Romantic Violin

This installment is devoted to a third look at her chamber music, which, features stronly in the oeuvre of the brilliant Croatian countess.

In her third release for EMI Classics the energetic young Norwegian violinist continues the idea of Nordic and Russian concerto pairings established with Sibelius and Prokofiev Concertos on her first album. Here the famous romance of Tchaikovsky’s well-loved violin concerto and Scandinavian poise and unique colouring of Nielsen’s concerto are presented in a rare coupling together on disc.

This is the final installment in the series of recordings of Beethoven's complete violin sonatas by Sayaka Shoji (violin) and Gianluca Cascioli (piano). The album includes the popular and euphoric No. 5 "Spring", the sublime No. 6, and No. 10, the only one of the violin sonatas from the composer's later period, which is reminiscent of Schumann and Brahms.

Schumann told Wasielewski that he had composed his Violin Sonata in A minor at a time when he was 'very angry with certain people'. Whether or not that anger found its outlet in creative energy, he managed to complete the entire work within the space of less than a week. The Sonata is alone among Schumann's symphonically conceived chamber works in being cast in three movements, rather than four. The relative concision results from the fact that Schumann's middle movement takes a leaf out of Beethoven's book, and combines the functions of slow movement and scherzo. No less intensely passionate than the A minor Sonata is the Violin Sonata in D minor Op 121.

This is a collection of absolute gems. The one-movement Concerto by Fauré is the only movement to have survived from an original three-movement violin concerto, and Saint-Saëns’s Morceau de concert was originally intended as the first movement of his third violin concerto. Lalo’s Fantaisie norvégienne, with its utterly gorgeous slow movement, was to become the inspiration behind Bruch’s Scottish Fantaisie, and Guitare is an early encore piece for violin and piano (later orchestrated by Gabriel Pierné) that Lalo (himself a violinist) wrote for his own use. Guiraud, who taught composition to both Debussy and Dukas, wrote the haunting Caprice for Sarasate, and the Poème by Canteloube shows much of the charm he is now so famed for through his Chants d’Auvergne.

This is the sixth recording by the Doric String Quartet for Chandos Records, and the discography is going from strength to strength. The disc of Schumann’s String Quartets, Op. 41 was ‘Recording of the Month’ simultaneously in BBC Music and Gramophone, and nominated for a Gramophone Award in the Chamber Music category in 2012.

Robert Schumann: Violin Concerto, Fantasy - Franz Schubert: Konzertstück, Polonaise
Vaclav Snitil / Prague Symphony Orchestra / Libor Hlavacek / Josef Hrncir
EAC+LOG+CUE | FLAC: 327 MB | Full Artwork: 28 MB | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: Supraphon "Supraphonet" # 11 14114-2 | Country/Year: CSSR 1989
Genre: Classical | Style: Romantic, Violin

Václav Snítil is professor of violin at Prague's Academy of Performing Arts. Mr. Snítil is a recognized master of the art of violin playing and musical interpretation. He is also a supreme chamber musician as well as a widely sought-after pedagogue. In addition, Mr. Snítil has a distinguished collection of LP and CD recordings to his name…