Tamsin Waley-Cohen / Czech Philharmonic / Ben Gernon RICHARD BLACKFORD Niobe

 

NIOBE

 

Tamsin Waley-Cohen / Huw Watkins BEETHOVEN Violin Sonatas Nos. 1, 5 & 8

VIOLIN SONATAS Nos. 1. 5 & 8

Tamsin Waley-Cohen / James Baillieu C.P.E. BACH Complete Original Works for Violin & Keyboard

COMPLETE ORIGINAL WORKS FOR VIOLIN & KEYBOARD

Tamsin Waley-Cohen / Orchestra of the Swan / David Curtis VAUGHAN WILLIAMS The Lark Ascending - Violin Concerto ELGAR Introduction and Allegro - Serenade for Strings

VAUGHAN WILLIAMS - ELGAR

Albion Quartet DVORÁK String Quartets Nos. 8 & 10

STRING QUARTETS Nos. 8 & 10

Tamsin Waley-Cohen / BBC Symphony Orchestra / Andrew Litton ROY HARRIS - JOHN ADAMS Violin Concertos

Tamsin Waley-Cohen has recorded a new disc of Roy Harris and John Adams Violin Concertos with the BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Andrew Litton. The recording will be released on Signum Records on CD and download on 30 September. This continues her series of concerto recordings on Signum, with these two contrasting works by American composers. 

Already considered by many to be a modern classic, John Adams 1993 Violin Concerto was described by the composer as having a ‘hypermelody’, in which the soloist plays longs phrases without stop for the duration of the 35 minute piece. Although composed in 1949, the first performance of Roy Harris’s Violin Concerto didn’t occur until 1984. Since then it has been championed for its “luminous orchestration and exalted tone”.

“Roy Harris may be the most all-American composer you have never heard of...Waley-Cohen handles [the Adams's] gruelling solo part with athleticism and conviction, and both pieces benefit from the punchy playing of the BBC Symphony Orchestra and insightful conducting of Andrew Litton.” (The Guardian)

Tamsin Waley-Cohen / Huw Watkins HAHN & SZYMANOWSKI Works for Violin & Piano

Thoughtfully programmed and original in conception, Tamsin Waley-Cohen's recordings for Signum Classics are far from the usual recital fare. Following the albums 1917: Works for Violin & Piano by Debussy, Respighi, Sibelius, and Elgar, and Soli: Works for Solo Violin by Bartók, Penderecki, Benjamin, Carter, and Kurtág, Waley-Cohen explores pieces by Karol Szymanowski and Reynaldo Hahn, two composers whose styles are quite different. While Szymanowski and Hahn share some biographical similarities, the main point of their pairing here is the influence of César Franck, whose popular Violin Sonata in A major affected both composers. Hahn's refined and cheerful Violin Sonata in C major stands in contrast to the exoticism and brooding mystery of Szymanowski's Violin Sonata in D minor, but both works reflect the Franck sonata in form, development of themes, and the shifting chromaticism of the harmony and underlying tonal framework. The performances are sympathetic and true to the expressions of the respective pieces, yet while Waley-Cohen's playing of the Szymanowski sonata is sometimes gritty and harsh, she is uniformly polished in the Hahn work, and accompanist Huw Watkins follows her every shift of mood. Signum Classics provides a clean studio recording, and both artists have close-up presence in the mix. (Blair Sanderson)

Tamsin Waley-Cohen SOLI Works for Solo Violin by BARTÓK, PENDERECKI, BENJAMIN, CARTER & KURTÁG

There is nothing like the experience of being completely alone on stage, just with my violin. It is the ultimate soul-baring communion both with myself and with the audience. And it is no coincidence that many of the works written for solo violin explore the depths of our shared human experience through this intense medium.

For musicians, composers and performers alike, sound is our medium. Through sound we must express everything we wish to communicate. The works on this disc take the violin to its expressive limits. The technical demands on the performer are always in the service of heightened expression, whether of ecstasy, pain, doubt, loneliness, desperation, or acceptance and peace. For me, this is at the heart of why I play the violin, and why I play music, to explore our inner life through the language of sound.

Each composer on this disc displays a great depth of knowledge and understanding of the instrument, not only how it can be played, but of how natural resonances interact, uniting or jarring or distorting, often using the open strings as building blocks. Although there are moments when the writing is at the edge of what is playable, it is always possible, and the struggle can even add to the content.

The recording process was extraordinarily intense, not only because I was alone in the hall. The emotional rawness of the material took its toll each day, so in the evening, to play a Kurtag miniature was a wonderful balm.I would like to say an enormous thank you to Nick Parker and Mike Hatch who produced and engineered this disc, and for the invaluable support they gave during the recording sessions. (Tamsin Waley-Cohen)