Dvorak: Slavonic Dance No. 10 in E minor, Op. 72 No. 2

Along with his friend Caruso, Fritz Kreisler (1875–1962) was one of the superstars of the early gramophone era. He was “the master musician among the violinists of the day” (New York Times); he died 50 years ago (29 January 1962). As a composer, he is famous for his Viennese-style melodies, such as Liebesfreud and Liebesleid, for his notorious pieces “in the style of” various 18th-century masters (which he passed off as their original works, claiming to have rediscovered them in old manuscripts), and for his arrangements of well-known works by other composers.

We remember one of the world’s greatest violinists with an enticing 2CD set that includes a first time release on CD of a tribute LP from 1961, original Kreisler recordings, and an array of great modern violinists playing his works.

From matter to colour…

The cello players of the Radio France Philharmonic Orchestra, moved by an enthusiasm and complicity that is frequently admired, created a cello ensemble in 2005, Les Phil’Art’Cellistes, now composed of Jean-Claude Auclin, Pauline Bartissol, Catherine De Vençay, Marion Gailland, Renaud Guieu, Karine Jean-Baptiste, Jérémie Maillard, Clémentine Meyer, Nadine Pierre, Jérôme Pinget, Daniel Raclot et Nicolas Saint-Yves.

From the Prelude to Lohengrin to …del matiz al color… by the Argentinean composer Martin Matalon, this first disc by the Phil’Art’Cellistes (The Philarcellists) spans some 150 years of music. An invitation to travel in the special repertoire of the cello? A tribute to composers who have aimed for the universal, whilst drawing on the vigour of a national culture? Certainly, but not only. The subtitle of the album, 'from matter to colour', gives us another vital lead: the connection of music with the other arts. In fact, not one work on the programme is 'pure music'. Whether it be dance with Dvořák, theatre with Wagner, Fauré and Bernstein, or the visual arts with Debussy and Matalon, each piece opens up to a different dimension, more visual, more tactile, more significant, too, of which the cello, often compared to the human voice, becomes the special interpreter. But this disc is, above all, the expression of a common culture: that of the orchestra and the symphonic repertoire that refers back to the very origins of the ensemble, founded in 2005, within the cello section of the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France.

Les Phil’Art’Cellistes? Creation and raison d’être of an ensemble unlike the others…

Karajan was Principal Conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic for 35 years.

The recordings of this partnership sold in their millions.

This year, we celebrate the thirty-year conducting career of Neeme Järvi with Chandos Records, as well as the conductor’s own seventy-fifth birthday.

We mark the occasion with this two-disc set of highlights, featuring a varied selection of concert hall rarities and core classics, along with some popular showpieces and examples of Järvi’s championing of Estonian and American music.

In the course of his conducting career, Järvi has amassed a distinguished discography of more than 440 recordings, well over 150 of them for Chandos.

Järvi has a rare ability to galvanise an orchestra into giving an interpretation of exceptional vigour and drive. Gramophone said of his recently concluded Halvorsen series (from which La Mélancolie and Bojarernes Indtogsmarsch are taken): ‘Järvi finds in the music a drama and pathos that might come as a revelation even to the composer.’

Also on this disc is the ‘Jester’s Dance’ from Tchaikovsky’s The Snow Maiden, a personal favourite of the conductor’s, and one that Järvi often performs as an encore at his many concerts around the world.