Kroll: Banjo and Fiddle

Heifetz’s series of arrangements and transcriptions for violin and piano reveal just how tasteful and refined a musician he was. Crafted with precision, and played with passion, they are alive with his stylistic awareness. Whether in his Rachmaninov transcriptions or in Robert Russell Bennett’s A Song Sonata, Heifetz lavished equal care on these gems and they enriched his concert programmes. They also proved hugely popular on disc – thirteen pieces come from a 1960 LP famously called ‘Heifetz’ – and their variety, virtuosity and sheer beauty remain imperishable examples of the art of the violin.

Mark Obert-Thorn, reissue producer and audio restoration engineer

Tasmin Little’s formidable technical ability and gift for interpretation are unmistakable in this collection of showpieces. Displaying her brilliant virtuosity and captivating lyricism, and including her own witty Tchaikovskiana, written in collaboration with John Lenehan, these works highlight Little’s breathtaking skill as a performer.

Classics is proud to announce the release The Very Best of Nigel Kennedy. This 2-CD set celebrates the multiple facets of the award-winning, multi-million record selling violinist, featuring works from his twin passions, classical and jazz.

The first disc focuses on classical music, featuring Kennedy’s iconic recordings of the best-loved violin repertoire: movements from the great concerti including Bruch and Beethoven; stand-alone works such as Zigeunerweisen and Lark Ascending; and from his landmark recording of Vivaldi's Four Seasons. Kennedy’s 1989 release of the baroque masterpiece, named the best-selling classical recording of all time by the Guinness Book of World Records, topped the UK Classical Charts for over a year, reached #3 on the UK Pop Album chart and has sold more than two-million copies world wide. At one point, Nigel was selling more records a week than the combined total of the other 19 records in the UK Classical Sales Chart.

The second disc features tracks from his award-winning and critically acclaimed jazz and pop recordings: standards from his Blue Note Sessions album, performances of his own pop and fusion compositions with the Nigel Kennedy Quintet and with Polish klezmer trio Kroke, as well as tracks from his most recent EMI Classics release Sssh!, including his collaboration with Culture Club singer Boy George.

Michael Rabin was a virtuoso of the highest order, one of the most talented violinists of the 20th century. A child prodigy, he performed in public for the first time aged only eleven. From the early 1950s, Rabin gave concerts across the globe and made numerous recordings, including the complete Paganini Caprices. He worked himself into a state of exhaustion, going through a crisis in the 1960s which temporarily compromised his playing. However, Rabin managed to recover and return to his former glory.These recordings, made by the RIAS and released here for the first time, document his comeback in an impressive manner: the live recording of Max Bruch's First Violin Concerto, made in the Berlin Philharmonie, is of particular interest as Rabin never made an LP recording of it. In the short virtuoso pieces, the violinist - who died at a tragically young age - demonstrates himself to have been a romantic virtuoso par excellence: he displays a sensuous tone and an enthralling technique.

Hailed by the international media as “a massive talent with astonishing dynamic and expressive range…,” Chuanyun Li is one of the foremost violinists of his generation from China and internationally. An active member of the Yip’s Children Arts Centre since 1986, he has studied under the sponsorship of entrepreneur Mr Choi Kin Chung with Professor Yaoji Lin from Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing and won numerous prizes, including the 1st Prize in the 5th Wieniawski International Youth Violin Competition at 11. He studied with Dorothy DeLay, Itzhak Perlman and Hyo Kang in the Juilliard School of Music and continued his studies with DeLay and Kurt Sassmannshaus at the University of Cincinnati Conservatory of Music and with Joey Corpus in New York City with the support of the Clarisse B Kampel Foundation. Li has toured extensively in China, Japan and the US and collaborated with such orchestras as the Rotterdam Philharmonic with Valery Gergiev, Detroit Symphony with Neemi Järvi, Hong Kong Philharmonic with Edo de Waart, Queensland Symphony Orchestra with Michael Christie, China National Symphony with Xincao Li and Singapore Symphony with Lan Shui, among others. Hänssler Classic is proud to present the first recording of this exciting young artist to be made available outside of China.