Haydn Violin Concertos - Canary Classics

Haydn Violin Concertos, Mendelssohn Octet

Available on CD and digital download

Gil Shaham and Sejong Soloists’ association extends well over a decade, the Haydn concerti and Mendelssohn Octet on this release benefiting from a US tour in April 2009 just prior to the recording sessions. Haydn and Mendelssohn may not be obvious bedfellows but there is considerable synergy in the composers and this repertoire. Both Haydn’s C major and G major concerti date from the 1760s, still very much in his self proclaimed, “extended youthful period”, together with the fresh and adventurous nature of the Octet, composed when Mendelssohn was still just a teenager. Haydn and Mendelssohn also shared a certain financial freedom that seemed to propel both to new heights of inspiration.

'If this movement demands a high level of virtuosity at the tempo Shaham has chosen, he and the Sejong Soloists display it in ample measure … Urgently recommended for all three performances and for the spacious recorded sound.'

Fanfare

'Shaham and his colleagues evidently impress by their sheer brilliance and phenomenal dexterity…'

International Record Review

'The Sejong Soloists muster a propulsive verve in the first movement...Both Scherzo and Finale work best, the former because the half-lit filigree is beautifully realised, the latter thanks to the guiding hand of some exhilarating counterpoint.'

BBC Music Magazine