Saleem Ashkar - Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Nos. 8, 16, 22, 11, 15, 26 (2021)
FLAC tracks | 2:02:47 | 381 Mb
Genre: Classical / Label: Universal Music Italia srL.
Born in 1976 in Nazareth, Israel, pianist Saleem Ashkar is a double minority in his home country: he is of Palestinian Christian background. His younger brother, Nabeel Abboud Ashkar, is a noted violinist. Both brothers are alumni of the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra (the name is taken from an Arab-themed volume of poetry by Goethe), founded by conductor/pianist Daniel Barenboim in 1999 as a vehicle for promoting Arab-Israeli cooperation through classical music. Saleem Ashkar also had encouragement from conductor Zubin Mehta, who programmed a performance of Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 in B flat minor, Op. 23, with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra when Saleem was 17.