Sibelius: Violin Concerto in D minor, Op. 47

Gidon Kremer is an inspired interpreter and thoughtful performer. These recordings give us an insight into his early career and were recorded in the 70s, soon after Kremer won many prestigious competitions such as the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow.

At the age of 13, Adele was the youngest winner of the Australian Broadcasting Corporations Instrumental and Vocal Competition performing the Sibelius Violin Concerto, and here offers a recording of a work she has lived with for over 20 years. She returns to her home city of Adelaide, Australia to make this recording with acclaimed Sibelian conductor Arvo Volmer. Volmer’s recording of Sibelius’ Symphonies No.2 and No.7 for ABC Classics has received wide acclaim IRR noting that Volmer is ‘very sensitive to the drama and atmosphere’, and that his ‘interpretation of Sibelius come in 3 sizes – large, larger and largest…’. Classic FM awarded this same recording ‘Orchestral Disc of the Month’ in January 2008. Adele brings a soulful femininity to her interpretation of the Sibelius concerto, maintaining a bold richness and accuracy of tone. A critic in the Chronicle Herald observed of Adele’s recent May 2011 performance of the Sibelius concerto with the Nova Scotia Symphony that her rhythm was ‘as sharp as a skyscraper’, with ‘her consistently full, even, warm tone impeccably tuned and maintained across every register, every range and every dynamic level.’

Of particular interest here is Ross Edward’s Violin Concerto, Maninyas. The original inspiration for Maninyas came from a Houston Ballet commission created by Stanton Welch. This recording is currently the only available commercial recording, and is one of the great modern day violin concertos. This work enjoyed its’ European premiere at the Edinburgh International Festival in 2010 under the baton of Vladimir Askenazy with the soloist Dene Olding. It had its US premiere in 2008 with soloist Ani Kavafi an conducted by William Boughton. Ross Edward’s profi le is on the ascent. His oboe concerto Bird Spirit Dreaming has been performed by the New York Philharmonic and Lorin Maazel and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, and is currently enjoying many of his works programmed in the 2011 City of London Festival.

Adele Anthony’s triumph at Denmark’s Carl Nielsen International Violin Competition in 1996 launched an acclaimed and expanding international career. Adele’s concert career spans North America, Europe, Australia, India and Asia, and has made notable recordings for Naxos (Philip Glass, Violin Concerto and Schubert Duos), Centaur (Nielsen, Violin Concerto), Deutsche Grammophon (Pärt, Tabula Rasa) Albany (Ewazen) and Canary Classics (Sarasate).

Sony Classical ORIGINALS offer listeners outstanding enjoyment, authentically recapturing the fascination of legendary recordings from the age of long-playing records and preserving worthwhile releases from two labels with particularly long and distinguished traditions: RCA Red Seal and Columbia Masterworks. These superb recordings by great artists have enjoyed international acclaim ever since they were first released. Showered with critical plaudits, they are part of the 20th century’s cultural legacy. All have been remastered and carefully restored using the latest studio technology in order to reproduce the original interpretations as faithfully as possible. The CD covers are taken over from the original LPs. The original introductions and LP labels are also reproduced in full, making Sony Classical ORIGINALS unique documents in the history of recorded sound.

Featuring original LP cover artwork in full size and reproduction of original labels in mini LP design.

Contains original liner notes in 3 languages (English, French and German) Jewel case packaging with fully coloured booklets.

The Sony Classical Originals bring together for the first time at the Mid Price the greatest recordings from across all of the labels which are part of the Sony Classical umbrella, and are a perfect starting point for any classical collector.

Václav Hudeček ranks among the most gifted violinists, not only on a Czech but also an international scale, to have graced a 20th-century concert stage. Following his debut in London (at the tender age of 15!) with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, he appeared at the most prestigious concert venues (Carnegie Hall, Suntory Hall, Osaka Festival Hall, Sydney Opera) with worldrenowned orchestras (Berliner Philharmoniker, Cleveland Symphony Orchestra, NHK Philharmonic Orchestra, Gewandhaus Leipzig, etc.). David Oistrakh, who immediately recognised Hudeček’s exceptional talent, was his teacher and mentor, and on several albums accompanied him as a conductor too.

Hudeček made the recordings of the four greatest Romantic violin concertos for Supraphon (between the ages of 22 and 28) with Jiří Bělohlávek and Václav Smetáček. They bear witness to the remarkable musicality and technical skill of the Czech representative of the Russian violin school and many years later have lost none of their power and should occupy a place in the collections of all lovers of the violin’s passionate tone.

The four most beautiful Romantic concertos rendered in the rich timbres of Václav Hudeček’s violin.

This third volume of ‘Scandinavian Classics’ interpreted by the Danish State Radio Symphony Orchestra in recordings made between 1949-1953 is devoted to music from Norway and Finland. This fine release represents recordings from one of the most admired radio orchestras in Western Europe.

This CD features German star violinist Frank Peter Zimmermann as soloist in the virtuoso Sibelius Violin Concerto. The work remains one of the most popular late Romantic concertos in the catalogue.

Frank Peter Zimmermann’s hallmark on this recording is his electrifying approach to the dazzling finale; few performers reach Sibelius’s demanding tempo recommendation for this movement, which critics have described as an ‘invocation’ filled with ‘demonic passion’.

The Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra under chief conductor John Storgårds also perform two powerful rarities by the same composer, the symphonic poems The Bard and The Wood Nymph.

The Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra has unique credentials in performing Sibelius’s music, having premiered these tone poems a century ago, conducted by Sibelius himself.