Prokofiev: War and Peace, Op. 91: Waltz

Anika Vavić has performed in the some of the world’s most established concert halls including Carnegie Hall, the Wigmore Hall and the Concertgebouw. She has worked with conductors such as Valery Gergiev and Paavo Järvi. Her other great passion is literature and she has written a novel.

These are live recordings and this is the first time that they have been available on CD. Even in the early 1940s, Richter was acknowledged to be a unique interpreter of Prokofiev’s music. These recordings were made in 1961 and 1979.

What would Christmas be without a performance of The Nutcracker, a helping of Russian Choir music and a hint of sleigh bells and snow. This wonderful Melodyia release is a great way to musically celebrate the Christmas season. Superbly played and conducted this is an excellent release for those who like something a little different from the usual carols!

It was a demonstration that gave birth to Prokofiev’s Sonata for two violins: the great composer had heard a work for two violins that he thought excruciatingly dull and so he set to work on the composition of his opus 56 with the intention of proving that so specific a form could nonetheless arouse interest. The exercise was wholly convincing. Nearly 75 years later, the young musicians on this disc have tackled the same demonstration, with a power of conviction – as you will notice – that does not lack arguments. Tatiana Samouil is, of course, not unknown to music lovers: the young Russian violinist made a very strong impression during the Queen Elisabeth Competition for violin in 2001. She has since become the leader of the Orchestre Symphonique de La Monnaie, one of the best formations in the kingdom. She is also a chamber musician of the first rank who can be heard in the most prestigious festivals around the world alongside partners who have led dazzling careers. The pianist Plamena Mangova, the official musical partner of Tatiana Samouil, is the laureate of many competitions and she too performs at all the leading festivals of chamber music. With the young violinist Boris Brovtsyn they offer us what will be one of the most powerful and unusual classic performances of the complete violin sonatas of Prokofiev.

This is a brand new and exclusive set of 14 CDs which covers the work of Sviatoslav Richter from 1954 until 1993. “I don’t know if it is possible to explain to anybody the extraordinary phenomenon his personality and playing created. We can only hope that this can also be sensed through the recordings, for Richter is one of the few performers whose individuality is clearly manifest on a recording, regardless of its quality, and at each subsequent listening his playing gives a greater, more staggering experience than we are able to remember” (Dezsó Ránki, CD booklet).