Batiashvili

In her new project, City Lights, Lisa Batiashvili gathers all the places and memories that have been important in her life and career together with some of the world’s most beautiful music. A journey from her native Georgia to Paris, Berlin, Buenos Aires and Hollywood that features ground-breaking collaborations with artists as diverse as Miloš, Katie Melua and Till Brönner. City Lights shares the beautiful melodies from Cinema Paradiso and Chaplin’s own compositions with all time classics from Piazzolla, J.S. Bach and the late Michel Legrand - all in new arrangements by Nikoloz Rachveli - and last, but not least a new song by Katie Melua about the magic of London.

As a debut recording on Deutsche Grammophon, Lisa Batiashvili's Echoes of Time works reasonably well because it demonstrates a seriousness of purpose that any rising violinist would wish to convey and provides a showcase for her virtuosity. Dmitry Shostakovich's Violin Concerto No. 1 sets a keynote of gravitas and introduces us to the theme of the album, which is that the works presented here were influenced in one way or another by the culture and politics of the Soviet Union.

This album - a collaboration between two of the biggest names in classical music - celebrates the fine art of concealment, of holding private passions just beneath the surface until they erupt. 'Secret Love Letters' sees the violinist explore some of the most romantic music ever written. In this, her first recording with a US orchestra, she is joined by The Philadelphia Orchestra and its inspirational music director Yannick Nézet-Séguin - with whom she has performed live many times - as well as by young Georgian pianist Giorgi Gigashvili. Together they embark on a journey that spans everything from forbidden love to romance seen from the perspective of old age, featuring Szymanowski's 'First Violin Concerto', Chausson's 'Poème' and works by Franck and Debussy.

What kind of music could be better suited for the Berliner Philharmoniker’s legendary annual Waldbühne concert than Czech music? It’s always passionate and full of verve and sure to lift everyone’s spirits. Only very rarely does a young talent ascend to ‘world stardom’, but one of the few who can be considered an international superstar while still belonging to the new generation of conductors is Yannick Nézet-Séguin. He presents the much-loved Vlatava (Moldau) as well as Dvořák’s Sixth Symphony and Violin Concerto with the wonderful Lisa Batiashvili on the violin.

This album of Sir Harrison Birtwistle’s chamber music and songs, mostly of recent vintage, is issued as the innovative Great British composer approaches his 80th birthday. It features an exceptional cast. Heard together and separately is the trio of Austrian pianist Till Fellner, Georgian violinist Lisa Batiashvili and English cellist Adrian Brendel. They are joined by London-born singers Amy Freston and Roderick Williams.

Lisa Batiashvili is a wonderful violinist, and this fine album of Prokofiev’s two concertos marks another milestone in a career that leaps from mountain peak to mountain peak. She characterizes each work with great insight and style, clearly attuned to the biographical background of this most complex of 20th-century composers. What’s also striking is the range of color and volume with which Batiashvili and Nézet-Séguin invest the music, unusually faithful to the score—the opening of the Second Concerto is done with great imagination and some stunning solo and orchestral playing. Three short Prokofiev pops are delightful extras.