The classical music world is buzzing with news of extraordinary young Russian violinist Alina Ibragimova. Aged just 22, her newly-released debut CD, featuring music by neglected 20th-century German composer Karl Amadeus Hartmann has won stunning reviews from the music industry’s most respected critics. Named ‘Disc of the Week’ on BBC Radio 3’s CD Review (1 September 2007), it is also Editor’s Choice in the September issue of prestigious Gramophone magazine. Meanwhile, in The Times , critic Geoff Brown awards her four stars, describing Ibragimova as ‘a scorchingly good violinist … she brings passion without mawkishness; and the control wielded at high altitudes is phenomenal’.
The disc is the fruit of an intense collaboration with Britten Sinfonia whose playing was also singled out for special praise. Guardian critic Andrew Clements, writing in BBC Music Magazine’s September issue, eulogises: 'the way in which the Britten Sinfonia support and enfold their young soloist's beautifully nuanced and textured playing is a model of close-knit ensemble playing.'
The good news is that concert-goers can hear Ibragimova playing live with Britten Sinfonia, in a programme that includes the very concerto that bowled the critics over, Hartmann’s Concerto Funèbre , written in 1939 to protest against Hitler’s occupation of Prague . The programme also includes a Bach violin concerto and Schoenberg’s luscious string work, Verklärte Nacht .
No comments:
Post a Comment