Music for Violin & Piano 3

In a nutshell:• Essential disc for violinophiles.• Includes big virtuoso blockbusters like the "Introduction et fandango," a thrilling toe-tapping showpiece of quality; "Fantaisie-Caprice" sets off fireworks right and left with flurries of notes and technical challenges; and "Airs ecossais" is an animated tour-de-force in a pastoral milieu.• Several pieces with Spanish color stand out: the vibrant "Bolero" with lush triple-stopping; the charming and rhapsodic "Serenade andalouse"; and most inventive of all, the "Los pajaros de Chile," a character piece evoking bird calls through trills and harmonics.• The program offers many slower and expressive pieces, like the alternately sad and rustic "Le Sommeil"—a lovely gem—and "Reverie," a wistful bel canto aria with attractive lyrical contours.• Tianwa Yang (violin) has a refined technique and ample musicality. She executes with precision all the multiple stops, arpeggios, spiccato, and intense passagework, and her musicality and phrasing are consistently inspired. Markus Hidalla (piano) lends equally gratifying support.• Recorded sound is good, although the piano is closer in the soundstage, while Yang is just slightly further back.This third volume of Sarasate's violin and piano music offers an assortment of obscure pieces, barely played and rarely recorded. Some are virtuoso barnstormers. Others are more akin to Sarasate's Spanish Dances. And a handful are typical salon pieces in a lyrical vein. To Sarasate, virtuosity is often the means to an end. "Introduction et fandango" is such a work that undergoes wild double-stopping and energetic bravura to convey a flavor, namely that of gypsy music. "Fantaisie-Caprice" sets off fireworks right from the start with impassioned double stopping and bel canto drama. Lighter moments break in frequently, but the jaw-dropping virtuosity ratchets up at the end with gusts of intense repeated notes and complex spiccato bowing. Don't be fooled by its innocent title: "Airs ecossais" is a tour-de-force of pyrotechnics, including chromatic scales à la Paganini, broad leaps and portamentos, swift bariolage, harmonics, and double-stops while trilling on one string. The whole mood of the piece is rustic with bagpipe droning and infectious dance rhythms.It wouldn't be quintessential Sarasate without a taste of Spain and several pieces parade their Spanish colors. "Zortzico d'Iparaguirre" is a quaint 5/8 dance, while the perky "Bolero" has a captivating rhythmic profile, lush triple-stopping, and tends to linger on the highest pitches of the E string in legato or spiccato. In addition to charming Spanish accents, "Serenade andalouse" makes its impact with suave expressive double-stopping. Tempos vary so much that the mood alternates in tandem between the serious and the comical. "Los pajaros de Chile" is one of Sarasate's most inventive compositions. At face value, it's a jaunty salon piece, but this evocation of birds is reminiscent of Rameau's little tone-pictures. By using harmonics and abundant trills to illustrate bird tweeting, Sarasate proves to be a wizard at tone-painting.Apart from virtuosic brilliance and Spanish exoticism, Sarasate had a talent for slow expressive lyricism. "Le Sommeil" is the best of them, featuring a gorgeous lamenting violin melody, brightened by a pastoral central section of nuanced soft trilling in the highest range. "Reverie" is a wistful bel canto aria with attractive contours and passionate double-stopping, all supported by rolling arpeggios on the piano. Both "Priere et berceuse" and "Les Adieux" inhabit the sentimental salon; the former stands out as a melancholy song without words in a graceful violinistic garb.If you've been enjoying this series so far, you'll already be convinced of Tianwa Yang's prodigious musicianship. She runs through Sarasate's challenging obstacle courses with Olympic athleticism. Sparks fly from her bow, but more often than not, she impresses with her warm singing tone and subtle attention to phrasing, dynamics, and expressivity.

This series of recordings of Tian-Wa Yang (Yang Tian-Wa to be correct !!) is a LANDMARK on the discography of Sarasate. Miss Yang is, to begin with,a master of the violin and her technical abilities are superb. But there is more than just that: It is not only the ability to play all notes correctly and in time and/or get all the technical "tricks" (so to speak), i.e all the harmonics, pizzicattos, saltarellos, glissandos, etc, etc correctly. There is another dimension beyond that and it is the finesse/the taste/the elegance of the performance/ execution of the piece. And that is what makes the difference between a "perfect" and an "exquisite" performance.This is very much the case for harpsichord, solo voice (art song) or solo violin (minimal piano accompaniment in this case). Further, as a violin connoisseur and myself being of Spanish descent and very well acquainted with Spanish Music, I am amazed on how incredibly well Miss Yang has been able to capture and deliver these pieces with the absolutely correct nuances of tempos, accentuations, etc, etc, i.e. things that can not be notated. -- To me, she must have lived in Spain for several months and heard the very Jotas sung by the people of Aragon (where some of Sarasate pieces come from). In different words, she has been able to make her violin sing as a Spaniard would ... A Russian, a Hungarian would not be able to make his violin speak Spanish, as she does ... Ruggiero Ricci in his "Hommage to Sarasate" falls technically below Yang. And as for elegance and style, it is only Aaron Rosand I can compare with Yang (at least on pieces based on Spanish melodies). Not to be forgotten, Mr Markus Hadulla is an excellent accompanist and you can hear how he follows her or anticipates her with complete correctness and sensibility. -- In fact in one piece he slows down when Miss Yang is trying to navigate a difficult passage. -- All-in-all a LANDMARK series of recordings of Sarasate's works !!!*** If I may, I dare say that Sarasate needs to be included in the List of Spanish Composers. His compositions are musical gems and not just violin showpieces and one would have to wait until Granados for somebody to transform a popular tune into a musical jewel ***

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Feel privileged to have received these magnificent pieces of music of Sarasate and I would like others to purchase this recording.

I have all the Sarasate CD's produced by Naxos. No one interprets Sarasate's music better than Tianwa Yang.