Brahms: Violin Concerto, Op. 77 & Double Concerto, Op. 102 Tianwa Yang, Gabriel Schwabe, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin & Antoni Wit

• Johannes Brahms (1833 - 1897): Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 77:
• 1Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 77: I. Allegro non troppo22:26
• 2Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 77: II. Adagio08:59
• 3Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 77: III. Allegro giocoso, ma non troppo vivace07:41
• Double Concerto in A Minor, Op. 102:
• 4Double Concerto in A Minor, Op. 102: I. Allegro16:51
• 5Double Concerto in A Minor, Op. 102: II. Andante07:20
• 6Double Concerto in A Minor, Op. 102: III. Vivace non troppo08:42
• Total Runtime01:11:59

Info for Brahms: Violin Concerto, Op. 77 & Double Concerto, Op. 102

Brahms’ string concertos are indissolubly linked with the musicians for whom the works were written. He wrote the Violin Concerto for Joseph Joachim and in it he combined what a contemporary critic termed ‘the great and serious’ with songful lyricism, melodic beauty, and a fiery Hungarian finale. To mend a breach with the violinist, Brahms later composed a concerto with the unusual combination of violin and cello, the latter played at the premiere by Joachim’s colleague Robert Hausmann. Neither instrument dominates in a work of reconciliation that perfectly embodies both drama and reflection. Schwabe’s debut Naxos recording features Brahms’ cello sonatas and song transcriptions released in 2015, with pianist Nicholas Rimmer (8573489). Tianwa Yang’s most recent recording project involved the works for violin and orchestra by Wolfgang Rihm.

Tianwa Yang, violin
Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin
Antoni Wit, conductor

Tianwa Yang
Winner of the prestigious ECHO Klassik Instrumentalist of the Year ( Violin ) 2015 Award for her Naxos recording Ysaÿe’s 6 Sonatas for Solo Violin, the Best Up-and-Coming Artist 2014 Award and the Annual Prize of the German Record Critics 2014 for her Naxos recordings of the Mendelssohn Violin Concertos and Complete Music for Violin by Sarasate, Tianwa Yang is referred to as “an unquestioned master of the violin” by American Record Guide who “rises above her competition” (Fanfare), while quickly establishing herself as a leading international performer and recording artist. The young violinist, a resident of Germany and heralded by the Detroit News as “the most important violinist to come on the scene in many a year,” has debuted with such major orchestras as the Detroit, Seattle, Baltimore, Nashville, Kansas City, Virginia, Pacific, Vancouver, Toledo, SWR-Baden Baden-Freiburg, WDR-Cologne, MDR-Leipzig, HR Radio Frankfurt, Malmö, Singapore and New Zealand Symphonies, in addition to the Guerzenish Orchester, Cologne, Bayerisches Staatsorchester, Orchestre National d'Île de France, Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg, Hong Kong Sinfonietta and the London, Dresden, Helsinki, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Buffalo, BBC, Deutsche Radio, Erfurt, Warsaw and Royal Liverpool Philharmonics. Other international engagements include those at the Ravinia Festival, Virginia Arts Festival, Schwetzinger Festival, London’s Wigmore Hall, Paris’ Salle Pleyel, New York’s Rose Theater, Lincoln Center, and Leipzig’s Gewandhaus. Tianwa Yang has also given live concert broadcasts from the Schwetzingen Festival, broadcast by the SWR Stuttgart; from the Berlin Philharmonic Hall, broadcast by Deutschlandradio; from the Montpellier Festival, broadcast by Radio France; and from Alten Oper broadcast by HR RadioFrankfurt.

As a critically acclaimed recording artist for Naxos, Tianwa Yang recently recorded Stravinksy’s The Soldier’s Tale as a highly acclaimed complete version with JoAnn Falletta and the Virginia Arts Festival Chamber Players and Lalo’s Symphonie Espagnole with Manén’s Concierto Espanol with the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra and Darrell Ang. Considered the worlds best interpreter of the music of Sarasate since Heifitz her complete music for Violin and Orchestra and for Violin and Piano by Sarasate are now released as two complete box sets by Naxos. A Best of Tianwa Yang album became an industry best seller. This was preceded by the Violin Concertos by Castelnuovo-Tedesco recorded with the SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg and the complete Solo Sonatas by Eugene Ysaye which immediately won several awards. Her Mendelssohn Violin Concertos album earned her the title “one of the best new violinists of the new century” by Musicweb-International. Of the previously released 8 single album recordings of Pablo de Sarasate’s complete works for violin, David Hurwitz of Classics Today calls Yang a “sensationally talented violinist,” while All Things Strings speaks of her “stunning effortless virtuosity” and “uncanny affinity for Spanish music “. The Complete works for violin and piano by Wolfgang Rihm was released in late 2012, and she has also recorded Piazzolla’s Las 4 Estaciones Porteñas with the Nashville Symphony Orchestra and the Vivaldi/Piazzolla Eight Seasons performed with her own ensemble.

Tianwa Yang continues to build her growing reputation in concert halls across Europe, Australasia and North America. Raised in the Chinese capital city of Bejing, Yang began studying violin at the age of four. Demonstrating unquestionable ability, she won six competitions as a young child. At the age of ten she was accepted to study at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing as a student of Lin Yaoji. Within one year, Hong Kong media described the young artist as “A Pride of China.” Tianwa Yang recorded the 24 Paganini Caprices at the age of thirteen, making her the youngest artist to release the works. In 2003 she was awarded a scholarship by the German Academic Exchange Service to study chamber music in Germany, marking the beginning of her European career.

Tianwa Yang has won several awards during her career including the Volkswagen Foundation prize “Star of Tomorrow” by Seiji Ozawa and the 2006 “Prix Montblanc.” She is the recipient of the much coveted ECHO Klassik Award for Best Up-and-Coming Artist 2014. She is Professor of Violin at the University of Music Wuerzburg, Germany and University of the Arts, Bern, Switzerland and is grateful to Lin Yaoji, Jörg-Wolfgang Jahn and Anner Bylsma for the musical insight and support they have offered throughout her career.

She performs on a Guarneri del Gesu (1730) on kind loan from the Rin Collection in Singapore.

Booklet for Brahms: Violin Concerto, Op. 77 & Double Concerto, Op. 102