Bartók: Romanian Folk Dances, Sz.56 (arr. Székely for violin & piano)

One of the most promising violinists of the new generation, young Moldovan Patricia Kopatchinskaja makes her Naďve debut with a captivating disc that includes Beethoven’s masterpiece, the “Kreutzer” Sonata, Ravel’s Violin Sonata, Bartók’s Romanian Dances and the premier recording of the Violin Sonata by her accompanist, the outstanding Turkish pianist and composer, Fazil Say. Beethoven’s Violin Sonata No. 9 in A, commonly known as the “Kreutzer” Sonata, was published in 1802, and is known for its demanding violin part, unusual length and emotional scope. The piece’s title comes from its dedicatee, Rodolphe Kreutzer, who was considered to be the finest violinist of the day. Ironically, Kreutzer never performed it, and considered it unplayable.

Patricia Kopatchinskaja was born in Moldavia (now Moldova), and studied composition and the violin in Vienna and Berne before winning first prize in the International Henryk Szeryng Competition in 2000, followed two years later by the prestigious Crédit Suisse Group Young Artist Award. She represented Austria in the ‘Rising Stars’ concert series in the main European centres and New York. In 2004 she received the New Talent-SPP Award from the EBU and in 2006 the Förderpreis Deutschlandfunk, and now plays with leading orchestras and major festivals worldwide. More information at www.patkop.ch

Born in Ankara in Turkey, Fazil Say studied piano and composition at the State Conservatory of his home city. At 17 he was awarded a scholarship enabling him to work for five years with David Levine at the Robert Schumann Institute in Düsseldorf. From 1992-1995 he pursued his studies at the Berlin Conservatory. Say’s discography includes Stravinsky’s four-hand arrangement of The Rite of Spring, in which he plays both parts himself. This recording brought him several international awards, including the 2001 EchoPreis Klassik and the German Music Critics’ Best Recording of the Year. For Naďve, he has made recordings of Mozart Piano Concertos Nos. 21, 21 & 23 (V4992) and Beethoven’s ‘Appassionata’, ‘Tempest’ & ‘Waldstein’ Sonatas (V5016), and his own music, Black Earth (V4954). His most recent CD, a selection of Haydn Sonatas (V5070), was released in 2007. He gives a recital at the Edinburgh International Festival on 19 August.

Philippe Graffin is the latest violinist to join ONYX, after several outstanding discs of rare French and English repertoire for labels such as Hyperion and Avie. This new recital brings together the mesmerising intensity of Gypsy violin playing with classical composers’ response to it.

Released to coincide with a notable novel called Hungarian Dances by writer and journalist Jessica Duchen. She explains: “When I asked Philippe Graffin, a treasured friend and colleague, to check the manuscript of Hungarian Dances for violinistic errors, I little dreamed he’d respond by making this recording: a CD inspired by the novel. Yet the novel was partly inspired by a CD – Philippe and Claire’s beautiful recital ‘In the Shade of Forests’, [Avie Records, rave reviews worldwide] evoking the spirit of the archetypal wandering Gypsy violinist”.

Philippe’s recital is loosely based around the book but is also designed to work as a programme in its own right with several pieces chosen only for the recording including rarities by such composers as Von Vecsey, Hubay, Scarlatescu and Arthur Hartmann.

Claire Désert is well-known in France for several solo CDs for FNAC and other labels and here plays both piano and piano luthéal, the ‘prepared piano’ that Ravel had made for Tzigane in 1919 and which imitates the sound of a Hungarian cimbalom to striking effect in many of these pieces.