BRAHMS • DIETRICH • SCHUMANN • WAGNER. Eichhorn • Say

‘This album, my second on the Naxos label, again features violinist Friedemann Eichhorn. My first album consisted of my own works for violin, including a concerto and my sonatas. In this second album, Friedemann and I wanted to focus on 19th-century Germany and interpret lesser-known works with a creative approach. The selected pieces are significant works from both the Romantic and chamber music repertoire. By choosing them after many years of consideration, I believe I have personally filled a void in my musical creativity, and that we have succeeded in creating a beautiful album.’

Fazıl Say


Turkish pianist and composer Fazıl Say is joined by his long⁠-⁠standing friend, the violinist Friedemann Eichhorn, in an album of mid⁠-⁠19th⁠-⁠century German repertoire. Influenced by Liszt, Say’s ingenious transcriptions of the Prelude and Liebestod from Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde are heard here in world premiere recordings. The composite F⁠–⁠A⁠–⁠E Sonata of Dietrich, Schumann and Brahms is seldom encountered as a whole, while Schumann’s Violin Sonata No. 1, though written at a time of unhappiness, contains moments of glorious beauty and intimacy.

Listen to an extract from Schumann’ s Violin Sonata No. 1:
III. Lebhaft
About the Artists

Violinist Friedemann Eichhorn’s artistic activities range from performing early Baroque music on period instruments to classical and contemporary works with renowned orchestras and chamber music partners. Among many other works, Friedemann rediscovered and first recorded the complete violin concertos of French virtuoso Pierre Rode. He has also given the world premieres of Fazıl Say’s Violin Concerto No. 2 and Violin Sonata No. 2.

Pianist Fazıl Say has been hailed by audiences and critics alike for more than 25 years in appreciation of his dazzling performances. He is not only one of the world’s leading pianists, but also a much-admired composer with a substantial catalogue of more than one hundred works. He has recorded over 65 albums to date, including his Complete Violin Works (8.574085) with violinist Friedemann Eichhorn.

More recordings featuring Friedemann Eichhorn
8.573474
RODE, P.:
Violin Concertos Nos. 11 and 12

Eichhorn • Jena Philharmonic Orchestra • Pasquet
★★★★★
★★★★
‘What amazes me about these performances is not that Eichhorn manages to play all of the notes at tempo, in time, and in tune, but that he does so with exceptional beauty of tone.’
Fanfare
8.574085
SAY, F.:
Complete Violin Works

Eichhorn • Say • Deutsche Radio Philharmonie • Eschenbach
★★★★★
★★★★★
★★★★★
★★★★★
★★★★
★★★★
‘The soloist throughout is Friedemann Eichhorn, whose violin alternately dances, skitters, pleads and beguiles with astonishing ease.’
BBC Music Magazine
8.573000
★★★★
‘Eichhorn and Hülshoff are quite remarkable players.’
American Record Guide
8.572188
★★★★
‘Performing these little-heard gems are cellist Alexander Hülshoff and violinist Friedemann Eichhorn ... Their performance together is one that listeners will undoubtedly enjoy for both technical and musical merits.’
AllMusic.com


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