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Fantasies, Rhapsodies & Daydreams

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Catalogue numberPTC5186536
Release date2016-09-02
Discs1

Thrilling flights of fancy abound from violinist Arabella Steinbacher in Fantasies, Rhapsodies and Daydreams

Spectacular virtuoso playing, bravura passagework and show-stopping melodies are balanced with wistful lyricism and sublime tone painting in this irresistible programme of perennial favourites, played with élan by the violinist Arabella Steinbacher with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo, conducted by Lawrence Foster in this new release from PENTATONE.

From the high jinks and outrageous showmanship of Franz Waxman’s Carmen Fantasie and Pablo de Sarasate’s Zigeunerweisen, to the fearsome technical demands of Ravel’s Tzigane and the exquisite refinement of Saint-Saëns’ Havanaise and Introduction et Rondo capriccioso, this album harks back to an earlier era of violin playing.

“Great violinists like Heifetz, Kreisler, Menuhin … played virtuosic pieces in their concerts,” recalled Steinbacher in a recent interview. She lamented that such pieces are infrequently played owing to the perception that “…this kind of repertoire is ‘not serious enough’ which I find is really a pity and also not true.” For the scintillating Carmen Fantasie, Steinbacher freely admitted that Heifetz was her inspiration. When she heard, that the piece was composed for him mid-career, she was very impressed and decided to make that journey as well “...and I am very glad I did it!”

In a change of pace, the album also features the work which has topped Classic FM’s listeners’ “Hall of Fame” for the last three years running: the much-loved and achingly lyrical The Lark Ascending by Vaughan Williams.

Ever the listeners’ favourite, this beautiful piece with its soaring violin part has never been bettered for its sublime depiction of an English rural idyll and it seems fitting that Vaughan Williams completed it following the horrors of the First WorldWar. In a similar spiritual vein, the Méditation from “Thaïs” is included, Massanet’s most famous and imitated work which retains the power to this day to spellbind audiences.
 
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$ 9.87
 
Extra material for download
 
 
  Composer: Waxman, Franz, Bizet, George
01 Carmen Fantasie 11:41 $ 1.58 USD
 
 
  Composer: Sarasate, Pablo de
  Zigeunerweisen, Op. 20
02 Zigeunerweisen, Op. 20 09:01 $ 1.22 USD
 
 
  Composer: Vaughan Williams, Ralph
03 The Lark Ascending 14:40 $ 1.98 USD
 
 
  Composer: Saint-Saëns, Camille
04 Havanaise, Op. 83 11:06 $ 1.50 USD
 
 
  Composer: Saint-Saëns, Camille
  Introduction et Rondo capriccioso in A Minor, Op. 28, R. 188
05 Introduction et rondo capriccioso in A Minor, Op. 28 09:51 $ 1.33 USD
 
 
  Composer: Massenet, Jules
  Thais
06 Méditation 05:57 $ 0.80 USD
 
 
  Composer: Ravel, Maurice
  Tzigane, M. 76 (Version for Violin & Orchestra)
07 Tzigane (version for violin and orchestra) 10:52 $ 1.47 USD
 
  Album total 73:08
ComposerBizet, George
Massenet, Jules
Ravel, Maurice
Saint-Saëns, Camille
Sarasate, Pablo de
Vaughan Williams, Ralph
Waxman, Franz
ViolinSteinbacher, Arabella
OrchestraOrchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo
ConductorFoster, Lawrence

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