The dazzling showpieces of violin legend Pablo Sarasate meet their match in Julia Fischer, one of the most sought-after musicians of her generation, delivering virtuoso pyrotechnics in a stunning recital disc.
The key track is Sarasates most celebrated composition: Zigeunerweisen (Gypsy Airs). With its heady czardas rhythms and folk flavour, it is best known as a showpiece for violin and orchestra, but Fischer and her long-standing accompanist Milana Chernyavska present it here as it was originally written, for violin and piano Fischers program also includes the popular Danzas espanolas.
Designed to show off technique, these captivating pieces soon became a top choice for violin encores Fischers recording will help shine a new light on Sarasates music, which she wants to restore to the concert platform. She feels that each of the pieces is a little gem with a mood and story all its own, and says that she wants to communicate the joy and enthusiasm of pieces that make people want to dance or sing Sarasates contemporaries held him in extremely high regard, with Camille Saint-Saëas, Max Bruch and Edouard Lalo all dedicating works to him. He was one of the first violinists to leave acoustic recordings in the pioneering years of the 20th century, recording his Zigeunerweisen in 1904, and his extraordinary writing remains a supreme challenge to violinists over a century after his death in 1908.