Bruno Philippe / Jérôme Ducros RACHMANINOV - MYASKOVSKY Sonatas for Cello and Piano

SONATAS FOR CELLO AND PIANO

Bruno Philippe / Tanguy de Williencourt / Frankfurt Radio Symphony / Christoph Eschenbach PROKOFIEV Cello Sonata - Sinfonia Concertante

With this new album devoted to Prokofiev, cellist Bruno Philippe continues his exploration of Russian music. Having already recorded a recital of Rachmaninov's and Myaskovsky's Sonatas with Jérôme Ducros, here he is reunited with his long-time musical partner Tanguy de Williencourt on the piano, but also with his mentor, conductor Christoph Eschenbach leading the hr-Sinfonieorchester Frankfurt. On the program, Prokofiev's (surprisingly?) romantic cello sonata, coupled with his Sinfonia concertante, that Mount Everest of technical challenges – both works having been written for the great Rostropovitch, who gave them their first performances in 1950 and 1952.

Antoine Tamestit / Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks / Daniel Harding WIDMANN Viola Concerto

Antoine Tamestit's recording of Jörg Widmann Viola Concerto is released on Harmonia Mundi on 23 February 2018. Tamestit gave the world premiere of the concerto in 2015 with the Orchestre de Paris and Paavo Järvi. “One of the most gifted French musicians of the era,” wrote Le Figaro, “the work is made to measure for Tamestit, his style of playing, his tone, his personality.” The work was co-commissioned by the Swedish Radio Symphony and Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks with conductor Daniel Harding, who play on the recording. 
As well as Widmann’s Viola Concerto, the disc features chamber works performed by Tamestit and Bruno Philippe, Marc Bouchkov and the Signum Quartet. 
The theatrical concerto sees the soloist exploring a range of positions on the stage. Initially seated behind the harp players the soloist moves towards the centre of the orchestra and eventually ‘front and centre’ assuming the traditional position for the soloist. 
Tamestit has already performed the concerto widely, and it has proved popular with audiences at subsequent performances with the Danish National Symphony Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Stavanger Symphony Orchestra, Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra and Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra.

Annelien Van Wauwe / Lucas Blondeel WEINBERG - PROKOFIEV Clarinet Sonatas

The young clarinetist Annelien Van Wauwe earned victory at the prestigious 61st Int’l ARD Music Competition in Munich 2012. On her debut GENUIN CD, recorded with pianist and fellow Belgian Lucas Blondeel, the duo features a three-piece program of Prokofiev and Weinberg. Highlighted by Prokofiev’s Op. 94 Sonata, the release is united in part by the Jewish themes and legacies apparent in the latter two of the works on this disc. Miss Van Wauwe is a regular festival invitee where she appears as both soloist and chamber musician, and has appeared as a soloist in prestigious halls throughout Europe.