Hubay: Scène de la csárda No. 4 'Hejre Kati', Op. 32 (Hey, Katy)

If there's one period to which we feel specially attracted, it's the time when Ravel and Bartók wrote their sonatas and rhapsodies. Music styles from all corners of the world were blowing across the European continent, taking root as folk dances, blues rhythms and exotic melodies in the hearts of classically trained musicians. How very similar to our own situation!

We were formed by Beethoven and Schubert, but with American colleagues, Indonesian forefathers and pop and jazz musicians as close friends our musical world was equally determined by Radiohead, Brad Mehldau and Indonesian gamelan. Bartók and Ravel show us how traditional craftsmanship can be combined with the sounds of other cultures. In their music we can give full rein to our craft, the flame of our ensemble playing and our love for our instruments. At the same time, we recognize in it the groove, the catch in the voice and the raw expression, which captivate us beyond the concert hall. All these elements are brought together in masterly fashion. And so this CD is not only a homage to Ravel and Bartók, but also to the unbounded world of music, in which we both feel free and happy. Enjoy our recording!

Rosanne Philippens & Yuri van Nieuwkerk In 2001 Yuri and Rosanne met at a summer school high up in the mountains of Switzerland. Playing together, it became clear that they had much in common in their musicianship. On returning to Holland they decided to form a duo, and this has been a great success. Today they continue to play together and their musicianship - both as individuals and as a duo - is recognised increasingly. The duo was awarded the Netherlands Programming Foundation Duo Prize at the National Violin Competition, and has broadcast on Dutch classical radio and TV. At the latest Vriendenkrans/het Debuut they won Het Debuut, and with it a grant for further studies and a series of ten concerts at leading chamber music venues in Holland in 2013. The duo has also performed in Switzerland, Germany and Liechtenstein.

Philippe Graffin is the latest violinist to join ONYX, after several outstanding discs of rare French and English repertoire for labels such as Hyperion and Avie. This new recital brings together the mesmerising intensity of Gypsy violin playing with classical composers’ response to it.

Released to coincide with a notable novel called Hungarian Dances by writer and journalist Jessica Duchen. She explains: “When I asked Philippe Graffin, a treasured friend and colleague, to check the manuscript of Hungarian Dances for violinistic errors, I little dreamed he’d respond by making this recording: a CD inspired by the novel. Yet the novel was partly inspired by a CD – Philippe and Claire’s beautiful recital ‘In the Shade of Forests’, [Avie Records, rave reviews worldwide] evoking the spirit of the archetypal wandering Gypsy violinist”.

Philippe’s recital is loosely based around the book but is also designed to work as a programme in its own right with several pieces chosen only for the recording including rarities by such composers as Von Vecsey, Hubay, Scarlatescu and Arthur Hartmann.

Claire Désert is well-known in France for several solo CDs for FNAC and other labels and here plays both piano and piano luthéal, the ‘prepared piano’ that Ravel had made for Tzigane in 1919 and which imitates the sound of a Hungarian cimbalom to striking effect in many of these pieces.

Lauded as “the most charismatic violinist the UK has produced in recent years”, Chloë Hanslip has delighted music lovers with her Naxos recordings of virtuosic 19th century music by Bazzini and Godard.

Hubay’s first two Violin Concertos not only make full use of the violin’s singing qualities, especially in the gorgeous slow movements, but require considerable virtuosity in performance.

With their Hungarian folk-dance elements the Scènes de la Csárda are among Hubay’s most famous works.

“An exciting virtuoso confirms his Czech credentials in this superb release. Pavel Sporcl has established himself on disc as the most charismatic of young Czech violinists, spontaneously imaginitive and individual in everything he does.” Edward Greenfield - Gramophone

The violin virtuoso Pavel Šporcl’s new CD captures his two unique concerts with the Slovak Gipsy cimbalom ensemble Romano Stilo. The events were truly extraordinary not only due to these superlative musicians combining their forces but also the repertoire (a startling departure for Šporcl) and the atmosphere on the stage and in the auditorium alike. Just as Pavel Šporcl steps out with zest from the domain of classical music into other genres so Romano Stilo cannot be considered an orthodox cimbalom band. Besides Gipsy, Hungarian and Romanian folk music, the visitors to the concerts heard compositions by Pablo Sarasate, Johannes Brahms and Aram Khachaturian inspired by this music, all spiced up with a soupcon of jazz. Šporcl plays the repertoire, allegedly the exclusive reserve of musicians with Gipsy blood coursing through their veins, so masterfully and convincingly that one is tempted to trace his family tree. Romano Stilo are splendid partners for him and it is a real joy to hear the musical sparks fly.