Szymanowski: Nocturne & Tarantella, Op. 28

“…this is a performance that shows Ibragimova's art at her remarkable best; at one moment poised, the next playing with abandon, she is one of the most expressive violinists around. The beguiling Three Paganini Caprices and with variations on that tune (composed 16 years before Rachmaninov's treatment), and give both players a chance for virtuosic display.” BBC Music Magazine, June 2009 *****

“Alina Ibragimova has become Hyperion's violinist of choice for sensual-esoteric 20th-century repertoire, and she and the super-sensitive Tiberghien make a winning combination… All in all, this repertoire should be high on the priority list for all those interested in 20th-century violin music, and it's not easy to imagine a stronger case being made for it than here.” Gramophone Magazine, July 2009

“Here, Alina Ibragimova and Cédric Tiberghien produce beautifully characterised accounts, whether in the veiled contours of the Nocturne and the explosion of rhythmic energy that follows it in the Tarantella, or in the refined exoticism of Mythes, with its strange mixture of classical evocation and sensuous indulgence.” The Guardian, 29th May 2009 ****

“Alina Ibragimova wields her intoxicating violin with Cedric Tiberghien’s dappled piano in the febrile splendour of the Polish master Szymanowski. Just when you’re ready to faint after the early Violin Sonata, his Three Paganini Caprices arrive, dazzling us with Ibragimova’s light touch and the duo’s wonderful ability to move as one. More characteristic is Mythes — music of mysterious portent and idiosyncratic beauty.” The Times, 9th May 2009 ****

“We are living in a Second Golden Age of violinists, but even in the context of Hilary Hahn, Leila Josefowitz and Julia Fischer, Alina Ibragimova is an astonishing talent … technically the playing is superb. Intonation is exceptional, and Ibragimova’s timbral range—from the coarse to the silken, from the richly throbbing to the chastely disembodied—seems unlimited. The music is studded with challenges … she tosses it all off with self-confident authority … this is a major release” International Record Review

“What is immediately striking about Ibragimova's playing is her formidable technique...Tiberghien, a concert soloist in his own right, accompanies Ibragimova in an intuitive and expressive reading of both the music and the required relationship between the instruments.” Charlotte Gardner, bbc.co.uk, 17th June 2009

“Ilya Kaler is a near ideal interpreter of these works and the delightful Nocturne and Tarantella which serve as makeweight. His playing certainly has the requisite passion, but he also has a strong sense of line.” BBC Music Magazine, August 2007 ****

“Naxos offers an exceptionally clear recording of these three concertante works by Szymanowski, not just the two violin concertos but an orchestrated version of the Nocturne and Tarantella.
Ilya Kaler, as on his other Naxos discs, gives pure, clear readings with flawless intonation and careful use of vibrato. Having a Polish conductor and orchestra as his accompanists adds to the idiomatic feel of each, with the magical orchestral sounds beautifully conjured up, particularly in No 1, the more radical of the two works.
Kaler is a degree warmer with a shade more vibrato than some interpreters, and the Naxos recording brings out the fantasy of the composer's orchestration, particularly in No 1, with wonderful clarity. In the more openly lyrical Second Concerto, Kaler adopts more flowing speeds with lighter results.
Kaler then plays the relatively brief Nocturneand Tarantella just as sympathetically, with the Tarantella a flamboyant virtuoso vehicle making a splendid climax to an excellent disc. The point which trumps all competition inevitably is that the Naxos issue, beautifully and idiomatically played and brilliantly recorded, comes at such a reasonable price.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“A wonderfully compelling disc from Ilya Kaler…in the sense that you never want to stop listening to it…as on his other Naxos discs [Ilya Kaler] gives pure, clear readings with flawless intonation and careful use of vibrato…beautifully and idiomatically played.” Gramophone Magazine

“a violinist of superior natural talent, an exceptionally sensitive interpreter, and a phrase maker of uncommon expressivity” The Strad