Johannes Brahms / Clara Schumann Lisa Batiashvili & Staatskapelle Dresden

• Johannes Brahms (1833-1897): Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in D major op. 77
• 11. Allegro non troppo21:09
• 22. Adagio08:49
• 33. Allegro giocoso, ma non troppo vivace - Poco più presto08:04
• Clara Schumann (1819-1896): Three Romances for Violin and Piano, Op.22
• 41. Andante molto02:46
• 52. Allegretto02:45
• 63. Leidenschaftlich schnell03:53
• Total Runtime47:26

Info for Johannes Brahms / Clara Schumann

Following her critically hailed Deutsche Grammophon debut, Echoes of Time – and growing acclaim for her concert appearances – violin virtuosa Lisa Batiashvili meets every challenge of Brahms’s monumental Violin Concerto.

With maestro Christian Thielemann and the instrumentalists of the Staatskapelle Dresden, for whom German Romanticism is the birthright, Lisa Batiashvili’s elegant, eloquent artistry finds ideal partners. Meeting Thielemann exceeded all her expectations: “. . .his conducting was wild and fiery. At the same time I always had the feeling that I was being supported by the orchestra and that I had time to react.”

Rounding out the programme are Clara Schumann chamber pieces that Batiashvili plays together with young pianist Alice Sara Ott. For the first time in their careers they teamed up to play the three romances.

'...this performance is lively and warm, partly thanks to Batiashvili [the concerto's electrifying soloist on this album], who sets the dominant tone in her darkly sensuous opening line... throughout Batiashvili remains herself: less showy than some but deeply responsive to the music's inner workings and its colours. The range of hues summoned within her long phrasings is wondrously wide, each one delicately applied. The slow movement, the concerto's singing heart, is tender without being sentimental. And Batiashvili and Thielemann jointly triumph in the first movement's chief necessity -- keeping the scale epic and muscular while maintaining an intimate focus. Here is the sort of thoughtful reading that makes you fall in love with the concerto all over again...[in Clara Schumann's fetching violin and piano 'Romances'] Batiashvili is brightly partnered by Alice Sara Ott. (Geoff Brown, The Times)

'... impeccable technique and sense of timing... in the opening tutti the orchestra sits well in the hall, with a natural sense of perspective... a beautifully played oboe solo [in the second movement]... [her quieter playing] allows her seamless legato and tonal sophistication to shine. It's a welcome surprise to hear the Busoni cadenza in the first movement... [C. Schumann' Romances are] satisfying...' (Martin Cotton, BBC Music Magazine)

Lisa Batiashvili, voilin
Alice Sara Ott, piano
Staatskapelle Dresden
Christian Thielemann, conductor

Executive Producer: Angelika Meissner
Producers: Sid McLauchlan (Brahms, Schumann), Arend Prohmann (Brahms)
Recording Engineer (Tonmeister): Peter Hecker
Assistant Engineers: Tilo Feinermann, Teresa Kunz (Brahms); Clemens Deller (Brahms & Schumann)
Project Coordinator: Veronika Weiher
Mixed and mastered at WHITELAKE STUDIOS BERLIN

Lisa Batiashvili
Musical America’s 2015 Instrumentalist of the Year, is this season’s Artist-in-Residence with the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia (Rome). Praised by audiences and fellow musicians for her virtuosity and “profound sensitivity” (Financial Times), the Georgian-born violinist, who has lived in Germany for over 25 years, has developed long-standing relationships with some of the world’s leading orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic, Staatskapelle Berlin, Berliner Philharmoniker, Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, and London Symphony Orchestra.

In the 2017/18 season Lisa will perform the UK premiere of Anders Hillborg’s Violin Concerto No.2 with the BBC Symphony Orchestra (Sarkari Oramo); the concerto was written for and premiered by Lisa in 2016/17 with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Órchestra and Sakari Oramo. As part of her residency with Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, she will perform concertos by Tchaikovsky (Antonio Pappano), and Prokofiev (Manfred Honeck), as well as Bach’s Concerto for Violin and Oboe (Francois Leleux). Later in the season, Lisa will debut with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra in Carnegie Hall, and tour Europe with the Gustav Mahler Jugend Orchester (Vladimir Jurowski and Lorenzo Viotti), the Chamber Orchestra of Europe (Antonio Pappano), and Dresden Staatskapelle (Alan Gilbert). Other performance highlights include the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France (Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla), Munich Philharmonic (Alan Gilbert), and Sydney Symphony (Dima Slobodeniouk).

Last season Lisa was Artist-in-Residence with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra as well as Portrait Artist of the Bamberger Symphoniker. She had first-time collaborations with Gustavo Dudamel and Michael Tilson Thomas, as well performances with Christian Thielemann, Andrés Orozco-Estrada and Sir Simon Rattle all of whom she collaborates with regularly.

Recording exclusively for Deutsche Grammophon, Lisa’s latest album, a recording of the Tchaikovsky and Sibelius violin concertos with Daniel Barenboim and Staatskapelle Berlin, received international critical acclaim. Earlier recordings include the Brahms Violin Concerto with Staatskapelle Dresden (Christian Thielemann), and Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto No.1 with Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks (Esa-Pekka Salonen). She has also recorded the Beethoven, Sibelius and Lindberg concertos for Sony. In 2016, EuroArts released a DVD of Lisa’s live Waldbühner performance of Bartok Violin Concerto 1 with Berliner Philharmoniker (Yannick Nezet-Seguin).

A student of Ana Chumachenco and Mark Lubotsky, Lisa gained international recognition at age 16 as the youngest-ever competitor in the Sibelius Competition. She has been awarded two ECHO Klassik awards, the MIDEM Classical Award, the Choc de l’année, the Accademia Musicale Chigiana International Prize, the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival’s Leonard Bernstein Award and the Beethoven-Ring.

Lisa lives in Munich and plays a Joseph Guarneri “del Gesu” from 1739, generously loaned by a private collector.

Booklet for Johannes Brahms / Clara Schumann