Pablo de Sarasate - Music for Violin & Piano Vol. 4 (Tianwa Yang; Markus Hadulla)

Information

Arranger: Pablo de Sarasate

1. Moritz Moszkowski - Guitarre, Op. 45, No. 2
2. Frédéric Chopin - Waltz No. 4 in F major, Op. 34, No. 3, 'Valse brillante'
3. Frédéric Chopin - Waltz No. 3 in A minor, Op. 34, No. 2, 'Valse brillante'
4. Frédéric Chopin - Waltz No. 8 in A flat major, Op. 64, No. 3
5. Frédéric Chopin - Nocturne No. 2 in E flat major, Op. 9, No. 2
6. Frédéric Chopin - Nocturne No. 8 in D flat major, Op. 27, No. 2
7. Pablo de Sarasate - Souvenirs de Faust (on themes from Gounod's opera)
8. Jean-Pierre Guignon - Violin Sonata No. 1: Allegro
9. Jean-Joseph de Mondonville - Violin Sonata No. 5 in F major, Op. 4: III. La chasse
10. Jean-Marie Leclair - Violin Sonata in D major, Op. 9, No. 3: III. Sarabande: Largo
11. Jean-Marie Leclair - Violin Sonata in D major, Op. 9, No. 3: IV. Tambourin: Presto
12. George Frideric Handel - Serse (Xerxes), HWV 40: Act I: Ombra mai fu, 'Largo'
13. Jean Baptiste Senaillé - Sonata No. 9: Allegro
14. Johann Sebastian Bach - Suite No. 3 in D major, BWV 1068: II. Air: 'Air on a G String'
15. Joachim Raff - La fée d'amour, Op. 67

Tianwa Yang, violin

Markus Hadulla, piano

Date: 2014

Label: Naxos

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Review

Young Chinese violinist Tianwa Yang has been busy lately for Naxos. With this release of arrangements and transcriptions by Sarasate she concludes her four-volume survey of the Spanish virtuoso’s works for violin and piano, following her earlier two-volume complete works for violin and orchestra.

There’s an intriguing mix of familiar and forgotten works here. A handful of waltzes and nocturnes by Chopin rub shoulders with his contemporary Moszkowski’s Guitarra and there’s a Baroque sequence taking in Handel’s ‘Largo’ from Xerxes and Bach’s ‘Air on a G string’ – both of which suffer from Sarasate’s lumpen realisation in the piano part – as well as works by Leclair and his lesser-known contemporaries.

The well-packed disc ends with Raff’s La fée d’amour, which Joseph Gold in his booklet notes identifies as Sarasate’s own favourite concert item: but it’s unremarkable for most of its 18-minute duration, except that Yang imbues it with charm while negotiating with ease its fast string-crossing and its sometimes stratospheric writing. The three Chopin waltzes are pretty enough, even if, shorn of the melody line, pianist Markus Hadulla resorts to some un-Chopinesque rubato.

The lesser-known of Sarasate’s fantasies on Gounod’s Faust, entitled Souvenirs de Faust, is a welcome rarity and Yang is especially stylish in the two Leclair sonata movements. Captured in a recording that conveys Yang’s range of articulation and tonal colour, this is a worthy conclusion to her Sarasate series.

— Edward Bhesania

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Pablo de Sarasate (10 March 1844 – 20 September 1908) was a Spanish violin virtuoso and composer whose exceptional technique and pure, sweet tone earned him international acclaim. Beginning violin at five, he debuted publicly at eight and later trained at the Paris Conservatory. From 1859 onward, extensive concert tours established his global reputation. His artistry inspired leading composers such as Saint-Saëns, Bruch, Lalo and Dvořák to write works for him. Sarasate also composed virtuoso pieces for violin, the most celebrated being Zigeunerweisen (1878), a gypsy-style fantasy that remains a staple of the repertoire.

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Tianwa Yang (杨天娲, born 8 April 1987) is a Chinese classical violinist. She studied with Lin Yaoji at the Central Conservatory of Music. Yang debuted in Europe in 2001, performing with the Czech Broadcasting Symphony Orchestra in Prague. Her North American debut was in the 2007-2008 season when she performed at the Virginia Arts Festival with the Virginia Symphony. Yang recorded her first CD in 2000, at the age of 13, with a recording of Paganini's 24 Caprices, on the Hugo Classical label. In 2004, she began recording for Naxos, starting with a series of the complete works of Pablo de Sarasate.

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Markus Hadulla (born 1970 in Cologne) is a German pianist and educator. Trained in Karlsruhe, Paris and Yale, he gained early recognition by winning the pianist prize at the 1994 Hugo Wolf Competition. Hadulla has collaborated with numerous distinguished singers and performed at major venues including Carnegie Hall, the Concertgebouw, Wigmore Hall and the Berlin Philharmonie. He previously taught in Berlin and Karlsruhe and is now Professor of Lied and Vocal Accompaniment at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna. His recordings on major labels have earned several prestigious awards.

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