SACDs - Paganini

The performer and composer Matthias Müller demonstrates here to great effect that the clarinet is well suited to feats of virtuosity. His new concerto centers on subtle aspects of sound as well as rhythmic flexibility. The CD also includes classic items from the solo clarinet repertoire. Includes bonus DVD.

Unlike the piano, the king of instruments, only a small percentage of works has been written for solo violin. As everyone knows, a piano recital is a recital for solo piano. A violin recital, however, is usually a duet for violin and piano. Since the violin is mainly a singlemelody- instrument, it is always a special challenge for the violinist to study the solo works, simply because most of them comprise both the melodic line and the accompaniment normally given to the piano.....

Although it was a tradition in classical music for centuries that performer and composer were one and the same person, this custom sadly faded in the twentieth century. But we are fortunate in having some of the greatest masters of the violin, including Kreisler, Heifetz and Milstein, who composed or arranged many pieces for their instrument.

Although Kreisler composed few solo pieces except his cadenzas for a number of violin concertos, his Recitative and Scherzo-Caprice is surely one of the most popular pieces among all those famous Viennese desserts. And the Paganiniana by Milstein, so cleverly based on variations by Paganini, forms a violin master's tribute to the all-time iconic violinist.

On this recording I have also included two modern pieces for solo violin. These works by Berio and Schnittke are no conventional 'easy-listening'. But like all great modern art, they give us a new vision, allowing us to create new sound imagery from the violin.

Ning Feng

An interesting release from Aliud that features repertoire that proves a real challenge for violin players, Màtè Szücs accepts the challenge but on the Viola! His career has escalated so much so that he has just been appointed 1st Viola player with the Berlin Phil. A release that all violin and viola players will want to own.

The music selected by Tina Chen and Hannibal for this recital is the soundtrack for a day dream, or the twilight accompaniment for a romantic dinner. The emphasis is on Melody – beautiful, finely arched musical lines that reach beyond the pressures of everyday life and transport you, to a quiet realm of song, warmly and realistically recorded in SACD, Super Audio Sound!

This recording also marks the CD debut of the charismatic, young concert violinist , Chen Yi, was the Gold Medal winner at the China International Violin competition (2008). As part of the Mendelssohn Bicentennial Celebrations, Ms. Chen was invited to perform the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto in Beijing’s new National Center for the Performing Arts. In 2010 she will perform the Nielsen Violin Concerto as part of the Danish Gala Concert in EXPO in Shanghai. This major event marks artistic dialogue between Denmark and China.

On this hybrid SACD the highly regarded Dutch soloist Rudolf Koeman plays Paganini’s first two Violin Concertos with the Netherlands Symphony Orchestra and conductor Jan Willem de Vriend. In order to reflect the virtuosic and operatic style of the concertos, the disc also includes an overture by Rossini entitled “Matilda di Shabran”.

The combination of Paganini’s first two Violin Concertos and a Rossini operatic overture “Matilde di Shabran” points to Paganini’s style of composing. The individual movements are in many ways similar to virtuosic or lyrical opera arias where the solo violin replaces the human voice. Also, like Rossini, Paganini uses a high degree of ornamentation to enhance the expressive quality of music.

Rudolf Koelman was born in Amsterdam in 1959. In 1972 he began an extensive study of the violin under Herman Krebbers at the Conservatory of Amsterdam, and from 1978 to 1981 he was one of Jascha Heifetz’s last pupils at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. Until 1999 he was leader of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Amsterdam.