Antonio Bazzini

Antonio Bazzini, born in Brescia in 1818, was one of the great violinist-composers of the 19th century. After encouragement from Paganini following an encounter in 1836, he lived the life of a touring virtuoso for many years. Eventually returning to Italy, he was appointed first professor and then director of the Milan Conservatory and was a teacher of Mascagni and Puccini.

Though he composed in larger forms, he is best remembered as the composer of numerous salon pieces for violin and piano, the most famous being La Ronde des lutins (The Dance of the Goblins), but also including many character pieces of various descriptions.

All instruments courtesy of the Fulton Collection

2008 Grammy and Gramophone Award winner James Ehnes pays tribute to the world's most celebrated violin-makers in this unique ONYX project featuring performances on 12 of the greatest instruments ever made. The Fulton Collection is perhaps the most important private collection in the world and contains many examples of the legendary names Stradivari, Guarneri, da Salo and Guadagnini. For example, the priceless La Pucelle has never been heard in a recording, and the Lord Wilton was Yehudi Menuhin’s last instrument.

Ehnes performs 21 selections in a carefully planned recital programme specially chosen to suit each instrument and to work on its own terms. It finishes with a section comparing each instrument in an excerpt of the same piece, a unique opportunity to contrast the sound qualities of these spectacular instruments.

Ehnes says of the instruments: “I didn't want to spare them a full workout. I wanted to select repertoire that would show off their particular tonal characteristics and push them to the limit and me to my limit as well."

The DVD has the complete performances plus spectacular close-ups of the instruments and substantial interview sequences - Strads vs Guarneris, the importance of the bow, Ehnes’ relationship with the Fulton Collection and his preparation for the recording sessions. David Fulton also talks about his passion for collecting these rare instruments and says: “Ehnes is the only one who could have done this and is today’s David Oistrakh.” The highly collectible package includes detailed notes by Ehnes himself.

Shannon Lee is a young violinist who is tipped for great things. In the summer of 2005, she made her stunning orchestral debut at the age of 12 with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, performing the Chausson “Poeme” and Franz Wexman’s extremely challenging Carmen Fantasy. Later that same year, she was the featured soloist for the Dallas Symphony’s Texas Tour, and in 2006 she made her European debut with the Nuremberg Philharmonic Orchestra.

Introducing Shannon Lee is a wonderful collection of pieces that include the well known and the rare. Each of the works spotlights the versatility and musicianship of this young violinist and her ability to work well with accompanist Pamela Mia Paul. Highlights include Wieniawski’s notoriously difficult “Scherzo-Tarantelle”, Elgar’s much-loved “Salut d’amour” and the most weighty work on the disc, Brahms’ “Sonatensatz”.

This disc is the first opportunity to hear a young violinist poised to become one of the great artists of tomorrow. As Telarc President Robert Woods puts it “There is a dearth of fantastic talent in young artists today, so why does any one person stand out from another? To a great extent, it’s the preference of the listener – the person who discovers someone’s playing for the first time. When that happened for me with Shannon, I had the sense I was listening to a very old soul in a young person’s body. Shannon’s maturity was well beyond what I had heard from other young performers.”

Accompanist Pamela Mia Paul has performed with the world’s great orchestras. She has given concerts throughout the U.S., Europe and Asia, both as soloist and as chamber musician. In the studio, or in the setting of a master class, she is an internationally sought-after pedagogue whose students have participated in and won competitions including the Naumburg International Piano Competition.

Hailed by the international media as “a massive talent with astonishing dynamic and expressive range…,” Chuanyun Li is one of the foremost violinists of his generation from China and internationally. An active member of the Yip’s Children Arts Centre since 1986, he has studied under the sponsorship of entrepreneur Mr Choi Kin Chung with Professor Yaoji Lin from Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing and won numerous prizes, including the 1st Prize in the 5th Wieniawski International Youth Violin Competition at 11. He studied with Dorothy DeLay, Itzhak Perlman and Hyo Kang in the Juilliard School of Music and continued his studies with DeLay and Kurt Sassmannshaus at the University of Cincinnati Conservatory of Music and with Joey Corpus in New York City with the support of the Clarisse B Kampel Foundation. Li has toured extensively in China, Japan and the US and collaborated with such orchestras as the Rotterdam Philharmonic with Valery Gergiev, Detroit Symphony with Neemi Järvi, Hong Kong Philharmonic with Edo de Waart, Queensland Symphony Orchestra with Michael Christie, China National Symphony with Xincao Li and Singapore Symphony with Lan Shui, among others. Hänssler Classic is proud to present the first recording of this exciting young artist to be made available outside of China.

The Camerata Lysy Gstaad is composed of string virtuosos from all parts of the world; it is the performing division of the International Menuhin Music Academy. These highly talented musicians, many of whom have won prestigious international competitions, appear as soloists as well as members in the chamber orchestra. The ensemble was founded in 1977 by Alberto Lysy, who is also its director. One of South America’s most famous artists, Lysy has earned a reputation as one of Europe’s most important violin pedagogues at the International Menuhin Music Academy.