Ura Tmahime Jun Togawa

Prokofiev first became fascinated by the violin upon hearing the playing of his private teacher, Reinhold Glière. A dozen years later Prokofiev wrote his Violin Concerto No. 1 – a work of contrasting open-hearted lyricism and whimsical playfulness that features a wild central Scherzo with dazzling technical gymnastics. By contrast, the Violin Concerto No. 2 is emotionally reserved and sardonic with an inspired plaintive and long-arching slow movement. Composed to an official Soviet commission for an ensemble piece to be played by talented child violinists in unison, the witty and upbeat Sonata for Solo Violin can also be played by a single performer.

Pianist Jun Fukamachi did this LP for the "Pro-Use Direct Cutting Series" on Toshiba Records in 1976, he plays solo on a Steinway grand piano.

Jun Fukamachi was Japanese jazz-fusion composer, pianist and pioneering synthesizer player. Born May 21, 1946, died November 22, 2010. During the late 70s he played with The Brecker Brothers, Steve Gadd, David Sanborn etc.

For her first recording on the Linn label, Ingrid Fliter performs the two piano concertos of Frédéric Chopin with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Jun Märkl, and both performances are presented in the hybrid SACD format. The multichannel treatment might seem excessive for these works, since the piano part is always clear and prominent, and the orchestration isn't dense or complicated. Even so, the myriad subtleties of dynamics, attacks, and phrasing come across with exceptional clarity and effectiveness in the state-of-the-art recording, which does a great service to Fliter and the orchestra.