For the Record, Op. 78: Tasmin Little; Hyejin Chung; Kronos Quartet

February 28, 2019, 2:39 PM · Welcome to "For the Record," Violinist.com's weekly roundup of new releases of recordings by violinists, violists, cellists and other classical musicians. We hope it helps you keep track of your favorite artists, as well as find some new ones to add to your listening!

Violinist Tasmin Little.

C. Schumann, Smyth & Beach: Works for Violin & Piano
Tasmin Little, violin
John Lenehan, piano

British violinist Tasmin Little, who recently made headlines when she announced her retirement from performing, has released an album of works by women composers which includes Clara Schumann's Drei Romanzen, Op. 22; Dame Ethel Smyth's Sonata Op. 7; and three works by Amy Beach: Sonata Op. 34, Romance, Op. 23, and Invocation, Op. 55. "When you hear these works, you wonder why they have been neglected for such a long time," Little said. BELOW: Tasmin Little making her new recording of the works of three Women Composers:

Seitz Concertos No. 6-10 (Vol. 2)
Hyejin Chung, violin
Warren Lee, piano

German violinist/composer Friedrich Seitz performed widely as a soloist and chamber musician, as well as working as a conductor and founding the first music school in Magdeburg. The Concertos for Violin and Piano or Schuler-Konzerte (Student Concertos) are designed as introductions to violin technique. In 2017 violinist Hyejin Chung and pianist Warren Lee released their recording of Seitz Violin Concertos Nos. 1-5; this is the second volume, which includes Seitz's Concertos No. 6-10. BELOW: Chung and Lee perform Seitz Violin Concerto No. 10 in A Major, Op. 51 (it's quite lovely!): Allegro non troppo.

Placeless
Kronos Quartet
Mahsa and Marjan Vahdat, singers

This album is the first collaboration between Kronos Quartet and Iranian singers Mahsa and Marjan Vahdat. Recorded in Kulturkirken Jakob in Oslo in November 2018, Placeless is based on fourteen melodies that Mahsa Vahdat composed to classical Persian poems by Hafez and Rumi and the works of contemporary Iranian poets Forough Farrokhzad, Mohammad Ibrahim Jafari, and Atabak Elyasi. Composers Sahba Aminikia (Iran/US), Aftab Darvishi (Iran/ Netherlands), Jacob Garchik (US) and Atabak Elyasi arranged the songs for string quartet.The album title references a well-known poem by Rumi from the 13th century:
I am not from the East, nor from the West
I am not from the land, nor from the sea
I am not from the world, not from beyond
My place is placelessness. My trace is tracelessness.
"We’re always trying to learn as much as we can, and now, recording with Mahsa and Marjan, we sometimes are able to make sounds we have never before heard from our instruments," said quartet violinist David Harrington. BELOW: From the album, "My Ruthless Companion":

Vierne & Franck: Violin Sonatas
Alina Ibragimova, violin
Cédric Tiberghien, piano

César Franck's Violin Sonata is one of the best-loved works in the entire Romantic violin repertoire and one of a trio of Franco-Belgian works here from Alina Ibragimova and Cédric Tiberghien. The recital also includes "Nocturne A bonne bouche" from Lili Boulanger. BELOW: Ibragimova and Tiberghien answer questions for an interview while in the background they are playing Brahms.

If you have a new recording you would like us to consider for inclusion in our Thursday "For the Record" feature, please e-mail Editor Laurie Niles. Be sure to include the name of your album, a link to it and a short description of what it includes.

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Replies

121.217.15.49

March 1, 2019 at 08:32 AM · Seitz is a totally forgettable composer IMHO. He barely (I.e. doesn’t) deserve to be recorded.

But then I think the current fashion for Korngold is also overstated (though he is way better than Seitz).

Each to his own of course.

Terence

145.130.195.186

March 3, 2019 at 10:56 AM · Seitz is a well known children concerto composer. THAT deserves to be recorded. (Itzak Perlman also recorded a Seitz concerto) The 200 th Bruch/Mendelssohn recording is indeed worthlees.

172.90.255.210

March 3, 2019 at 02:33 PM · Sorry, but my kids love playing the Seitz pieces. They are very well written for the beginning violinists and they give them opportunities to sound like the real deal without being too difficult. One of my violinist sons is currently learning #3 and he's having a lot of fun with it.

Laurie Niles

March 3, 2019 at 02:37 PM · Agreed, and it’s so nice to have an artist’s recording of the Seitz concertos for students who are learning them,