Andrey Baranov & Maria Baranova - The Golden Violin (2018)

For his first disc as a soloist Andrey Baranov explores a broad, cosmopolitan repertory from several centuries. First Prize laureate of the Queen Elisabeth Competition 2012, he shows himself to be inspired in these works that constitute the backbone of the virtuoso violin repertory, thanks to an irreproachable technique at the service of intense emotion.

In 2012 a great virtuoso, the Russian violinist Andrey Baranov won the Queen Elisabeth Competition of Belgium. Although a soloist of the first rank, he is also passionately fond of chamber music; first violin of the David Oistrakh Quartet he founded in 2012, he also plays with his sister, the pianist Maria Baranova. Together they explore in this first disc a broad, cosmopolitan repertory from several centuries, in which the virtuosity of the language of the violin is amplified by the technical evolution that blossomed in the late 18th century and by the emotion that different composers sought to put into music.

The Russian repertory predominates in this recording with the famous Vocalise of Rachmaninov as well as three works of Tchaikovsky, all composed within three years of each other: the gentle Sérénade mélancolique, the joyfully leaping Valse-Scherzo as well as the triptych Souvenir d’un lieu cher, each of its three pieces having a distinctive character.

In the French repertory, two composers with quite similar musical styles and ideas are on the programme: Maurice Ravel with his highly daunting concert rhapsody Tzigane and Claude Debussy with his tender Clair de Lune.

The programme, however, begins in Italy with two emblematic representatives of the virtuoso violin: first of all the formidably perilous Devil’s Trill of Giuseppe Tartini, published 30 years after the composer’s death. Then comes Niccolò Paganini, the Italian father of the modern violin with one of the most spectacular works in the repertory, the rondo La Campanella, the last movement of his Concerto No. 2. For his first recording as a soloist Andrey Baranov plays a violin from the early 19th century that belonged to David Oistrakh, a copy of the very celebrated Stradivarius The Messiah. Andrey Baranov shows himself to be inspired in all these works that constitute the zenith of the virtuoso repertory and his irreproachable technique is always at the service of a violin that sings and will stir everyone.

Tracklist:
01. Violin Sonata in G Minor, B. G5, Op. 1, No. 4 "Devil’s Trill" (Arr. Fritz Kreisler): I. Larghetto
02. Violin Sonata in G Minor, B. G5, Op. 1, No. 4 "Devil’s Trill" (Arr. Fritz Kreisler): II. Allegro energico
03. Violin Sonata in G Minor, B. G5, Op. 1, No. 4 "Devil’s Trill" (Arr. Fritz Kreisler): III. Grave. Allegro assai
04. Violin Concerto No. 2 in B Minor, Op. 7: III. La Campanella
05. Sérénade mélancolique in B-Flat Minor, Op. 26
06. Valse-Scherzo in C major, Op. 34
07. Souvenir d’un lieu cher, Op. 42: I. Méditation in D Minor
08. Souvenir d’un lieu cher, Op. 42: II. Scherzo in C Minor
09. Souvenir d’un lieu cher, Op. 42: III. Mélodie in E-Flat Minor
10. 14 Romances, Op. 34
11. Tzigane, M. 76
12. Suite Bergamasque, L. 75: III. Clair de lune
13. Caprice in A minor, Op. 1 No. 24 (Arr. Robert Schumann)

Composers:
Debussy, Claude Achille (1862-1918)
Paganini, Niccolò (1782-1840)
Rachmaninov, Sergey Vassilievich (1873-1943)
Ravel, Maurice (1875-1937)
Tartini, Giuseppe (1692-1770)
Tchaikovsky, Piotr Ilyich (1840-93)

Personnel:
Andrey Baranov, violin
Maria Baranova, piano