"My love-affair with historic recordings began long before I started to play violin. Recordings by Jascha Heifetz, Ginette Neveau and Ida Haendel, which my family owned on vinyl and which I listened to obsessively as a child, were precisely what made me decide to become a violinist.

For me, there is something that is extra special in the vintage studio recordings, in particular those of Jascha Heifetz's: something so personal in that soft, dry, close-up sound! What I wanted to do is more or less go back in time to the days when the making of the records by the likes of Jascha Heifetz and David Oistrach was rather different to what it is now. Just like they did back then, I wanted to set up the microphones very close, to use almost no reverb at all, record as much as possible in full live takes, and - if possible, use vintage equipment.

Having the microphones so close up felt very unforgiving and recording numerous full live takes of the same pieces was tiring, but I must admit that the thing I particularly indulged in was using more portamento than it is usually done these days- because the repertoire I chose for the album and the way we recorded it actually encouraged it. And I think it makes for a more authentic experience, which is exactly what I wanted to recreate: a trip back in time." Dunja Lavrova