Sweet Remembrance

Violinist Rudens Turku presents his fifth album for Avie, Sweet Remembrance, a personal selection of virtuoso miniatures and encores.

Since making his recording debut for Avie in 2005 with the sonatas of Brahms, Franck and Schumann (AV2080), Albanian-born, Munich-resident violinist Rudens Turku has amassed a devoted following and fan base for his effortless virtuosity and innate musicianship.

Following albums devoted to solo works, duos, and concertos, Rudens returns with a personal selection of miniatures and encores for violin and piano. Sweet Remembrance – the subtitle of Jascha Heifetz’s arrangement of Mendelssohn’s Song without Words - ranges from the romantic Salut d’amour by Elgar, Schön Rosmarin by Kreisler and Massenet’s Meditation from Thaïs, to the energetic Scherzo from Brahms’ F-A-E Sonata and Shostakovich’s exhilarating Preludium. Interspersed with miniature masterpieces by great violinist-composers such as Paganini, Sarasate, Kreisler and Wienawski, the album boldly concludes with Ysaÿe’s commanding Second Sonata, itself written in remembrance of another great violinist, Jacques Thibaud.