For the Record, Op. 320: María Dueñas, Simone Porter, Danbi Um, PatKop, Elvin Hoxha Ganiyev

February 14, 2025, 7:37 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 María Dueñas. Photo by Sonja Mueller, courtesy Deutsche Grammophon.

Paganini: 24 Caprices
María Dueñas, violin

Spanish violinist María Dueñas plays all of Nicolò Paganini’s wickedly difficult 24 Caprices, as well as a selection of later works inspired by Paganini, presenting music by composers ranging from Berlioz and Kreisler to Gabriela Ortiz. "Paganini’s 24 Caprices are a milestone for every violinist," Dueñas said. "I grew up listening to and performing them, and when we hear the word 'caprice' we instantly think of Paganini, but there are so many other caprices, from Saint-Saëns’s Rondo capriccioso to works by contemporary composers like Cervelló, for example. I really wanted to show how a lot of little moments from the musical world all come together." BELOW: María Dueñas - Paganini: 24 Caprices, No. 9 in E Major "La Chasse."

ad tendo
Simone Porter, violin

Simone Porter's debut solo violin album ad tendo is inspired by philosopher Simone Weil's insight that "Absolutely unmixed attention is prayer." The Latin root of the word "attention," ad tendo translated means "I stretch toward." Each work on the album animates this stretch by exploring how different types of attention can yield greater spiritual alignment. ad tendo features works by Andrew Norman, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Hildegard von Bingen/ Olivia Marckx, Heinrich Biber, and the premiere recording of Reena Esmail's Drishti (??????).

BELOW: Simone Porter performs. "Sabina" for solo violin, by Andrew Norman.

Poeme Mystique
Danbi Um, violin
Juho Pohjonen, piano

Korean-American violinist Danbi Um and Finnish pianist Juho Pohjonen present an album that explores themes of art song, poetry and spirituality, featuring sonatas by Richard Strauss and Ernest Bloch and shorter works by Gabriel Fauré and Franz Schubert. This is Danbe's second solo album, following her 2023 album Much Ado. Ernest Bloch’s Second Violin Sonata, the title work of the album, was inspired by a dream, incorporating a vast range of spirituality, including motifs from his Jewish-themed works, the Gregorian Credo, Mass Kyrie and traditional Amen. Gabriel Fauré’s Après un rêve ("After a dream"), originally a French art song, becomes an exquisite song without words in this transcription for violin. The album concludes with Franz Schubert’s Ave Maria, likewise originally for voice and piano, presented in an arrangement by August Wilhelmj. BELOW: Danbi Um and Juho Pohjonen perform Fauré's "Après un rêve."

Exile
Patricia Kopatchinskaja, violin
Thomas Kaufmann, cello
Camerata Bern

This program brings together composers who, for the most part, were compelled to flee their homeland. In 1920, Ivan Wyschnegradsky took refuge in Paris, where he wrote for a quarter-tone piano at a time when, in Russia, the slightest dissonance was considered a political provocation. Andrzej Panufnik left his native Poland in 1954. Alfred Schnittke settled in Hamburg in 1990, eight years before his death, having spent most of his life in the Soviet Union. Although Schubert never moved away from Vienna, the pain and solitude of his inner exile are palpable in his music. Finally, the Belgian violin virtuoso Eugène Ysaÿe emigrated on account of the First World War and it was in the United States, in 1917, that he wrote the melancholy musical poem recorded here, which he called Exil! Is exile nothing but pain and isolation, or also a source of inspiration which, with music, expresses what words cannot say, acting as the ultimate refuge? "Let's listen to what they have to say," said Patricia Kopatchinskaja, herself "uprooted for ever." She is joined by cellist Thomas Kaufmann and her friends from Camerata Bern. BELOW: Trailer for the album.

Ysaÿe. Six Sonatas for Solo Violin
Elvin Hoxha Ganiyev, violin

"What makes Ysaÿe’s solo sonatas so extraordinary is the richness of their harmonies, offering endless possibilities to explore a vast spectrum of contrasts in sound projection and violinistic effects each time you engage with them," said violinist Elvin Hoxha Ganiyev."To me, these works are like a boundless ocean, where every dive reveals something new, enveloping you in an infinite palette of colors and emotions." Born in 1997 into a distinguished family of musicians, Elvin Hoxha Ganiyev began playing the violin at the age of five. By the time he was ten, he debuted with the Moscow Virtuosi under Vladimir Spivakov at the Kremlin Palace. He later earned his bachelor’s degree at the Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofía in Spain under Prof. Zakhar Bron and completed his master’s degree at the Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover with Prof. Krzysztof Wegrzyn. Currently, he is preparing for his concert exam at the Folkwang University of the Arts in Essen with Prof. Aleksey Semenenko. BELOW: Sonata for Solo Violin in D Minor, Op. 27 No. 3 "Ballade."

If you have a new recording you would like us to consider for inclusion in our "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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For the Record, Op. 320: María Dueñas, Simone Porter, Danbi Um, PatKop, Elvin Hoxha Ganiyev

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