Concertos, Violin Concertos
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Shostakovich: Violin Concertos
RecommendedAlina Ibragimova (violin), State Academic Symphony Orchestra of Russia 'Evgeny Svetlanov', Vladimir Jurowski
Ibragimova is the latest to make you think you’ve never heard [the First Concerto] played better, and her intense relationship with Vladimir Jurowski and the current incarnation of Yevgeny Svetlanov’s... —
Awards:
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Presto Recording of the Week, 29th May 2020
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Record Review, 6th June 2020, Record of the Week
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BBC Music Magazine, July 2020, Recording of the Week
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Gramophone Magazine, July 2020, Editor's Choice
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Diapason d’Or, July/August 2020, Nouveauté
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2020
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The Times Records of the Year, 2020
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BBC Music Magazine Awards, 2021, Shortlisted - Concerto
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Gramophone Awards, 2021, Winner - Concerto
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Alina Ibragimova makes a strikingly distinctive contribution, albeit subtle and restrained…she introduces minute expressive emphases and nuances into her solo line, sustaining the hypnotic motoric... —
Awards:
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Presto Recording of the Week, 23rd October 2015
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BBC Music Magazine, December 2015, Disc of the month
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Winner 2015
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Building a Library, November 2023, Also recommended - BWV1041
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Beethoven & Berg: Violin Concertos
RecommendedIsabelle Faust (violin)
Orchestra Mozart, Claudio Abbado
listening to these wonderful performances side by side is cathartic...The journey is vividly delineated from the outset of the Berg. With Abbado drawing sonorities from his first-rate orchestra,... —
Awards:
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Presto Recording of the Week, 13th February 2012
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Building a Library, October 2015, First Choice
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BBC Music Magazine Awards, 2013, Orchestral Finalist
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BBC Music Magazine, April 2012, Disc of the month
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Gramophone Magazine, March 2012, Disc of the Month
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Presto Favourites, Recommended Recording
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Gramophone Awards, 2012, Winner - Concerto
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Tchaikovsky & Sibelius Violin Concertos
RecommendedLisa Batiashvili (violin)
Staatskapelle Berlin, Daniel Barenboim
Batiashvili focuses on poetic intimacy in this deeply thoughtful performance. —
Awards:
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Presto Recording of the Week, 18th November 2016
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BBC Music Magazine, April 2017, Concerto Choice
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Gramophone Magazine, January 2017, Disc of the Month
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Gramophone Awards, 2017, Finalist - Concerto
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Winner 2016
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Record Review, 28th January 2017, Recording of the Week
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Building a Library, November 2023, Recommended Recording
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Elgar: Violin Concerto
RecommendedVilde Frang (violin), Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Robin Ticciati
A new version which stands comparison with the best. Frang’s initial entry is immediately soulful and introspective, intently tuning in to Robin Ticciati’s compelling account of the long orchestral... —
Awards:
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Gramophone Magazine, Awards Issue 2024, Recording of the Month
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BBC Music Magazine, December 2024, Concerto Choice
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalists 2024
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International Classical Music Awards, 2025, Nominated - Concertos
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Gramophone Magazine, Critics' Choice 2024
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BBC Music Magazine Awards, 2025, Winner - Concerto
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Gramophone Awards, 2025 Winners, Concerto
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Special offer. Walton: Symphony No. 1 & Violin Concerto
RecommendedTasmin Little (violin)
BBC Symphony Orchestra, Edward Gardner
Little's way with the virtuoso passages is a notch less headlong than [on her earlier recording], allowing the ear to savour her phenomenal accuracy, yet with no loss of fire...Gardner and the... —
Awards:
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Presto Recording of the Week, 21st April 2014
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BBC Music Magazine, June 2014, Disc of the month
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Gramophone Magazine, July 2014, Disc of the Month
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Winner 2014
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Building A Library, July 2022, Also Recommended
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Martinů: Violin Concertos Nos. 1 & 2 - Bartók: Sonata for Solo Violin
Frank Peter Zimmermann (violin), Bamberger Symphoniker, Jakub Hrůša
Zimmermann has fully absorbed the slightly eclectic style of [the First Concerto] and produces a performance of conviction, not to mention dazzling virtuosity. Hrůša accompanies with understanding... —
Awards:
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Record Review, 5th December 2020, Record of the Week
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Gramophone Magazine, January 2021, Recording of the Month
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BBC Music Magazine, February 2021, Concerto Choice
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Gramophone Awards, 2021, Shortlisted - Concerto
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BBC Music Magazine Awards, 2022, Shortlisted - Concerto
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Sibelius & Prokofiev: Violin Concertos
RecommendedJanine Jansen (violin), Klaus Mäkelä (cello), Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra
So impressive. Janine Jansen essentially strips these pieces of all the years of what one might call ‘performance adornment’ and takes them back to their elemental roots. —
Awards:
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Presto Recording of the Week, 7th June 2024
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Winners 2024
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International Classical Music Awards, 2025, Nominated - Concertos
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Gramophone Awards, 2025 Shortlist, Concerto
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Paganini: 24 Caprices
Recommendedplus Caprices by Berlioz, Cervelló, Kreisler, Ortiz, Saint-Saëns, Sarasate, Wieniawski
María Dueñas (violin), Itamar Golan (piano), Boris Kuschnir (violin), Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Mihhail Gerts
The Paganini Caprices have energy in the bowing from the outset, confident octaves and portamento, and impeccable double stops...You could listen straight through, but I’d recommend random shuffling... —
Awards:
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Presto Recording of the Week, 14th February 2025
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Gramophone Magazine, March 2025, Recording of the Month
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Gramophone Awards, 2025 Winners, Instrumental
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2025
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The New York Times, Best Classical Music Albums of 2025
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Beethoven & Stravinsky: Violin Concertos
Vilde Frang (violin), Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, Pekka Kuusisto
Frang’s exquisite tonal subtlety and enhanced range of dynamics allows her to weave in and out of Beethoven’s carefully graded orchestral textures, with a profound sense of listening and responding... —
Awards:
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BBC Music Magazine, Christmas 2022, Concerto Choice
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International Classical Music Awards, 2023, Winner - Concerto
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Gramophone Awards, 2023 Finalists, Shortlisted - Concerto
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