Brahms & Joachim: Violin Concertos

"This is not only one of the best sounding violin and orchestra recordings ever made, but the entire concept is so smart, so well executed, and so thoughtfully planned that even if it were not so musically stupendous it still would be worthy of your attention. As it is, this is one of those rare productions in which absolutely everything goes right. [...] Astounding!" --ClassicsToday.com

Two of the most demanding violin concertos, an imaginative coupling … Joachim's concerto is a dazzling, dramatic and one of the longest concertos for the instrument. It has been called by some the most difficult work in the violinists' repertory. It is surprising that major violinists of the past haven't championed it … Rachel Barton's performances of both works are elegant, technically secure and beautiful in tone. Needless to say, the Chicago Symphony offers superb support under Carlos Kalmar … Cedille is to be commended for this issue, which offers splendid performances of two major concertos, two CDs for the price of one. Highly Recommended! --ClassicalCDReview.com

Brahms/Joachim: Hungarian Dances

'This is a magnificent release. Shaham and Erez have thoroughly absorbed a style that demands continual flexibility, playing together with such ease that it's easy to forget the art and care that have gone into achieving such beautiful ensemble' --Gramophone

'Hagai Shaham and Arnon Erez complement each other perfectly here, evincing fire, fury, and sweet sadness, and they act as a brilliant showcase for Joachim's work both as an arranger and a composer' --BBC Music Magazine

'This recording by Hagai Shaham and Arnon Erez is probably the most dazzling that I have heard' --American Record Guide

'Though the pieces themselves may be highly virtuosic (on second thought, forget the ‘may be’), Shaham hardly allows these built-in difficulties to be obvious, so intent does he seem in communicating their impassioned rhetoric…Arnon Erez plays the piano parts of Brahms’s pieces with a liveliness and sympathy…Urgently recommended' --Fanfare, USA

'These deservedly popular pieces overflow with charm and infectious melody … Hagai Shaham and Arnon Erez sound right inside the idiom, playing with an infectiously relaxed bravado wherever necessary, while inflecting those timeless phrases with a suave confidence and relaxed inevitability that prevents them ever straying into camp 'geepsy' territory …

There is a subtly understated charm about these performances which I enjoyed a great deal, gently cajoling us into its colourful sound-world rather than hustling us in. Most importantly, Shaham always gives the music a distinct Brahmsian lilt …Many recordings provide just the Hungarian Dances, but Hyperion includes a typically inventive 'filler' in the form of Joachim's E minor Varations … Calum MacDonald provides an exemplary booklet note, and the recording is convincingly balanced, capturing Shaham's lithe, glistening tone to a tee' --International Record Review

MP3 320 · 143 MB