Glazunov & Schoeck: Works for Violin and Orchestra

“Chloe Hanslip gives both concertos agile, nicely contained performances, even if the orchestral support under Alexander Vedernikov is rather undistinguished” --The Guardian, February 2013 ***

'A spry, tenderly phrased performance of Glazunov's delightful concerto launches the first part of Chloë Hanslip's impressively played programme, with the addition of two exquisite miniatures … Hanslip and the Swiss/Italian orchestra respond well to the Schoeck concerto's late-Romantic language and voice it with discreet passion' --The Daily Telegraph

'Perhaps as an “offspring” of her tutelage under the Russian pedagogue Zakhar Bron and iconoclast violinist Ida Haendel, Ms. Hanslip harbors an acquired affection for these two composers, bringing to the infrequent Schoeck Concerto (1910-1911) a rare commitment and resonant vitality. Much of Hanslip’s playing of the music of Glazounov hearkens back to the artistry of Nathan Milstein, whose fondness and natural expertise in the Glazounov Violin Concerto (1904) and Meditation (1891) possessed an equally illumined elegance. In terms of lyric outpouring, the one-movement concerto provides a fluid, singing vehicle for Hanslip' --Audiophile Audition, USA

Glazunov: The Seasons, Scénes de Ballet

"The performances do their utmost for music that is certainly rewarding to play." —Gramophone

The Seasons was popular as a ballet from its first performance in 1899, though it hardly ever seems to be staged nowadays and the music has not found much of an independent life. The frame of the work is familiar enough, with wintry hail and snow yielding to vernal sproutings and chirrupings, then summery cavortings by not terribly over-heated satyrs and nymphs, finally autumnal roisterings, in turn a trifle low-proof (especially from a composer with such a formidable alcoholic intake).

Glazunov goes about his task with high skill and a style suggesting that nothing had happened since the death of Tchaikovsky six years previously. The trouble, inevitably, is that comparisons cannot help being odious. Time and again Glazunov sets off with a promising idea, only to let it go slack. The manner is agreeable, easy on the ear, well crafted but unmemorable.

With the Scenes de Ballet—not written for dancing, as it happens, but as a concert suite—the Tchaikovskian flavour is still more pronounced, with a nice "Marionettes" every bit as well scored as one of Tchaikovsky's musical clock numbers but less melodious, a hefty mazurka that prances about effectively, a "Danse orientale" that might have been a Nutcracker reject, and, alas, a waltz Gramophone December 1993 67 that has all the right manner without much in the way of matter. The performances do their utmost for music that is certainly rewarding to play and can well pass the time pleasantly. --JW. Gramophone Magazine

Russian Violin Concertos: Khachaturian, Prokofiev, Glazunov

" A striking début sees a young violinist doing full justice to a work she loves… The freshness of her way with the Khachaturian is immediately striking in the chattering figuration of the opening, and she brings a rare tenderness to the lyrical second subject…The clarity of Fischer's performance in the finale brings lightness and sparkle…A unique coupling, superbly recorded." --Gramophone

“...could hardly be more recommendable, with warmly compelling performances from the brilliant young German virtuoso, superbly recorded in full, bright, clear sound...The clarity and freshness of her performance are what immediately strike home”  --Penguin Guide, 2011 edition

“As Julia Fischer explains in the booklet-notes to this, her first CD, she has an abiding love of the Khachaturian Concerto, a work she found impossible to sell to concert-promoters. The freshness of her way with the Khachaturian is immediately striking in the chattering figuration of the opening, and she brings a rare tenderness to the lyrical second subject. The orchestral sound is impressive, too. Though Itzhak Perlman and Lydia Mordkovitch produce a beefier sound, the refinement of Fischer's performance makes it equally compelling. This concerto has claims to be the composer's finest work, claims which the yearning tenderness of the slow movement support.

The clarity of Fischer's performance in the finale brings lightness and sparkle.

In the Glazunov, too, it's the clarity and subtlety of Fischer's playing that marks out her reading. She finds the tenderness of the slow middle section of this one-movement work, and gives an easy swing to the bouncy rhythms of the final section. In the Prokofiev she takes a meditative view of the wistful melodies, the element, she says, that most attracts her, even if she does not quite reach the depths of Kyung-Wha Chung's version.

A unique coupling, superbly recorded, that could hardly be more recommendable.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

MP3 320 · 178 MB