Myaskovsky, Shebalin & Nechaev: Violin Sonatas Sasha Rozhdestvensky & Viktoria Postnikova

• Nikolay Yakovlevich Myaskovsky (1881-1950): Violin Sonata in F Major, Op. 70:
• 1 I. Allegro amabile 08:14
• 2 II. Theme. Andante con moto e molto cantabile - 12 Variations - Coda 11:32
• Violin Sonata, Op. 51 No. 1:
• 3 I. Allegro 08:09
• 4 II. Scherzando. Non troppo vivo 03:53
• 5 III. Andante 05:02
• 6 IV. Allegro 04:32
• Vasily Nechaev (1860-1935): Violin Sonata, Op. 12:
• 7 I. Vivace, appenato e leggieramente 06:51
• 8 II. Lugubre 04:51
• 9 III. Presto impetuoso 09:08
• Total Runtime 01:02:12

Info for Myaskovsky, Shebalin & Nechaev: Violin Sonatas

The three violin sonatas on this disc are premiere recordings of rarely heard mid-Twentieth century Russian repertoire, performed by a mother and son partnership from a famous Russian musical family. The composers of these works had enjoyed a direct professional relationship during the period between the two world wars, mainly through their involvement on the teaching staff at the Moscow Conservatoire: Myaskovsky, Shebalin and Nechaev.

Despite being one of Nikolai Myaskovsky's most appealing and approachable later works, his Violin Sonata, Op. 70 remains rarely performed in concert. The work begins with a wistful first movement, followed by the final movement containing a series of 12 Variations on a theme eloquent and restrained by turns.

The following work is by a student, colleague and friend of Myaskovsky, Vassarion Shebalin. Formed in the classically arrayed four-movement design, it shows the composer's musical language at its clearest and most direct.

The final work on this album is by the composer Vasily Nechayev who is hardly known outside of Soviet music circles. His Sonata, Op. 12, shows Nechayev was aware of stylistic developments pursued by Bartok and Prokofiev in its richly whole-tone harmonies and its motoric rhythms.

Sasha Rozhdestvensky, violin
Viktoria Postnikova, piano

Sasha Rozhdestvensky
is considered to be one of Russia’s finest young violinists. Yehudi Menuhin pronounced him to be “one of the most talented and refined violinists of his generation”, while the legendary violinist Ivry Gitlis said of him: “He belongs to the great line of outstanding artists. His approach and relationship to music and the violin is intense, highly sensitive and intelligent”.

He has appeared internationally with leading orchestras such as the Bavarian State Orchestra, Bamberger Symphoniker, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Deutsches Symphonie Orchester, l'Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio-France, Ensemble Orchestral de Paris, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Het Residentie Orkest, London Symphony Orchestra,, Orchestra Sinfonica dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Orchestra of “La Scala”, Mariinsky Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, State Symphony Capella of Russia, Prague Symphony Orchestra, Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchester der Beethovenhalle Bonn, Orquestra Gulbenkian, Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra, Dresdner Philharmonie Orchestra, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, West Australia Symphony Orchestra, the Sao Paulo Symphony Orchestra.

Among the conductors with whom Sasha Rozhdestvensky has worked are Antonio de Almeida, Alexander Anissimov, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Yuri Bashmet, Joanna Carneiro, Jean Claude Casadesus, Simon Gaudenz, Valery Gergiev, Vernon Handley, Wolf-Dieter Hauschild, Jansug Kakhidze, Gabriel Khmura, Lois Langree, Jacques Mercier, Anton Nanut, Avi Ostrowsky, Valery Polyansky, George Pehlivanyan, Vladimir Ponkin, Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Gerard Schwartz, Lothar Seifarth, Martin Sieghart, Yuri Simonov, Vladimir Spivakov, Stanley Sperber, Vladimir Valek, Vladimir Verbitsky, Christopher Warren-Green.

Sasha Rozhdestvensky has recorded numerous works for the THESIS and CHANDOS labels including the Concerto Grosso No. 6 by Alfred Schnittke with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic. In 1994 he premiered this concerto, which was written especially for him and Viktoria Postnikova. He recently recorded the Violin Concerto No. 1 by Dimitri Shostakovich and the Violin Concerto by Alexander Glazunov with Gennady Rozhdestvensky and the State Symphony Capella of Russia.

He has appeared at major festivals including BBC Proms (London), Tanglewood, Schleswig-Holstein, Flanders, Gstaad, Istanbul, Colmar, Ravinia, Florida, Taormina, Sienna, Lockenhaus, Montreux, Rheingau, Mozart (La Coruna), Martinu (Basel), and has performed in all of the world’s major halls, including the Carnegie Hall, Royal Albert Hall, Barbican and Festival Hall London, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Berlin Philharmonie, Suntory Hall Tokyo, Salle Pleyel, Salle Gaveau and Theatre du Chatelet Paris, Mann Auditorium Tel-Aviv, La Scala Milan, always to great acclaim.

His chamber music partners have included Marc Coppey, Gary Hoffman, Steven Isserlis, Christian Ivaldi, Kun Woo Paik, Michel Portal, Viktoria Postnikova, Michael Rudy, Andrei Vieru.

Sasha Rozhdestvensky’s dedication to contemporary music is highlighted through close contacts with several eminent composers, such as Alfred Schnittke, Sofia Gubaidulina and Giya Kancheli.

He also devotes his time to the performance of traditional Latin American music together with the instrumental group “Ambar” and “Paris Gotan Trio”, who recently released a CD “Champan Rosado”.

Sasha studied at the Central Music School in Moscow, the Moscow Conservatory, the Paris Conservatoire and the Royal College of Music in London with Dr. Felix Andrievsky, Zinaida Gilels, Maya Glezarova and Gerard Poulet.

He plays several violins, among which are a Guarneri del Gesu and a Stradivari loaned to him by the Stradivari Society. He recently became an ambassador for the Stradivari Society.

Viktoria Postnikova
was born in Moscow of musical parents and began to study the piano at the age of three. Four years later she made her public debut playing Mozart’s A Major Piano Concerto.

Between 1962 and 1967 she studies at the Moscow Conservatory, where her teachers included Yakov Fliyer.

After winning an impressive series of international prizes at the Warsaw International Chopin Competition, the Leeds Piano Competition, Lisbon International Vianna da Motta Competition and the Tchaikovsky Competition, Viktoria Postnikova appeared in all the world’s leading concert halls, performing and making recordings with the most prestigious orchestras and ensembles. In Europe she has given concerts with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, the Amsterdam Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, the London Symphony Orchestra, the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra and the Orchestre de Paris, to name only the most important. In America she has appeared with the New York Philharmonic and the Orchestras of Boston, Chicago, Cleveland and Philadelphia. Among the conductors with whom she has worked are Sir John Barbirolli, Sir Adrian Boult, Sir Colin Davis, Kurt Masur, Yuri Temirkanov, Kyrill Kondrashin and Lord Yehudi Menuhin, together with her husband, Gennady Rozhdestvensky, with whom she has also appeared on occasion playing piano duets.

In addition to numerous tours in Europe and Japan with the Soviet Philharmonic Orchestra, Viktoria Postnikova has also appeared with the BBC Symphony Orchestra in Australia and the Far East and with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra on South America. In 2004 Viktoria Postnikova was awarded the “Peoples Artist Award”.

Among her numerous recordings are the complete piano works by Tchaikovsky made for Erato, complete Mussorgsky piano works, all Prokofiev’s piano concertos and Mendelssohn’s complete Songs Without Words.

This album contains no booklet.