Sarasate: Danza Española No. 6: Zapateado, Op. 23, No. 2

Paul Tortelier had the lean, ascetic look of an El Greco saint, yet possessed the turbulent idealism of Don Quixote, whom he portrayed so memorably in Richard Strauss’s tone poem. Tortelier was born in Paris in 1914, months before the outbreak of the Great War. Though the family knew poverty, it was his mother’s dream that her son should be a cellist. He started to learn the instrument at the age of six and at 12 he entered the Paris Conservatoire where he won several prizes before leaving at 16 to play freelance in cafés and cinemas in the days of silent films. A year later he made his professional debut playing Lalo’s Concerto at the Concerts Lamoureux. In 1935 he went to the Monte-Carlo Orchestra as principal cellist and two years later played Don Quixote under Strauss’s own direction. He began his solo career in 1938 in Boston, but this was interrupted by the war, during which he remained in Paris. In 1947 he played Don Quixote in Beecham’s Richard Strauss festival in London to great acclaim. This effectively relaunched his international career and he went on to become one of the world’s most distinguished cellists. He died suddenly in 1990 at the age of 76.

Bach’s solo Cello Suites were always an integral part of Tortelier’s repertoire and CD 1 opens with the first three movements of Suite No.1 in G. Following this is another Baroque work, the Cello Concerto in D by Vivaldi, in which Tortelier also directs the English Chamber Orchestra. Next comes the finale from Haydn’s Cello Concerto No.2 in D recorded with Jörg Faerber conducting the Wurtemburg Chamber Orchestra in Heilbronn. We then hear movements from Beethoven’s Cello Sonata No.4 in C with the French pianist Eric Heidsieck, and Brahms’s Cello Sonata No.2 in F in which the pianist is Tortelier’s daughter, Maria de la Pau. The CD ends with Tortelier’s third EMI recording of his signature work, Don Quixote by Richard Strauss with the Staatskapelle Dresden under Rudolf Kempe.

CD 2 begins with the first two movements of another of the works central to Tortelier’s repertoire, Elgar’s Cello Concerto, a performance of which won him a prize while he was studying at the Paris Conservatoire. This is followed by an extract from the Walton Cello Concerto conducted by Paavo Berglund and then Paganini’s variations on an operatic aria by Rossini to show off Tortelier’s technical skill as a virtuoso of his instrument, this recording conducted by Tortelier’s cellist wife, Maud Tortelier. Next comes a group of encore pieces, including the inevitable ‘Flight of the Bumblebee’ and ‘Le Cygne’, culminating in Three Miniatures for two cellos composed by Tortelier himself and played here with his wife Maud as the second cellist. The programme finishes with a spirited performance of Tchaikovsky’s ‘Rococo’ Variations with the Northern Sinfonia of England conducted by Tortelier’s son Jan Pascal Tortelier.

Violinists Adele Anthony and Gil Shaham share many passions. Along with their personal connection (they are married) and careers as performing artists, they both feel a deep affinity for the music of Sarasate. This legendary violinist and composer’s inspired works are enormously entertaining and irresistibly appealing, eloquently summarised by Adele as ‘works being a culmination of melody, violinistic idiom and elegance, often evocative of his native Spain’. Gil rates him ‘as one of my great personal heroes. He was a meticulous composer; his style was always full of imagination, full of melody, always perfectly clean and concise. I love this guy.’

Adele and Gil used the occasion of Sarasate’s centenary in 2008 to pay tribute to the revered master’s work. This included a concert at the Lincoln Center in New York, broadcast live on PBS in North America and to end the year’s festivities ¡Sarasateada!, an all Sarasate Festival in Valladolid, in Sarasate’s native Spain.

¡Sarasateada! included both chamber and orchestral concerts from which this release is born and this disc captures the expected and unexpected. A red blooded live performance of Camen Fantasy, Zapateado the raucous cowboy dance and Zigeunerweisen, all works which have challenged violinists for decades and never fail to dazzle. The unexpected works are some wonderful yet lesser known - Song of the Nightingale, Airs Eccosaise showing the his compositional gift, ‘his diversity and imagination’ as Adele puts it, with the disc concluding with a delightful and stratospheric duo Navarra, a folk song derived from Navarre in Spain.

Following the success of Ben Breen’s first CD for Tall Poppies (Brahms Sonatas, TP172), he has teamed up again with veteran pianist Milton Kaye, for their second recording together. Sadly Milton Kaye has now passed away, so this CD is the last in his long legacy of contributions to the recording industry.

The music presented here is a selection of the salon music popular in the early 20th century. This music serves to present the personality and virtuosity of the performers, and each piece was often used as an encore after a strenuous recital. The works fitted well on the early twelve-inch 78 rpm discs, and these were often played on the radio. It is through these pieces that the musicians often gained a huge and devoted following.

As Milton Kaye has so often accompanied legendary violinists, such as Jascha Heifetz and Oscar Shumsky, that this music is in his blood. Australian violinist Ben Breen, a somewhat younger musician, has taken this style of music-making and made it his own. For this recording he has borrowed a gorgeous 1715 Guarneri violin which contributes significantly to the warmth of tone. His energy and virtuosity are partnered by Kaye’s understanding and experience.

Chandos Records signed an exclusive contract with the Brodsky Quartet in time for the celebrations of its fortieth anniversary in 2012.

Formed in 1972, the Brodsky Quartet quickly emerged at the forefront of the international chamber music scene. It has performed more than 2000 concerts and made more than fifty highly acclaimed recordings. This is the Quartet’s first release on Chandos, and includes many of the encores it has performed over the years, notable for their novelty and diverse range of styles and emotions. All the pieces have been arranged by past or current members of the Quartet, and together form an entertaining and original collection.

The Quartet has enjoyed many successful collaborations over the years, and regularly works with artists such as Elvis Costello, Sting, Anne Sofie von Otter, Martin Roscoe, Michael Collins, Tunde Jegede, Dawn Upshaw, and Björk. Its boundless energy and tremendous enthusiasm have led it in many artistic directions, from the classic quartet repertoire of Haydn, Beethoven, Schubert, and Tchaikovsky, to the very cutting edge of contemporary music and styles. Its passion to embrace ‘all good music’ has been the driving force behind its success and has kept its approach fresh and its enthusiasm high since its formation.

One recurring characteristic of the performances of the Quartet is its inclusion of guest artists, who take the group away from the standard string quartet repertoire. This will be reflected in two further recordings to be released on Chandos in 2012: A CD of works by Debussy, with the multi-award-winning pianist Jean-Efflam Bavouzet in the Piano Trio and the harpist Sioned Williams and double-bass player Chris Laurence in the Deux Dances for harp and strings; and a disc of American songs with the bass-baritone Sir Willard White.

Following on from their successful first CD for Cello Classics, “Jaguar Songs”, named Editor’s Choice by Strings magazine, Cello Classics are delighted to announce the release of CC1025 – Song of the Birds – Spanish & Latin Cello.

Featuring music by de Falla, Sarasate, Piazzolla, Granados, Cassadó, Ginastera and Casals, cellist Nancy Green and pianist Tannis Gibson give stunning virtuoso performances overflowing with Latin fervour.

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.