The first German artist to win the international Naumburg Violin Award in New York, Axel Strauss was acclaimed for his recording of Mendelssohn’s Songs Without Words (8.570213) as ‘an excellent violinist who plays these with wit and verve’. On this disc he revels in the virtuosic and expressive opportunities offered by Pierre Rode’s 24 Caprices, which preceded those of Paganini by several years. Rode’s Violin Concertos Nos. 7, 10 and 13, performed by Friedemann Eichhorn, are also available in the 19th Century Violinist Composers series (8.570469).