Vivaldi Four Seasons Kremer

The Twiolins are the siblings Marie-Luise and Christoph Dingler, specialists in the violin duo genre. Having grown up in a musical environment, they have achieved the highest degree of interplay and a unique sound identity through their shared curriculum vitae and constant playing together. Why Vivaldi and Piazzolla? Or to put it another way: why, after more than ten years of searching and working on new compositions, does the duo now devote itself to two deceased composers who could hardly be more opposite? Adapting Kremer's project Eight Seasons and transforming it into a typical "Twiolins project" is unusual for the Twiolins, but it was almost dream walkingly simple.Thus it was clear to the duo that the "Eight Seasons" had to evolve, through their own interpretation, transformation and growth. In short: an evolution was necessary. Nevertheless, it was an adventure to play the Four Seasons from Vivaldi on two violins arrange. Years of playing together gave them enough experience to be able to present Vivaldi's masterpiece appropriately - without reducing the content of the work. Both Vivaldi and Piazzolla have undergone a transformation and show us new aspects in this chamber music version that have never been heard before in these great works of world literature …

THE TWIOLINS are the siblings Marie-Luise and Christoph Dingler, specialists in the violin duo genre. Having grown up in a musical environment, they have achieved the highest degree of interplay and a unique sound identity through their shared curriculum vitae and constant playing together.

The creator of hundreds of spirited, extroverted instrumental works, Italian composer Antonio Vivaldi is widely recognized as the master of the Baroque instrumental concerto, which he perfected and popularized more than any of his contemporaries. Vivaldi's kinetic rhythms, fluid melodies, bright instrumental effects, and extensions of instrumental technique make his some of the most enjoyable of Baroque music. He was highly influential among his contemporaries and successors: even as esteemed a figure as Johann Sebastian Bach adapted some of Vivaldi's music.

Gidon Kremer's technical brilliance, inward but passionate playing, and commitment to both new works and new interpretations of old works have made him one of the most respected violinists in the world today. Kremer was born on February 27, 1947, in Riga, Latvia, then part of the Soviet Union. His parents were both professional violinists (his father, a Jew, survived the Holocaust), and, as with so many virtuosi, Kremer's gift was apparent almost immediately after a violin was put in his hands. His grandfather, Georg Bruckner, concertmaster of the Riga Opera, is credited with having guided the development of Kremer's formidable talent. Kremer won the first prize of the Latvian Republic at age 16 and entered the Moscow Conservatory to study under the legendary violinist David Oistrakh, who eventually offered him a position as an assistant after he graduated. By that time, however, Kremer had already won numerous violin competitions (most notably the 1970 Tchaikovsky Competition), and his star was rising as a soloist. Kremer had been denied permission to travel abroad, but was finally allowed to leave the country in 1975, and became a sensation in the West, when the German conductor Herbert von Karajan in 1976 proclaimed Kremer the greatest violinist in the world, after recording the Brahms violin concerto with him.

Ever since Beethoven wrote his last piano sonata and called it opus 111, the number 111 has enjoyed certain kudos in musical circles – of which we are proud to take advantage, as Deutsche Grammophon celebrates its 111th anniversary in 2009 and 2010. This unique limited-edition, specially priced collection of 111 CDs contains landmark recordings from DG's past to present. As a Bonus comes "111 Classic tracks" a compilation in 6 CDs, bringing the number of discs in these boxes to a combined number of 117.

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.

Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky was the author of some of the most popular themes in all of classical music. He founded no school, struck out no new paths or compositional methods, and sought few innovations in his works. Yet the power and communicative sweep of his best music elevates it to classic status, even if it lacks the formal boldness and harmonic sophistication heard in the compositions of his contemporaries, Wagner and Bruckner. It was Tchaikovsky's unique melodic charm that could, whether in his Piano Concerto No. 1 or in his ballet The Nutcracker or in his tragic last symphony, make the music sound familiar on first hearing.