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See Terms & Conditions for p&p rates. | |  | Mendelssohn: Violin Concertos
The young violinist Alina Ibragimova is already established as an admired recording artist, standing alongside great artists of the past and present with her versions of Bach and Beethoven’s violin works. She appears on this latest release with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and Vladimir Jurowski (in his Hyperion premiere) in a programme which includes a classic of the concerto repertoire: Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in E minor, Op 64. Ibragimova’s is a glittering, knife-edge performance, her playing a portrayal in itself of the music’s passion held in control through exquisite craft. The Violin Concerto in D minor—an unusual and welcome pairing—is an early work, written when the composer was only thirteen. As with Mendelssohn’s other juvenile works it is extraordinarily accomplished and exceedingly charming. “Ibragimova, with her wonderfully full, malleable tone, sinewy agility and deft expressiveness, proves a compelling exponent of this brilliant teenage score, combining it on this disc with an equally ear-catching performance of the later E minor Concerto...Ibragimova here adopts a style that goes hand in glove with the OAE’s, sparing with vibrato, lithe in articulation but at the same time appealingly reflective in the slow central movement.” The Telegraph, 28th September 2012 **** “Ibragimova's playing combines verve, brilliance and imaginative intelligence. Mendelssohn's dynamics are scrupulously observed...But if listeners that they are hearing an approximation of an 1840s performance, they should think again. No one could accuse Ibragimova of vibrating excessively, yet she uses vibrato on the modern way, to aid tone production and projection.” Gramophone Magazine, Awards Issue 2012 “what was the thinking behind teaming together a soloist who uses vibrato, albeit tastefully, and a string band who don't? Not that I necessarily object to the result...Ibragimova's sensitive playing wins the day, with some superlative quiet moments and at all times a loyal adherence to the composer's markings and a sure sense of the music's phrasing and architecture.” BBC Music Magazine, November 2012 ***** “At first sight Mendelssohn might not seem an Ibragimova composer, though he’s never been far from her fingers...She returns to [the D minor Concerto] here, now burnished with the mature musician’s chameleon grasp of colours and modes of attack, and knack for febrile excitements. The same gifts keep the warhorse Concerto in E minor continually fresh.” The Times, 5th October 2012 **** “her subtle changes of colour and prodigious range of articulation are things to wonder at. The outer movements of the E minor Concerto are dazzling: Ibragimova sets off at a fearsome pace in the finale and not only sustains it, but keeps every detail of her phrasing crystal clear in the process” The Guardian, 18th October 2012 **** “Her absolute unanimity with the woodwind, which joins her in the scampering main theme, is breathtaking, and her occasional discrete use of portamento feels completely apt. This is a delightful, compelling performance from beginning to end, the equal of any in the catalogue.” bbc.co.uk, 29th October 2012 “Ibragimova’s performance suggests she perceives Mendelssohn as a pure classicalist. She and conductor Jurowski downplays any aspect of the music that might suggest Mendelssohn harbored any Romantic inclinations. The performance uses very little rubato, and Jurowski urges the orchestra ever forward” MusicWeb International, March 2013 | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Ravel: Complete music for violin & piano
Maurice Ravel’s mature works for violin and piano have established a central place in the core recital repertoire and are considered among the most popular of the genre. These diverse works acknowledge the influences of a range of musical styles from jazz to Impressionism and fuse the tonal colours of Debussy with the lyricism of Franck. The posthumously published one-movement Violin Sonata, written by Ravel as a student, is a lyrical precursor to the composer’s stunning Violin Sonata in G major with its unique character and adoption of the ‘blues’ idiom. The spontaneity, tonal colours and exotic soundscapes in Ravel’s violin music call for immense skill in interpretation, and passages in the frenzied Tzigane test the limits of the performers’ virtuosity. Violinist Alina Ibragmiova rises to these challenges with extraordinary verve. Recent winner of the Royal Philharmonic Society’s prestigious ‘Young Artist of the Year’ award, she displays a vast expressive range and interpretative maturity. She is accompanied by pianist Cédric Tiberghien, who gives elegant and flawless performances and relishes Ravel’s iridescent piano parts. The addition of Guillaume Lekeu’s masterwork, the extensive and engaging Violin Sonata, makes this major new release a chamber disc to treasure. “The couple recently stirred excitement with their accounts of Beethoven’s sonatas — each sonata freshly thought and felt. Now, a similar miracle is worked upon Ravel... The solo section of the Tzigane gives Ibragimova her big spotlight, spinning with gypsy trills. But Tiberghien throughout fields his own sensitivities and urgent attack; this CD is a joint triumph.” The Times, 26th August 2011 ***** “Alina Ibragimova and Cédric Tiberghien possess the rare gift of being able to recreate on disc the same captivating spontaneity and musical intensity that distinguishes their concerts. Rarely have the sleek lines and textures of Ravel's two sonatas, nor the manic drive of Tzigane so deliriously intoxicating.” Classic FM Magazine, October 2011 ***** “Ibragimova’s tone is taut, sweet and astringent, but with plenty of power in her bowing arm in the last, très animé movement [of the Lekeu]...while Tiberghien’s limpid touch and easy bravura are perfect for this music.” Sunday Times, 11th September 2011 “Ibragimova brings verve and virtuosity to the Violin Sonata, abetted by Tiberghien in a nicely understated “Blues” movement. Their Tzigane makes up in brilliance what it lacks in earthiness” Financial Times, 10th September 2011 *** “Alina Ibragimova and Cedric Tiberghien are utterly convincing advocates, matching the ebb and flow of this work's intense and slow-burning passion...Ibragimova charms with more than limpid tone. Whether it is the willingness to sound dirty in the 'blues', or the hushed caresses in the heart of the posthumous Sonata, it is clear she is under the skin of this music.” BBC Music Magazine, October 2011 **** “Even within the Ravel repertoire, they sharply identify and convey the distinct contrasts...They have great fun with the wild gipsy flair of Tzigane, but you can tell that this spontaneity is born of deep understanding of the music’s character and of unshakeable rapport. In the entire programme the playing is of finesse and winning,communicative allure.” The Telegraph, 15th September 2011 “Lekeu's magisterial, post-Wagnerian Sonata displays a supremely natural sense of ebb and flow. The performance is particularly strong, with Ibragimova and Tiberghien alert to its underlying logic and self-conscious rapture. The Ravel is superbly done, too. Above all, the Tzigane is the real showstopper here: Ibragimova dispatches it with breathtaking dexterity.” The Guardian, 13th October 2011 **** “Tiberghien and Ibragimova certainly don't hold back from sweeping intensity but they still retain a measure of objectivity, finding places to relax and never pushing the expression beyond what sounds beautiful...the details are wonderfully idiomatic...It all adds up to a must-hear recital” Gramophone Magazine, Awards Issue 2011 | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Beethoven: Violin Sonatas Volume 3
Marking the end of their unanimously-praised series, “star-kissed young performers,” [The Times] Alina Ibragimova and Cédric Tiberghien, release the third and final volume in their live recordings of the complete Beethoven violin sonatas. The duo’s recordings on Wigmore Hall Live have set new standards, with volumes one and two garnering superb 5* reviews and several ‘Editor’s choice’ accolades. This last release features sonatas No.6 in A op.30 no.1 and No. 3 in E flat op.12, as well as the No.9 in A op.47, better known as the 'Kreutzer', Beethoven’s biggest and most challenging sonata. After its live performance at the Wigmore Hall in May 2010, The Times commented “The duo’s boldest showcase was the Kreutzer Sonata, with its firecracker outer movements and lovely soft centre” and “Ibragimova’s bow worked overtime. Loose threads kept dangling. Her pizzicato was wicked.” In accomplishing works that many artists do not attempt until late in their career, the duo have brought something new and original to this pinnacle of the chamber repertoire: “the partnership with Tiberghien sounds fresh and spontaneous [Financial Times]. Meanwhile BBC Music Magazine, in its 5* review, comments “[Ibragimova] has the kind of tone and expression that pins you to the back of your seat.” The duo, who met on the BBC Radio 3’s New Generation Artists scheme over five years ago, describe their playing and recording of the complete sonata cycle as, as much a personal as a musical journey. Tiberghien comments “To travel through all ten sonatas, to play them live, is really something that changes you, as a musician and also as a human being”. “this young partnership mesmerises and captivates, achieving rare freshness and vitality in the most familiar repertoire...Ibragimova has no musical inhibitions, and brings period and contemporary performance knowledge to her nimble, lucid playing. Tiberghien is a fiery, daredevil but musically supportive pianist. They sprint through the first movement presto of the "Kreutzer", especially, with self-evident joy.” The Observer, 24th April 2011 “Ibragimova and Tiberghien show just how complex Beethoven's emotional language can be - impassioned and direct one moment, wickedly ironic the next - while keeping a tight grip on overall structure...As before, the players are alert, agile and acutely responsive to each other at every turn, and Ibragimova's tone retains that paradoxical balance between apparent fragility and intense inner strength...Excellent live recordings too.” BBC Music Magazine, June 2011 ***** “This new recording...catches both the grandeur and the grace...The two players are in total accord...Tiberghien undoubtedly has the harder job technically. There are some finger-twisting triplets in the variation movement of the A major Sonata, but he dances through them with ease...[Ibragimova] may look elfin, but in the Kreutzer her rough tone suggests unhinged passion.” The Telegraph, 20th May 2011 **** “Particularly impressive is Ibragimova's tone: never unduly sweet, and coloured with an astringency that remains absolutely right for Beethoven, while remaining free of an unpleasant edginess...The prize of this disc is a stunning 'Kreutzer' Sonata, here gaining a performance that conveys the work's inherent grandeur better than any other I have heard...there is no doubt that this cycle ranks with any and surpasses many” International Record Review, May 2011 “their playing has a powerful sense of progress through the series of modulations, born, I imagine, out of the intensity of live performance...their account of the Kreutzer's first movement, with its Furtwängler-like broadening at the climax of the coda, unmistakably exposes the music's portrayal of emotional turmoil” Gramophone Magazine, July 2011 “this live performance positively fizzes with shared inspiration” Classic FM Magazine, July 2011 **** | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Beethoven: Violin Sonatas Volume 2
“Ferociously gifted young musicians” [The Times, May 2010] Alina Ibragimova and Cédric Tiberghien return with the second in their series of the complete Beethoven violin sonatas, recorded live at Wigmore Hall in February 2010. Volume One in the cycle, released in March 2010, was received to resounding critical acclaim, with the FT stating “the partnership with Tiberghien sounds fresh and spontaneous - outstandingly so in the opening movement of the eighth sonata.” Now the second concert in the trilogy is being made available as a live recording, featuring the sonatas in F (Spring Op.24), A (Op.12 No.2) and G major (Op.96). The first CD received superlative reviews with performances deemed “brimful of life,” Gramophone, Editor’s Choice] and BBC Music Magazine going on to say: “This is very special. Alina Ibragimova...is a mature, intelligent, impassioned musician, technically and emotionally focused to a degree that would be exceptional in any violinist of her age...she has the kind of tone and expression that pins you to the back of your seat.” It has been five years since the duo met on the BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists scheme, where they immediately forged a dynamic rapport and the signs of an exciting new creative partnership began to emerge. They have gone on to collaborate and perform in leading concert halls around the world. Now Wigmore Hall Live brings these fine, beautifully balanced recordings to audiences for the first time. Volume 3 will be released next Spring. “Ibragimova and Tiberghien continue their Beethoven sonata cycle with a trio of compelling performances that makes even the most familiar of phrases appear freshly minted...The elusive Tenth Sonata has never sounded more radiant...[They] play with a natural flair and insight that sets new standards.” Classic FM Magazine, December 2010 ***** “From the opening bars of the Spring Sonata, warm and serene in Alina Ibragimova's hands, we're aware of the same attention to expressive detail that distinguished the earlier recital, allied to a sure feeling for the direction and character of each movement. There's a sense of happy partnership, too, given extra immediacy in the context of a live performance.” Gramophone Magazine, December 2010 “Ibragimova and Tiberghien made a pleasing impression in the first volume of their cycle, and its successor is equally polished, especially in the Spring Sonata” Financial Times, 26th November 2010 *** “The superbly modulated range of expression, the grasp of the work as a whole organism and the sense of lively musical partnership gives this performance [of Op. 96] a special authority” BBC Music Magazine, Christmas 2010 ***** “The second volume in Alina Ibragimova and Cédric Tiberghien's ongoing series of Beethoven violin sonatas sustains the standard of the first, with their treatment of the Violin Sonata in F major, Spring, Op 24, perhaps their most delightful vehicle yet. The opening melody is passed from violin to piano, its charm conveyed through Ibragimova's featherlight bowing” The Independent, 11th December 2010 **** “In the second volume of their Beethoven sonata series, violinist Ibragimova and pianist Tiberghien seem joined at the hip, pouncing on phrases and shading subtleties with intelligence and joy. And the music is wonderful...Chamber music-making doesn’t get fizzier than this.” The Times, 7th January 2011 ***** “Ibragimova and Tiberghien are a wonderfully matched pairing, with her astonishing command of tone colour and articulation complemented by his rhythmic alertness and lightness of touch.” The Guardian, 20th January 2011 ***** | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Beethoven: Violin Sonatas Volume 1
First of three individual releases which will incorporate the complete sonatas for violin and piano by Beethoven (next releases likely to be in February and September 2011). Alina Ibragimova and Cédric Tiberghien met whilst members of the BBC New Generation Artists scheme, immediately establishing a rapport which has brought them invitations from the world's leading recital halls, including the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Carnegie Hall and, especially, the Wigmore Hall. Writing about the duo in The Times, Geoff Brown stated that "these players have the potential to conquer the world”. Alina and Cedric played several of Beethoven’s violin sonatas together during the time when they were both participants in BBC Radio 3’s New Generation Artists scheme, but it wasn’t until the beginning of October 2009 that they tackled the complete cycle. Thanks to a residency at Aldeburgh, they were able to concentrate on rehearsing these central pillars of the violin-andpiano repertoire for an entire week – ‘playing, talking, thinking, morning until evening, feeling the connections, the moods, the links between each sonata, each key’, Tiberghien explains. “The partnership here of Ibragimova and Tiberghien is a rare meeting of minds. Both understand that each has an equal part to play in this music. Both make sounds that are unfailingly beautiful and, equally important, clean and clear.” Sunday Times, 25th April 2010 **** “Spontaneous, impulsive, young and fresh, the violinist Ibragimova and the pianist Tiberghien make an electrifying partnership...the pair’s creativity in ducking and weaving, shaping phrases, surging with lyricism, brings multiple pleasures.” The Times, 8th May 2010 **** “This is very special...For all the thought that has clearly gone into [Ibragimova's] interpretations, nothing sounds contrived or overcultivated. Cédric Tiberghien is an ideal partner...his alert responsiveness to the finer nuances of Ibragimova's playing is one of the features that makes these performances so magnificently alive.” BBC Music Magazine, July 2010 ***** “These performances are brimful of life; there's a sense of joy and freedom...[Ibragimova and Tiberghien] have clearly thought about every phrase, every expression mark, with such detailed individuality as to banish routine performance...the sense of occasion, of living the music as it unfolds, is very strong.” Gramophone Magazine, August 2010 | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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‘One player, one instrument, one composer: Bach’s unaccompanied violin music has always been the greatest for any player, young or old. Alina Ibragimova, only 23, is already its equal’ (The Guardian) ‘Alina Ibragimova began to play unaccompanied Bach on the violin, and the hush became silence. This was spontaneous, the first sense that something new could happen’ (The Independent) The dazzling young virtuoso Alina Ibragimova has enthralled audiences for years with her live Bach performances. Critics have acclaimed her faultless intonation, achingly beautiful tone, superlative technique and a musical wisdom far beyond her years. Now, in this important new recording of Bach’s complete sonatas and partitas for solo violin, Ibragimova brings all these qualities and more to create an interpretation that is both excitingly original and profoundly humble. This is music of unfathomable subtlety, astounding virtuosity and great expressive and architectural beauty. “Alina Ibragimova's… playing… forges a potent synthesis, uniting the steely, eyes-wide-open focus of Christian Tetzlaff (her one-time teacher) and the supple stylistic insights of a Rachel Podger. In the Partitas she's supremely alert to the idiomatic nuances of each dance, while in the Sonatas the fugues are always contrapuntally clear and purposeful in their forward momentum.” BBC Music Magazine, November 2009 ***** “Ibragimova's playing is uncommonly neat, with precise fingerwork and relaxed management of the bow; the virtuoso finale of the Third Sonata sparkles effortlessly while remaining for the most part at a piano dynamic. She plays unequal quavers in the Third Partita's Minuet as naturally as if she'd grown up in the 18th century. And finally, all her stylishness and technical refinement is at the service of an ingrained understanding of the music; she makes us feel where the points of harmonic tension and emphasis are, and she's able to do it without distorting the surface...” Gramophone Magazine, November 2009 “This is an absolutely compelling set of performances, the kind that have you on the edge of your seat wondering at the freshness of it all and what she might do next. Every phrase in these familiar works seems newly minted, every bar totally alive...its sheer energy and self-belief are genuinely thrilling.” The Guardian, 2nd October 2009 ***** “her mastery is very striking indeed. Hers are traditional readings and they pay no homage to the authentic-instrument lobby. She brings a refined, quiet sensitivity to the slow sarabandes of the First and Second Partitas...There is elegance and character in every single piece.” Penguin Guide, 2011 edition | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | J S Bach - Works for Trumpet
Gramophone described her Bach album as “splendid stuff” and the pieces “showcase Balsom’s phenomenal technique and gleaming expressiveness” “…as a showcase for this young artist's mesmerising virtuosity the disc does its job admirably, and presents some familiar and less familiar Bach in new guises at the same time. The supporting instrumentalists, especially organist Colm Carey, make a sterling contribution...” BBC Music Magazine, February 2006 ***** “A disc of arrangements which is impressive on every level. Beautifully mellow playing contrasting with virtuosic moments.” Classic FM Magazine, March 2006 ***** “Two transposed movements from BWV1008 and a mischievous solo take on the Badinerie (from BWV1067) showcase Balsom's phenomenal technique and gleaming expressiveness. Period-instrument practitioners Alina Ibragimova, Mark Caudle and Alastair Ross provide superb accompaniment in a charismatic version of the Trio Sonata. A surprisingly diverse range of textures and moods makes this disc a beguiling experience.” Gramophone Magazine, May 2006 | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Huw Watkins: In My Craft or Sullen Art
Welsh composer and pianist Huw Watkins read Music at King's College, Cambridge, where he studied composition with Robin Holloway and Alexander Goehr, and completed an MMus in composition at the Royal College of Music with Julian Anderson. He was awarded the Constant and Kit Lambert Junior Fellowship at the Royal College of Music, where he is now a Professor of Composition. The centrepiece of this disc, commissioned by Sir Nicholas Goodison and premiered by Mark Padmore, sets Dylan Thomas's defiant In my craft or sullen art for tenor and string quartet. Alina Ibragimova excels in the virtuosic Partita for solo violin, which Watkins describes as a 'very fast, relentless gigue’. Huw's brother Paul is soloist in the lyrical Sonata for Cello and Eight Instruments; while there are echoes of Britten and Berkeley in the beautifully wrought Three Auden Songs, sung by tenor Mark Padmore, accompanied by Huw Watkins on piano. “The three-movement Sonata for Cello and Eight Instruments...was the piece that first identified him as a composer to follow; pungent and confrontational, it still stands up well...In My Craft or Sullen Art, show Watkins' rather Brittenesque approach to word setting; his instrumental writing is more immediate, more characterful, though.” The Guardian, 24th May 2012 *** “The pick of this chamber anthology lies...in the introspective musings of the Partita for solo violin – a work of remarkable depth and compact appeal, brilliantly championed here by Ibragimova.” Financial Times, 9th June 2012 **** “Superb performances as expected from these artists” Gramophone Magazine, September 2012 “What strikes you most about Huw Watkins's music is its natural ease. Lyricism flourishes, and tonal echoes are exposed alongside chromatic scrunches and abrasive textures.” BBC Music Magazine, September 2012 **** | | | Usually despatched in 4 - 5 working days. |
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| |  | Mozart & Schubert: String Quartets
Quatuor Chiaroscuro: Alina Ibragimova, Pablo Hernan Benedi, Emilie Hörnlund, Claire Thirion The Chiaroscuro Quartet was founded in 2005 by four students from the Royal College of Music in London headed by violinist Alina Ibragimova. Its repertoire focuses primarily on the classical period of Haydn to Schubert, on period instruments and bows. “there's no doubting that it's the excitement of [Ibragimova's] msuic-making that stamps its personality on these performances. Not that her fellow musicians sit back, but her dazzling playing in the outer movements of Mozart's Dissonance Quartet makes them sound almost like violin concertos...But this is an impressive debut recording, and the light and shade of the playing fully justifies the name the group has chosen for itself.” BBC Music Magazine, December 2011 ***** | | | Usually despatched in 3 - 4 working days. |
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| |  | JS Bach: Oboe Concertos
In many of J. S. Bach’s cantatas, passions and oratorios, the oboe – and its various relatives such as the oboe d’amore and oboe da caccia – plays a prominent role. Using it as his preferred obbligato instrument, Bach obviously cherished the versatility of the oboe and selected it to accompany arias that deal with grief and heavenly joys, repentance and pastoral calm. Researchers have for a long time thought that his keyboard concertos were originally composed for other instruments, and much evidence points to certain of them being intended for the oboe, or oboe d’amore. Four such works have been gathered here, together with the Adagio from the composer’s Easter Oratorio, in performances by Alexei Ogrintchouk, one of today’s outstanding oboists. “What's consistently authentic...is the quality of Ogrintchouk's playing, with its fulsome tone and clean articulation. He's placed well forward in the sound picture but the contribution of the Swedish Chamber Orchestra is important, too; forget the musicology, it's a delightful disc.” The Guardian, 23rd December 2010 **** “Ogrintchouk plays [the Oboe d'amore Concerto] beautifully...with a just appreciation of the instrument's mellow tonal qualities. He has the understanding of how Bach's long phrases are braced by shorter ones within their spin, which is an essential quality of good Bach-playing.” Gramophone Magazine, February 2011 “[Ogrintchouk] offers playing that's graceful, beautiful and searchingly expressive” Classic FM Magazine, March 2011 *** | | | (also available to download from $10.50) | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. (Available now to download.) |
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