Stranger Sainton Dmitry Smirnov, Kammerorchester Basel & Victor Jacob

• Prosper Sainton (1813 - 1890): Rêverie pour violon seul (From the Letter to Joseph Bennett, 1831-1911):
• 1 Sainton: Rêverie pour violon seul (From the Letter to Joseph Bennett, 1831-1911) 00:47
• Thème italien varié für Violine und Orchester, Op. 10:
• 2 Sainton: Thème italien varié für Violine und Orchester, Op. 10 12:13
• Niccolò Paganini (1782 - 1840): I palpiti Variationen für Violine und Orchester:
• 3 Paganini: I palpiti Variationen für Violine und Orchester 09:55
• Hector Berlioz (1803 - 1869): Rêverie et caprice, Romance pour le violon, H 88:
• 4 Berlioz: Rêverie et caprice, Romance pour le violon, H 88 08:48
• Richard Strauss (1864 - 1949): Der Bürger als Edelmann Suite, TrV 228c:
• 5 Strauss: Der Bürger als Edelmann Suite, TrV 228c: I. Ouvertüre zum 1. Aufzug 03:59
• 6 Strauss: Der Bürger als Edelmann Suite, TrV 228c: II. Menuett 01:52
• 7 Strauss: Der Bürger als Edelmann Suite, TrV 228c: III. Der Fechtmeister 01:43
• 8 Strauss: Der Bürger als Edelmann Suite, TrV 228c: IV. Auftritt und Tanz der Schneider 05:09
• 9 Strauss: Der Bürger als Edelmann Suite, TrV 228c: V. Das Menuett des Lully 02:13
• 10 Strauss: Der Bürger als Edelmann Suite, TrV 228c: VI. Courante 02:31
• 11 Strauss: Der Bürger als Edelmann Suite, TrV 228c: VII. Auftritt des Cléonte 04:10
• 12 Strauss: Der Bürger als Edelmann Suite, TrV 228c: VIII. Vorspiel zum 2. Aufzug. Intermezzo 03:38
• 13 Strauss: Der Bürger als Edelmann Suite, TrV 228c: IX. Das Diner. Tafelmusik und Tanz des Küchenjungen 10:27
• Gioachino Rossini (1792 - 1868): Andante con variazioni (sur un thème de Tancrède) für Violine und Harfe:
• 14 Rossini: Andante con variazioni (sur un thème de Tancrède) für Violine und Harfe 04:19
• Total Runtime 01:11:44

Info for Stranger Sainton

This album is built around a remarkable instrument: the Guarneri del Gesù “Sainton Betti” violin, once played by Prosper Sainton. More than a solo voice, the violin shapes both the repertoire and the narrative of the project.

From this starting point a journey through the golden age of the Romantic violin unfolds. Works by Niccolò Paganini, Gioachino Rossini, Hector Berlioz and Richard Strauss reflect the musical world Sainton inhabited, while bringing renewed attention to this fascinating yet overlooked figure.

At the heart of the project, violinist Dmitry Smirnov reveals the instrument’s full expressive range, joined by Victor Jacob and the Kammerorchester Basel. Together, they create a vivid dialogue between soloist and orchestra. A programme that connects repertoire, instrument and history into a single, coherent musical narrative.

Dmitry Smirnov, violin
Kammerorchester Basel
Victor Jacob, conductor

Dmitry Smirnov
is widely regarded as one of the exceptional personalities of the young generation of violinists. The ARD prizewinner performs as a soloist with leading orchestras such as the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra or the Festival Strings Lucerne and in concert halls from Carnegie Hall in New York to Nikkei Hall in Tokyo. As an ‘enfant terrible’, he inspires audiences with his bold artistic vision and outstanding virtuosity, including in historically informed interpretations of traditional repertoire. As a sought-after chamber musician, he regularly performs with partners such as Sol Gabetta and Ilya Gringolts, and also acts as concertmaster and soloist for Giovanni Antonini’s ‘Haydn Project 2032’.

In the coming season, Dmitry will make his debut with orchestras such as the Oslo Philharmonic and the Stuttgart Philharmonic and will act as concertmaster for Cappella Gabetta’s European tour. In March 2026, at the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall in Moscow, he will present the world premiere of the violin concerto by the illustrious Russian composer Gavriil Popov, which was thought to have been lost and which he completed after months of archival and transcription work. Recording projects with the lutenist and Harnoncourt student Luca Pianca with works by Paganini as well as the collaboration with Ilya Gringolts for Vivaldi’s double concertos will enrich his discography to date, which already contains solo works from J. S. Bach to Bartók as well as various romantic violin concertos (on gut strings).

Dmitry has won prizes at numerous international competitions, including first prizes at the Moscow Oistrakh Competition (2006), the Tibor Varga Competition (2015) and the Concours d’Interprétation Musicale de Lausanne (2017), second prizes at the International Yehudi Menuhin Competition (2008) and the ARD Music Competition (2021), a controversial elimination in the semi-finals of the Queen Elisabeth Competition (2024) and three prizes at the Concours international Long-Thibaud-Crespin in 2018, including the Critics’ Prize for the best interpretation of contemporary music. He is the winner of numerous scholarships and his work is supported by generous donors such as the Pierino Ambrosoli Foundation.

Dmitry regularly performs as a soloist and chamber musician at renowned festivals, including the Salzburg Festival, Lucerne Festival, Gstaad Menuhin Festival, LuganoMusica, Heidelberger Frühling, Rheingau Music Festival, Davos Festival, Grafenegg Festival, Stresa Festival, Solsberg Festival, Festival delle Muse Salentine and Inverno Musicale (Brazil).

As a soloist, he has worked with conductors such as Giovanni Antonini, Heinz Holliger, Philippe Herreweghe, Vladimir Spivakov, Gilbert Varga, Stanislav Kochanovsky, Philipp Chizhevsky, Delyana Lazarova and Aurel Dawidiuk and has performed with orchestras such as the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Il Giardino Armonico, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Novaya Rossiya State Symphony Orchestra, Moscow Virtuosi, Festival Strings Lucerne, Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne, Kammerorchester Basel, Sinfonieorchester Basel, Sinfonieorchester St. Gallen, Argovia Philharmonic, Orchestra di Padova e del Veneto and the Orchestre Royal de Chambre de Wallonie.

Dmitry was born into a musical family in St. Petersburg, where he received his first violin lessons at the age of four and continued his education at the Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory. Subsequent studies took him to the Haute École de Musique Lausanne in the class of Pavel Vernikov followed by studies with Rainer Schmidt at the Basel Music Academy. In the context of baroque music, Dmitry also performs as a violist, cellist and harpsichordist. His main instrument is a violin by Philipp Bonhoeffer (2018).

Booklet for Stranger Sainton