Pablo Sarasate

The Spanish violinist María Dueñas releases her second DG album, on which she plays Nicolò Paganini’s iconic 24 Caprices. She couples the pieces, which are known as some of the hardest works that have ever been written for violin, with a selection of later works inspired by Paganini, presenting music by composers ranging from Berlioz and Kreisler to Gabriela Ortiz.

On this 2013 Decca release, critically acclaimed violinist Julia Fischer and pianist Milana Chernyavska present a delightful recital of showpieces by Spanish virtuoso, Pablo de Sarasate. The music's fireworks give the program a strong appeal, and Fischer's technical brilliance is well-matched to all of Sarasate's demands, though her expressive intensity and soulful lyricism consistently carry the album. She pulls off all manner of flashy effects, including glissando harmonics, flageolets, pizzicati on the fingerboard, extended passages of sixths and octaves, flying spiccato bowing, and everything else in the violinist's bag of tricks, and there is never a missed opportunity for showmanship.

To mark her highly publicised performance at the 2011 Classic Brits, DG are releasing this stunning 2CD set of some of her very best recordings. Arranged chronologically, the compilation’s sequence offers a comprehensive look at Anne Sophie Mutter’s Deutsche Grammophon career — from her Mozart debut in 1978 to her Brahms Sonatas in 2010, with all of her musical partners.

All the best of classical music included in this collection is based on the survey of more than 70,000 musicians that are directly related to the classics!