Szymanowski: Violin Sonata in D minor, Op. 9

“First up is the famous Chopin, which in Wallfisch's hands flows like a river of silk, pulsing with a burnished warmth, spontaneity and vigour. His long partnership with York is shown at its best, instinctive and flexible...Their soulful reading of Glazunov's transcription of the E flat Etude is one to cherish.” BBC Music Magazine, August 2010 ****

“There's an air of spontaneity, yet the expressive weight of each phrase is carefully considered, by York as well as by Wallfisch, giving the whole work a powerful sense of unity...Their grand gestures [in the Szymanowski] carry complete conviction and sweep us along.” Gramophone Magazine, September 2010

“…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

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

“David Oistrakh's playing is, at its best, a calming force in an agitated world – intelligent, considered (just occasionally overcalculated), invariably poised, big-toned and confident.
You know what to expect and are rarely disappointed, and these excellent refurbishments of key Oistrakh performances from the 1950s lend a characteristic narrative quality to a wide variety of repertoire.
Best perhaps is the Prokofiev sonata, which Oistrakh himself instigated in reaction to hearing the flute-and-piano original. The playing is quietly confidential in the first and third movements, pert in the Scherzo and exuberant in the closing Allegro con brio. Oistrakh's phrasing is incisive without sounding aggressive (most notes retain their full measure of tone, even at speed), while his handling of rhythm is both supple and muscular. Szymanowski's post-Romantic Op 9 is lusciously full-toned and expertly negotiated by Yampolsky, while the reading of Karen Khachaturian's Op 1 – a pleasant piece reminiscent of Kabalevsky, the lighter Shostakovich and, occasionally, Gershwin – proves to be another masterly performance, especially in the delightful Andante.
This is a quite superb disc, expertly annotated and very well presented. The Prokofiev Second Sonata is as near definitive as anyone has a right to expect, while the remainder is typical of a violinist whose aristocratic playing and artistic diplomacy remain an inspiration to us all.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010