Composer: Maurice Ravel, Dmitri Shostakovich, Nikolai Kapustin
Performer: Roberts Balanas, Siqian Li
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Linn
Catalogue: CKD664
Release: 2021
Size: 751 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
Ravel: Violin Sonata No. 2 in G Major, M. 77
01. I. Allegretto
02. II. Blues (Moderato)
03. III. Perpetuum mobile (Allegro)
Shostakovich: 24 Preludes, Op. 34:
04. XVII. Largo in A-Flat Major (Arr. for Violin and Piano by Dmitri Tsyganov)
05. XVI. Andantino in B-Flat Minor (Arr. for Violin and Piano by Dmitri Tsyganov)
Kapustin: Violin Sonata, Op. 70
06. I. Allegro
07. II. Andantino
08. III. Con moto
09. Ravel: Pavane pour une infante défunte, M. 19 (Arr. for Violin and Piano by Louis Fleury)
As the Royal Academy of Music approaches its Bicentenary in 2022, Linn’s “Bicentenary Series” continues with debut albums from two exceptional recipients of the Academy’s 2019/20 Bicentenary Scholarships scheme: Roberts Balanas and Margarita Balanas. Counting Sir Elton John among his fans, Latvian violinist Roberts Balanas enjoys a wide range of musical interests. Combining his background in classical music with the sound worlds of pop, rock and funk, his solo violin arrangements have amassed millions of views across the web.
In this album, we see Roberts’s classical side, yet with some unexpected turns: as well as Ravel’s Second Violin Sonata, a highly original and dizzyingly virtuosic work suffused with jazz and blues, the programme also comprises the celebrated Pavane pour une infante défunte in an arrangement by Louis Fleury, two of Shostakovich’s Preludes, Op. 34 (arranged by famed Beethoven Quartet’s first violin Dmitri Tsyganov) and Kapustin’s exuberant Violin Sonata.