Bruch: Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor, Op. 26

This is the 4th concerto album of Arabella Steinbacher on PentaTone.

All three albums were unanimously reviewed as top of the bill. Gramophone selected the Bartok album as ‘Editor’s Choice’.

Arabella constantly travels the world to perform with major orchestras, so check her concert schedule on http://www.arabella-steinbacher.com/concerts.html for opportunities to do venue sales. Arabella is always happy to do signing sessions.

The new album features popular romantic works and make it a very commercial item.

Joined by the Zürich Tonhalle Orchestra and David Zinman, Fischer pairs the ever-popular Bruch concerto with Dvorák's undeservedly neglected but perennially fresh masterpiece - a rather more logical twinning than the ubiquitous Mendelssohn.

A former Artist of the Year at the 2007 Gramophone Awards, and 'Instrumentalist of the Year' at the 2009 MIDEM Classical Awards, Fischer signed to Decca Classics shortly afterwards and this is her fifth release for the label.

Reviewing Julia Fischer’s performance of the Dvorák Concerto in London, The Guardian wrote, “Dvorák’s Violin Concerto, a romantic showpiece too often passed over in favour of Bruch and Mendelssohn, has a piquant slow movement to compete with either. Fischer made sure we heard every note, handing us each bar with absolute technical assurance and in a lustrous, seamless tone.”

Violinist Guy Braunstein has been the concertmaster of the Berliner Philharmoniker since 2000. In 2013 he will step down to dedicate himself to his solo career. His extraordinary musicianship has been heralded equally as a soloist, a chamber musician and, more recently, he has enjoyed a considerable success as a conductor.

He has played with some of the world's leading orchestras including the Berliner Philharmoniker, Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, Israel Philharmonic and Filharmonica de la Scala, to name a few.

He has collaborated with musicians such as Zubin Mehta, Issac Stern, Claudio Abbado, Yefim Bronfman, Sir Simon Rattle, Emanuel Ax, SemyonBychkov, Maurizio Pollini, Andris Nelsons, LangLang and Hélène Grimaud among others. He also has a special working relationship with Daniel Barenboim both as a soloist and in recital.

Guy Braunstein plays a rare violin made by Francesco Ruggeri (Cremona, 1679).

The Bamberg Symphony Orchestra has a strong record of providing first class performances and recordings for the Tudor label and this disc of romantic works will continue their high standards.

Celebrated in this collection are the violin concertos by Dvorák and Bruch that first propelled Tasmin Little into the spotlight, demonstrating her masterful interpretative skill and garnering widespread critical acclaim. These breakthrough recordings are complemented here by Little’s take on Lalo’s Symphonie espagnole and Bruch’s folk melody-inspired Scottish Fantasy, described by the violinist as ‘an admirably glorious work’.

Charlie’s second album for Warner Classics combines Max Bruch’s Violin Concerto No.1 in G minor - one of the best loved works in the violin repertoire - with two less familiar pieces: Henryk Wieniawski’s Violin Concerto No.1 in F sharp Minor and Ole Bull’s Cantabile Dolorosa e Rondo giocoso.

The other two works on the album put Charlie to the test in other ways. Henryk Wieniawski wrote some of the most challenging works in the violin repertoire, including two ferociously difficult concertos. While Wieniawski’s second Violin Concerto is more frequently performed and better-known, Violin Concerto No.1 is a dazzling work brimming with virtuosic pyrotechnics as well as expansive romantic melodies.

The last piece on the album is a relatively unknown work by the Norwegian composer, Ole Bull. This charismatic violin virtuoso, who led a colourful life and had an exciting international career, had a reputation at one time to rival that of his contemporary Paganini. Charlie himself has a Norwegian background, and recently found out that he is in fact related to his long standing hero.

“I’ve been inspired by him for about10 years… partly because of his character, the story of his life, the things that he did. He was a phenomenal violinist and he seems to almost inhabit the mythical folk culture in Norway but he’s forgotten largely elsewhere, even amongst violinists. And so I think it’s great to bring him to the surface, especially now I have this very personal connection to him…”