For the Record, Op. 358: Geneva Lewis, Anna Urpina, Johan Dalene, Benjamin Nabarro, Ariel Quartet, Ensemble Resonanz

November 6, 2025, 2:03 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! Click on the highlighted links to obtain each album or learn more about the artists.

Violinist Geneva Lewis, performing with conductor Jaime Martín and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. Photo by Chris Christodoulou/BBC.

Grace Williams: Violin Concerto
Geneva Lewis, violin
Clare Hammond, piano
BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Jaime Martín, Jac van Steen, conducting

Violinist Geneva Lewis plays the Violin Concerto of Welsh composer Grace Williams in a gorgeous performance recorded live at the BBC Proms in 2023. Williams studied with Ralph Vaughan Williams, and during that time became friendly with Benjamin Britten. Her Violin Concerto was performed only a few times, and in fact she herself was critical of the work, writing on the manuscript "second movement worth performing, first and third not good enough." This recording also includes Williams' Elegy for String Orchestra and Sinfonia Concertante. BELOW: Lewis performs the second-movement Andante sostenuto from Williams' Violin Concerto.

Le Chant des Muses
Anna Urpina, baroque violin
María Hinojosa, soprano
Daniel Oyarzabal, harpsichord & piano
Nicola Brovelli, baroque and modern violoncello
Nacho Laguna, theorbo & baroque guitar

This album features forgotten and never-before recorded works by female composers from the Baroque era, brought to light by Spanish violinist Anna Urpina, who found the works preserved in manuscripts from libraries in Paris and Venice. The program features twelve Italian, French, Spanish, and English composers, including seven world-premiere historical recoveries (sonatas, suites, dances, correnti, and airs). Additionally there are two world-premiere recordings of new works by contemporary composers Helena Cánovas and Zulema de la Cruz, both commissioned by Urpina. Urpina plays on a 1658 baroque violin by Nicolò Amati and a 2007 modern violin by David Bagué. BELOW: trailer for the album.

Mendelssohn & Bruch: Violin Concertos; Vaughan Williams: The Lark Ascending
Johan Dalene, violin
Swedish Radio Choir
Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra: Malin Broman, leader and conductor; Gemma New, conductor; Kaspars Putninš, conductor

For this new album, Norwegian violinist Johan Dalene chose two beloved staples of the repertoire: Mendelssohn’s Concerto in E minor and Max Bruch’s First Violin Concerto. Winner of the 2019 Nielsen Competition, Dalene performs on the 1725 "Duke of Cambridge" Stradivari violin. The album also includes his performance of Vaughan Williams' The Lark Ascending, not in its usual orchestral version, but in a choral arrangement by Paul Drayton, sung by the Swedish Radio Choir led by its director Kaspars Putninš. BELOW: the third movement from the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto.

Henriëtte Bosmans: Concertos
Gemma Rosefield, cello
Benjamin Nabarro, violin
Rowan Pierce, soprano
BBC Philharmonic; George Vass, conducting

Henriëtte Bosmans’s father was Principal Cellist in the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra; her mother was a pianist and Henriëtte’s first piano teacher. Henriëtte debuted as a concert pianist in 1915 and performed throughout Europe with Pierre Monteux and others. She was engaged to a violinist who died of a brain tumor in 1934 before they could get married, and her Concertstuk for violin and orchestra, premiered the following year, had been intended for him. The piece was performed eight time by the Concertgebouw Orchestra and marked her international breakthrough; the Cincinnati Symphony played the U.S. premiere in 1940. Because her mother was Jewish, she was unable to perform in the Netherlands during the German occupation, which had a chilling effect on her posterity, but in recent years her music has been increasingly resurrected. This album also includes her "Poeme" and Second Concerto for cello. BELOW: Henriëtte Bosmans' Concertstuk for Violin and Orchestra.

Beethoven Complete String Quartets, Vol. 2
Ariel Quartet
Alexandra Kazovsky, violin
Gershon Gerchikov, violin
Jan Grüning, viola
Amit Even-Tov, cello

This is the second volume in what will eventually be the complete Beethoven String Quartets, which the Ariel Quartet is recording over the course of two years, aiming for completion in 2027, in honor of the 200th anniversary of Beethoven’s death. Volume two of the cycle, recorded across three CDs, includes Beethoven’s Razumovsky Quartets – String Quartet No. 7 in F major, Op. 59 No. 1; String Quartet No. 9 in C major, Op. 59 No. 3; and String Quartet No. 8 in E minor, Op. 59 No. 2 – as well as his String Quartet No. 10 in E-flat major, Op. 74; and String Quartet No.11 in F minor, Op. 95, "Quartetto serioso." BELOW: Beethoven: String Quartet in F minor, Op. 95, Mvt. 1.

Britten "Lachrymae"; Enescu Octet
Tabea Zimmermann, viola
Ensemble Resonanz

The Hamburg-based Ensemble Resonanz and violist Tabea Zimmermann present George Enescu’s String Octet Op. 7 (in the version for string orchestra), a staggering achievement by the 19-year-old prodigy in 1900, with Benjamin Britten’s “Lachrymae” for viola and string orchestra, a moving reflection on a song by John Dowland. While both works occasionally appear in concert and on record, they remain far from standard repertoire. The album continues the long-standing artistic partnership between Tabea Zimmermann and Ensemble Resonanz. During Zimmermann’s residency with the ensemble from 2013 to 2015, the foundation was laid for a collaboration that continues to today. BELOW: George Enescu's String Octet in C Major, Op. 7 (Version for String Orchestra) : III. Lentement

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For the Record, Op. 358: Geneva Lewis, Anna Urpina, Johan Dalene, Benjamin Nabarro, Ariel Quartet, Ensemble Resonanz

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