In his early twenties Mikhail Simonyan has already achieved much attention as one of Russia’s most promising violinists.  From Novosibirsk in Russia he moved to Philadelphia to study at the Curtis Music School under Victor Danchenko, a student of David Oistrakh.  So it is only fitting that Simonyan has recently released Prokofiev’s Sonatas for Violin and piano which were written for David Oistrakh.  Listen to exerpts from the cd or check out Mikhail Simonyan’s site for more info and audio of his music or watch the following documentary.

Hilary Hahn is an amazing violinist who plays with such meticulous intelligence, grace, power and emotion.   She is the Gramophone magazine Artist of the year for 2008 and won a grammy in 2001 for Best Instrumental Soloist Performance (with Orchestra) .  Her latest cd featuring Schoenberg and Sibelius violin concertos debuted at number 1 on the Classical Billboard chart, a first for a Schoenberg recording.
She has been playing for almost her whole life, starting before 4 years old.  She studied with Jascha Brodsky at the Curtis Institute of Music in …

Dmitry Badiarov is a violin maker and violinist.  He Lectures part time at the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and teaches violin making at Daikanyama School of Music, Tokyo.  He is a fascinating convergence of violin making, teaching and professional playing.   It must be quite exhilarating to play music for people on an instrument that you took from a log to a work of art.    Dmitry says, “On one hand, I am devoted to the highest level of craftsmanship, on the other, I do not consider it the purpose: …

I took a chance and purchased a cd by Giora Schmidt a couple days ago.  I hadn’t heard of this violinist but I just love the cd!    It is Giora on violin with Rohan De Silva on piano with a selection of music including Vivaldi’s sonata in a major, Manuel De Falla Suite Populaire Espagnole, Philip Lasser’s Vocalise, Cesar Franck’s Sonata in A Major and Henryk Wienawski’s Polonaise Brillante3.   Looking for some info on Giora I see quites such as “Perlman in his Prime” and “one of the most commanding …

These Sonatas for Violin and piano are simply wonderful.  Both instruments share in the importance of the music, each trading leading roles in each piece.  Hahn and Zhu play beautifully, though perhaps not in a period purist style.  This is one of my favorite cds in my small but growing collection of violin music and it is a delight every time I turn it on.  Listen to excerpts after the break.