCINI / LEONARDA / STROZZI
Il Canto delle Dame María Cristina Kiehr (soprano), Amandine Beyer, Alba Roca (violins), Sylvie Moquet (viole de gambe), Mara Galassi (harp) & Jean-Marc Aymes (harpsichor [ Ambronay Editions / CD - released 25/Aug/2010 ] The genesis of Concerto Soave is closely bound up with the music of 17th -century Italian composers. Thus the ensemble was the first, some 15 years ago, to devote a recording to the Sacri Musicali Affetti of Barbara Strozzi (for empreinte digitale).... |
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VARIOUS COMPOSERS
Frost & Friends: Encores Martin Frost (clarinet) with Roland Pöntinen (piano) Malena Ernman (mezzo-soprano) Torleif Thedeen (cello) Christian Svarfvar, Asa Thedeen (violins) [ BIS / Hybrid SACD - released 1/Jun/2010 ] "Obviously a must for clarinettists; but other performers, and listeners too, will enjoy this demonstration of what can be achieved with impeccable technique, a fertile imagination and a light touch." (BBC Music) |
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PROKOFIEV / PIAZZOLLA
Sonata for 2 violins in C, Op.56, Sonata for solo violin in D, Op.115 / 6 Tango Etudes Maya Levy & Hrachya Avanesyan (violins) [ Rubicon / CD - released 20/Aug/2021 ] With their concerts celebrating the anniversaries of Piazzolla and Prokofiev in 2021 cancelled due to Covid, violinists Maya Levy and Hrachya Avenesyan decided to put their time in Lockdown to good use by recording a programme of works by both... |
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SAINT-GEORGES / STILL / COLERIDGE-TAYLOR / CORDERO / KAY / WALKER / etc
Black Composer Series - The Complete Album Collection Miriam Fried, Jaime Laredo, Sanford Allen (violins) Faye Robinson, Doralene Davis (sopranos) Juilliard String Quartet, London Symphony Orchestra, etc [ Sony Classical / 10 CD Box Set - released 18/Jan/2019 ] "The sound is in general typical of Sony at this period in time, close set with good spatial definition. Some journey, this, and I'd heartily recommend it." Gramophone |
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J.S. BACH
Bach: Violin Concertos Nos. 1 & 2 / Double Concerto Anne-Sophie Mutter, Salvatore Accardo (violins) / English Chamber orchestra, Salvatore Accardo [ Emi Classics / CD - released 23/Jan/1984 ] Recorded in 1983 |