By Laurie Niles: Welcome to "For the Record," Violinist.com's weekly roundup of new releases of recordings by violinists, violists, cellists and other classical musicians. We hope it helps you keep track of your favorite artists, as well as find some new ones to add to your listening!![Renaud Capucon]()
Violinist Renaud Capuçon. Photo by Benjamin Decoin.Mozart: The Violin ConcertosRenaud Capuçon, violinOrchestre de Chambre de Lausanne, Capuçon conducting
TransfiguredKaleidoscope Chamber CollectiveTodd Mason Violin ConcertoTosca Opdam, violinTodd Mason, composer
Budapest Scoring Orchestra, Péter Illényi conducting
Violinist Renaud Capuçon. Photo by Benjamin Decoin.
Assuming the dual role of soloist and director, Capuçon turned to the subtle musical complexities of the Mozart violin concertos armed with a feeling for their spontaneity and a determination to bring them to life in the moment. Recorded last September at Lausannes Théâtre de Beaulieu, the 2-CD album also includes the Rondo in C major K 373 and Adagio in E major K 261. BELOW: Mozart: Violin Concerto No. 5 in A Major, K. 219: I. Allegro aperto
Known for its championship of neglected repertoire, the Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective presents a programme of works by members of the Second Viennese School, based around Schoenbergs Verklärte Nacht. Schoenberg composed the work in 1899, on holiday with his friend and fellow composer Alexander Zemlinsky and Zemlinskys sister, Mathilde, whom Schoenberg would marry two years later. Zemlinskys "Maiblumen blühten überall," for soprano and string sextet, was never completed, intended originally to be a much larger work. Webern studied composition with both Zemlinsky and Schoenberg, this album includes his Piano Quintet may. Alma Schindler was another pupil of Zemlinsky, one with whom he developed a deep romantic infatuation. Their relationship ended when she herself fell in love with Gustav Mahler who, when they married, famously forbade her from pursuing her career as a composer. The four songs included here (arranged for soprano and string sextet by Tom Poster) offer an intriguing glimpse of what she might have composed in other circumstances...BELOW: Trailer for the album:
"I think the reason there are so many violin concertos is that the violin is able to sonically soar above the orchestra, and that has a very unique, beautiful sound," said LA-based composer Todd Mason, who composed his new violin concerto during the pandemic. The workd unfolds in one continuous, 24-minute movement, performed by Dutch violinist Tosca Opdam, who said, "There is a very strong narrative throughout the concerto." BELOW: The making of Todd Mason's violin concerto:If you have a new recording you would like us to consider for inclusion in our "For the Record" feature, please e-mail Editor Laurie Niles. Be sure to include the name of your album, a link to it and a short description of what it includes.You might also like:
- For the Record, Op. 254: Anne Akiko Meyers; Esther Abrami; cellist Alexander Hersh; John Holloway
- For the Record, Op. 253: Hermitage Piano Trio; Johannes Fleischmann; Schumann Quartett
- For the Record, Op. 252: Emerson String Quartet Final Recording, and more
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