Pablo de Sarasate - Music for Violin & Piano Vol. 3 (Tianwa Yang; Markus Hadulla)

Information

Composer: Pablo de Sarasate

1. Bolero, Op. 30
2. Zortzico de Iparaguirre, Op. 39
3. Serenata Andaluza, Op. 28
4. Adiós montañas mías, Op. 37
5. Le Sommeil, Op. 11
6. Réverie, Op. 4
7. Introduction et Fandango, Op. 40
8. Fantaisie Caprice
9. Prière et Berceuse, Op. 17
10. Confidences, Op. 7
11. Caprice sur "Mireille" de Charles Gounod, Op. 6
12. Airs écossais, Op. 34
13. Los pájaros de Chile
14. Les Adieux, Op. 9

Tianwa Yang, violin

Markus Hadulla, piano

Date: 2012

Label: Naxos

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Review

The young Chinese violinist Tianwa Yang has made a speciality of playing and recording the spectacular violin works of the legendary virtuoso Pablo de Sarasate. This is the third of her discs for Naxos covering the violin-and-piano pieces, most of them short, and she has also recorded for Naxos two discs of Sarasate’s rather longer pieces for violin and orchestra, most of them potpourris.

Her gifts are ideally suited to such a task with her flawless intonation, not least in the many passages involving high harmonics in the most extreme register. She is also brilliant in giving the many Spanish dance rhythms a winning lilt, so that this essentially trivial music is presented full of charm. One simply marvels and enjoys.

She begins with a delicious Boléro, with the main tune typically given a reprise on high harmonics. The Sérénade andalouse brings plentiful double-stopping and a waltz-like middle section, while Le sommeil (‘Sleep’) starts wth a hushed piano solo before the violin’s gentle melody begins. Rêverie is aria-like in construction with a waltz as the final section, while the Introduction and Fandango, in its sequence of contrasted sections, is longer than most items.

The Fantaisie-Caprice is just a sequence of effects, while the Airs écossais remind one of Bruch’s similar use of Scottish folksong (including one very similar) in his Scottish Fantasy. Yang has even managed to find a piece only recently published, Los pájaros de Chile (‘The Birds of Chile’), with the violin imitating birdsong. Such a disc can easily be dismissed but, as played by Yang, with well-sprung accompaniment from Markus Hadulla and clear, well-focused recording, it would be churlish to dismiss the delights of the disc.

— Edward Greenfield

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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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