Kopatchinskaya

Moldovan violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaya has recorded both traditional repertoire and music by contemporary Turkish composer Fazil Say, and on this album she turns to folk traditions of Eastern Europe and music based on those traditions. In addition to the folk music of Hungary, Romania, and the Ukraine, she plays works by Romanians George Enescu and Grigoras Dinicu, Transylvanian György Ligeti, Hungarian György Kurtág, Maurice Ravel, and Cuban-Chinese composer Jorge Sanchez-Chiong, who was a classmate of Kopatchinskaya's in Vienna. The roots of this music are close to Kopatchinskaya's heart and the album is clearly a labor of love.

With a repertoire heavily centered on twentieth and twenty first century composers, Patricia Kopatchinskaja definitely does not play your grandmother's Beethoven. Actually, the first-movement Presto of her performance of the Op. 47 sonata is downright startling at first. Extremely aggressive and energetic, Kopatchinskaja's playing lives up to her stated desire to perform Beethoven in a more "excessive manner." Despite the initially jarring verticality of her playing, the spontaneity and excitement that she brings to the "Kreutzer" Sonata is quickly engaging and infectious.

Tallinn Chamber Orchestra’s album “Pēteris Vasks”. The publication includes two string concertos by Latvian-born composer Pēteris Vasks, the first of which is “Concerto No. 2 “Klātbūtne” for Cello and String Orchestra” – a three-part concerto for cello and string orchestra. Marko Ylönen will perform as a cello soloist on the recording. The second work on the album is the four-part “Concerto for Viola and String Orchestra” that features viola player Lilli Maijala as soloist. The orchestra is conducted by Juha Kangas.