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!![Klaus Mäkelä and Janine Jansen]()
Conductor Klaus Mäkelä and violinist Janine Jansen.Sibelius and Prokofiev 1 Violin ConcertosJanine Jansen, violinOslo Philharmonic, Klaus Mäkelä conducting
Shifting GroundAlexi Kenney, violinRepair the WorldLincoln Trio
Desirée Ruhstrat, violin
David Cunliffe, cello
Marta Aznavoorian, piano
Conductor Klaus Mäkelä and violinist Janine Jansen.
Violinist Janine Jansen releases her first concerto album in nine years, pairing the Violin Concertos of Sibelius and Prokofiev. Janine is joined by Klaus Mäkelä and the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra for this album, forming the ultimate classical dream team. "In the Sibelius, her playing has an old-school expansiveness that makes itself felt immediately," said a review of this album that appeared in The Guardian: "For a bonus track theres a tiny Sibelius duet for pizzicato violin and cello in which the uncredited cellist must surely be Mäkelä himself a sweet sign-off to an unusually collegial concerto recording." BELOW: Sibelius: Violin Concerto in D Minor, Op. 47: I. Allegro moderato
"This album is my love-letter to the violin music of J.S. Bach, interspersing movements of his Sonatas and Partitas with World Premiere recordings of works by Matthew Burtner, Salina Fisher, and Angélica Negrón, pieces by Eve Beglarian and Nicola Matteis, as well as my own arrangements of Ariana Grande, Joni Mitchell, and Robert Schumann," said violinist Alexi Kenney, winner of an Avery Fisher Career Grant and a Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award. "The set culminates in Bachs epic Chaconne. I hope youll take a moment to listen." BELOW: Ayres for the Violin: Passaggio roto, by Nicola Matteis (Find the entire playlist here):Abbey Road ConcertoGuy Braunstein, violinOrchestre Philharmonique de Liège, Alondra de la Parra, conducting
On his new album, violinist, composer and arranger Guy Braunstein devotes himself to English repertoire with a special twist: not only were Frederick Delius' Violin Concerto and Ralph Vaughan-Williams' "The lark ascending" recorded for the first time in the Abbey Road Studios; his own "Abbey Road Concerto", a highly virtuoso violin concerto based on themes from the Beatles album of the same name, also pays tribute to the hallowed recording halls in London. "We had a Beatlemania problem at home! My son was totally obsessed and always wanted me to play the Beatles," Braunstein said. "I decided to arrange a song for piano and violin...I quickly realized that I liked everything! I just couldn't commit myself to just one and decided to just arrange the whole thing for an orchestra. What came out of it was a 35-minute violin concerto. So much for trying to do just one song."BELOW: Musica Maestra: Abbey Road Rhapsody with Guy Braunstein
Inspired by the Jewish concept of "tikkun olam," that we must repair what we find broken, this work underscores music's role in healing, remembrance, and uniting a community shattered by tragedy. There is a musical theme of "repair" throughout the piece with melodies and chords that move in one direction and then reverse, as if being "fixed." This piece is a musical reflection on the tragic mass shooting at Highland Parks Independence Day parade in 2022 (in the Chicago area). June is Gun Violence Awareness Month, and for one year Cedille will donate 10 percent of its revenue from sales and streams of "Repair the World" to the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. BELOW: Repair the World, by Stacy Garrop.Strum9 Horses
9 Horses is an improvising chamber ensemble featuring mandolinist Joe Brent, Sara Caswell on violin and Hardanger d'amore, and Andrew Ryan on bass, with a stated aim to break down the barriers between "folk art" and "fine art." This newest album is meant as an antithesis A.I.-generated music. "The record is called Strum because every tune prominently features the sound of a plucked or strummed instrument: mandolins, guitars, basses, banjos, pianos, and including instruments that usually arent thought of that way like violins, drums, even people," Brent said. "Theres lots of sounds in here that are identifiably human-made: creaky gears, ambient room noise, breathing, chair squeaking, and lots of calloused fingers on strings and frets. Sounds like that make me feel like Im in the room with the humans making the music, and remind me its humans making it." BELOW: The album.Vijay Iyer: TroubleJennifer Koh, violinBoston Modern Orchestra Project, Gil Rose conducting
Composer Vijay Iyer showcases his high-minded yet emotionally expressive approach to music-making with this collection of bustling textures, surprising forms, and pulsating rhythms. "Trouble," written in 2017, uses the violin concerto format to voice our unfinished quest for equal rights. "Im most at home as a pianist, composer, and improviser, but I grew up playing violin," Iyer said. "From ages 3 to 18, I had classical lessons, played in orchestras and string quartets, and studied a lot of the solo repertoire. I taught myself piano in those same years, grew up on rock, pop, and soul music, and got into jazz in high school. In college I quit the violin and stayed focused on Black and South Asian musical approaches until my early 30s, when some friends in New York invited me to write chamber music." Dedicated to slain auto worker Vincent Chin, "Trouble" also is part of Jennifer Kohs critically acclaimed series, "The New American Concerto." BELOW: Jennifer Koh performs Vijay Iyer's "Trouble" for violin and chamber orchestra, at the 2017 Ojai Music Festival.Brahms String QuintetsGringolts Quartet lya Gringolts, violin Anahit Kurtikyan, violin Silvia Simionescu, viola Claudius Herrmann, cello Lilli Maijala, viola
Following in the footsteps of Mozart and Schubert, Johannes Brahms wrote two string quintets that rank among his greatest chamber music masterpieces. He took up this genre rather late in life, but in it he was able to express both the joy and the nostalgia he carried with him into his maturity. The Quintet in F major, Op. 88, held a special place in the composers heart, and he considered it to be his finest work. Sometimes referred to as the "spring quintet," the work is pervaded by a bucolic spirit. The Quintet in G major, Op. 111, radiates vigor and exuberance. With echoes of Viennese folk music, the piece has been referred to as the "Prater quintet," after the famous Viennese park.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. 287: Nicola Benedetti with Sheku Kanneh-Mason and Benjamin Grosvenor
- For the Record, Op. 286: 'Grit and Glitz' with William Shaub and Friends
- For the Record, Op. 285: ETHEL quartet and Layale Chaker; Elizabeth Chang; Teresa Allgaier and Sophia Jani
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