Johanna Martzy

Born in Munich in 1923, Wolfgang Sawallisch was a prominent representative of the German conducting tradition, known for his thoughtful and refined interpretations of the classical repertoire. Beginning piano studies when he was five, Sawallisch developed rapidly as a child musician. His piano teachers were Ruoff, Haas, and Sachse. In 1947, following graduation from the Munich Hochschule für Musik, Sawallisch began his professional career, working first as a repetiteur and chorus master at the Augsburg Opera Theater. In 1949, he and his recital partner, violinist Gerhard Seitz, won the Geneva International Competition as best duo. In the same year, he began obtaining guest conducting assignments. When Sawallisch conducted the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra in 1953, he was the youngest person ever to have led that orchestra.

With Classical Masterworks and Piano Masterworks, DG has established a concept that works across all markets: soundly-curated compilations across physical and digital. Now, they return to this concept and presents a collection of the most essential violin; outstanding performances from its unrivalled roster of violinists. This handsomely-presented collection features popular works from the world’s best composers and also represents the new faces of composition, such as Richter and Einaudi.

The events of Beethoven's life are the stuff of Romantic legend, evoking images of the solitary creator shaking his fist at Fate and finally overcoming it through a supreme effort of creative will. His compositions, which frequently pushed the boundaries of tradition and startled audiences with their originality and power, are considered by many to be the foundation of 19th century musical principals.

Antonín Dvorák had about as much luck with the dedicatee of his violin concerto, the great Joseph Joachim, as Tchaikovsky had with his, the no less illustrious Leopold Auer. Although Joachim agreed to do a critical analysis of the first draft — resulting in a radical reworking of the piece – he did not give the premiere of the finished article, that privilege instead falling to the young Czech violinist František Ondrícek (1857–1922), in Prague on 14 October 1883.