Nino Rota

Following on from his Tchaikovsky and Glazunov violin concertos disc, Vadim Gluzman now presents a disc of virtuoso violin music by a range of different composers with a sparkling programme fit for any of those virtuosos of days gone by. Indeed, several of them appear in the list of contents in the unaccustomed roles of composer or arranger: Heifetz himself has arranged Fairy Tale, by Medtner, while Szeryng’s version of Halffter’s Habanera receives its world première recording with this release. Other examples of virtuoso-turned-composer are Wieniawski, Francescatti (with a Polka) and Kreisler, whose La Gitana fits into the tradition of virtuoso pieces inspired by gypsy music – a tradition of which Ravel’s Tzigane is of course the jewel.

Here Gluzman performs with Angela Yoffe, his regular duo partner as well as his wife. This well-matched pair has been admired by the reviewers for their intense, passionate and powerful performances as well as for their supreme command of their respective instruments. On their first disc on BIS the reviewer on website Classics Today wrote: ‘Vadim Gluzman and Angela Yoffe push their collective virtuosity sky-high’.

Already a bestseller in Italy, this CD neither promises unexpected revelations nor seeks to remove Rota's genius. The five pieces for flute and piano have previously been championed by James Galway; no other recording of Allegro veloce in the catalogue.

This new disc from Profil features a selection of works for oboe and piano by a range of composers from William Alwyn to Johann Wenzel Kalliwoda, beautifully performed by Japanese oboist Katsuya Watanabe.

Watanabe has held various posts at the New Japan Philharmonic Orchestra and the Orchestra of the Deutsche Oper in Berlin. He regularly devotes himself to solo activities, giving frequent recitals and performing in concerts with the Philharmonic Orchestras in Bratislava and Zagreb, the Hungarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra in Tokyo and other ensembles.