Midori Shostakovich

Of all the reconstructions prompted by the 1991 Mozart jamboree, Philip Wilby’s recreation of the Violin and Piano Concerto of 1778 was the most worthwhile. Wilby skilfully completed the 120-bar fragment of the first movement and took the slow movement and finale from the unusually brilliant, ‘public’ D major Violin Sonata, K306. There are problems – not least of dates – with Wilby’s thesis that the Sonata is the ‘last resting-place’ of the projected double concerto. But the three movements certainly make a satisfying entity. Midori and Eschenbach give an immensely polished reading, phrasing with unfailing subtlety and sophistication.

Period-instrument performances of Beethoven's violin sonatas aren't too common; they pose thorny problems of balance even beyond the question of whether Beethoven wouldn't have preferred modern instruments if he could have had them. But this superbly musical set by violinist Midori Seiler, playing an Italian Baroque violin of unknown manufacture, and fortepianist Jos van Immerseel, on a copy of an entirely appropriate Viennese Walter piano, may well redefine the standard for these works.

Harmonia Mundi's Rebel: Elements – Vivaldi: Four Seasons combines two of the Baroque's biggest instrumental barnburners as performed by one of the top period instrument groups in Europe, Akademie für Alte Musik, Berlin, under the leadership of concertmasters Clemens-Maria Nuszbaumer and Georg Kallweit and featuring their star attraction, violinist Midori Seiler. Like Vivaldi's often derided as over-familiar Four Seasons, Jean-Féry Rebel's 1737 ballet Les Éléments does not want for good recordings, but it is nowhere near as famous as the Vivaldi; this is the first time the two have been combined on a recording, and these pieces are quite compatible given their shared, programmatic purposes.

At the heart of the Köthener Bachfesttage is the ensemble founded expressly for the festival, the Köthener BachCollektiv. This is an exceptional company of eminent musicians spanning three generations that meets in Köthen every other year and has embarked on a musical journey of discovery with works newly restored to the repertoire. At the 2022 Bachfesttage, and on this recording, new reconstructions of Bach concertos and some long forgotten works by his Köthen colleagues set the tone. The consequence, under the direction of violinists Midori Seiler and Mayumi Hirasaki, is a strikingly vivid musical portrait of the Köthen Hofkapelle, which recreates the excellent working conditions and musical opportunities available to Johann Sebastian Bach in Köthen.

In fact, until these new performances by Midori Seiler and Jos van Immerseel, only the spirited, often schmaltzy renderings of K. 205 and K. 301-304 performed by Erich Höbarth and Patrick Cohen (Astrée) have ranked with the finest modern-instrument accounts.

Under the direction of violin virtuoso Midori Seiler, this album presents a very lively musical portrait of the Köthener Hofkapelle, now revived as Köthener BachCollectiv. With exceptional virtuosos and composers, Bach went to the limits of what was then playable and experimented with instruments, scorings, sounds and musical forms; New reconstructions of Bach Concertos BWV 1056R & 1064R by Midori Seiler - Musical treasures and world premiere recordings by A. R. Stricker (Sonata D major), J. Spieß (Concerto E minor) and G. Linike (Suite D major)

This is Rodion Tolmachov’s debut CD. At the age of only twenty two, he became the principal bassoonist at the famous Marinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg. His playing is distinguished by expressive tonal nuancing and breathtaking virtuosity. He has chosen a varied programme including works by Bozza, Bitsch, Boutry, Dubois, Francaix, Bernaud and Saint-Saëns.

The violinist Midori has been a celebrated performer for more than 35 years, this recording of Beethoven’s Violin Concerto, complemented by his two Romances for violin and orchestra, marks the composer’s 250th birthday in December 2020. Midori plays with the Lucerne Festival Strings in a recording made in Switzerland shortly after the COVID-19 pandemic had caused the cancellation of a planned concert performance and international tour. “Beethoven guided my colleagues and me,” says Midori, “his work focusing and inspiring us, our concentrations heightened, enveloped together in our musical efforts … I am reminded that he was a man of strong beliefs … who took firm stands on many major issues of his day … Beethoven's determination still provides a model for humankind.”

In celebration of Ralph Vaughan Williams's 150th anniversary celebrations in 2022, this album will give listeners a full insight into the composer's works for violin and piano, played by Midori Komachi (violin) and Simon Callaghan (piano), who are both internationally noted for their performances and research of 20th-century British music.

Schnittke's Piano Quintet, a creative response to his mother's death, is an austere, haunting work full of grief and tenderness that marks one of his early ventures into polystylistic writing. The opening piano solo is unique, a spare statement of puzzlement in the face of tragedy. It gives way to a waltz, as if recapturing a lost past, then the graceful dance melody literally disintegrates as the strings venture off into other regions, vainly trying to reassemble the theme and failing. At the end of its touching five movements the music's despair is transformed into serene, hard-won acceptance. Shostakovitch's 15th Quartet, his final statement in that form, premiered just months before his death. It's six slow movements are shot through with contemplative sadness and regret. The music is so rich in texture and substance that attention never flags.