Münchner Symphoniker / Kevin John Edusei FRANZ SCHUBERT Symphonie Nr. 3 - Symphonie Nr. 7 E-Dur

SYMPHONIE Nr. 3 - SYMPHONIE Nr. 7 E-DUR

Fabiola Kim / Münchner Symphoniker / Kevin John Edusei 1939

The 1930s proved to be a bumper decade for violin concertos, and 1939 was the most productive year of all, with these three works seeing fruition (the Walton and Hartmann were both later revised), as well as concertos by Britten, Hindemith and Gál – any of which, incidentally, would have fitted on the rather skimpily filled second disc. Korean–American violinist Fabiola Kim proves an ideal exponent of all three concertos. There’s real warmth to her playing in the Walton, with some perceptive interplay between her and Kevin John Edusei’s Munich musicians. A particular strength is the variety of tone colours she displays, especially in the mercurial closing section of the central ‘alla napolitana’ Scherzo.

Hartmann’s Concerto funèbre is the only work of the three here that demonstrably reflects the wider state of the world in that fateful year, and Kim’s first entry is filled with fragile foreboding, matched with sombre retorts from the richly hued Munich strings. The main Allegro di molto has as much anger as vigour, and dissolves into the closing funeral march with a melancholy inevitability as Kim’s keening lines peal away into an uncertain future.

Bartók’s Second Violin Concerto was written as he faced the dilemma of whether to stay in Hungary or flee, and the result is one of the most overtly Magyar of his late works. Kim gives a heartfelt performance that taps its emotions as much as it exploits its unashamed playfulness, and again there’s vigorous, characterful orchestral support. This, then, is a highly satisfying concerto collection, all in excellently recorded sound.

Anastasia Kobekina / Berner Symphonieorchester / Kevin John Edusei SHOSTAKOVICH - WEINBERG - KOBEKIN

The Russian cellist Anastasia Kobekina is a multiple prize winner at international competitions. In 2018, she was awarded the Prix Thierry Scherz and the Prix André Hoffmann at the Swiss winter music festi­val “Sommets musicaux de Gstaad”, which includes a recording with orchestra for the Swiss recording label Claves. In the same year, Anastasia was selected by BBC 3 to join the BBC New Generation scheme from 2018 to 2020.

In 2016, she won the soloist prize of the renowned German festival „Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern“ and the 2nd prize at the George Enescu Competition in Bukarest. In 2015, Anastasia Kobekina won the 1st prize at Germany’s most important International Youth Competition “Tonali15 Music Competition” (Hamburg). As a result of this competition success, Anastasia earned €10.000 prize money and a violoncello made by G. B. Guadagnini loaned for three years. Additionally, in her home country, Anastasia also was the first-prize winner of several international competitions, such as the television contest “Nutcracker” in 2007 and the competition “New names” (2008).

Münchner Symphoniker / Kevin John Edusei FRANZ SCHUBERT Symphonie Nr. 5 - Symphonie Nr. 6

The recording presented here is dedicated to the last two symphonies of Franz Schubert’s earlier compositional period. Both are united by their emergence in the atmosphere of the amateur orchestra founded by Otto Hatwig, in which Franz played the viola, and his brother Ferdinand the violin. This orchestra was a stroke of luck for the young Schubert, akin to a laboratory where he could thoroughly test his compositions against the works of composing contemporaries such as Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and Méhul, and in real world conditions. Nevertheless, in their compositional intent, the symphonies are so fundamentally different that it is tempting to present these two dissimilar siblings on one CD. As one of the city’s four symphony orchestras, the Munich Symphony is strongly committed to Munich and its musical traditions. Kevin John Edusei is one of today's most promising young conductors.