Carnival Nazrin Rashidova & Stanislav Hvartchilkov

• 1 Passacaglia in G Minor (after G.F. Handels Keyboard Suite No. 7 in G Minor, HWV 432: VI. Passacaille) 07:06
• 2 Adagio in E Major, K. 261 (arr. S. Hvartchilkov for violin and guitar) 07:56
• 3 I. Prelude 01:25
• 4 II. Aragonaise 02:36
• 5 IV. Seguedille 01:57
• 6 VI. Les Toreadors 02:29
• 7 II. Habanera 02:20
• 8 IV. Chanson du Toreador 02:55
• 9 VI. Danse boheme 04:54
• 10 Ich ruf zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ, BWV 639 (arr. S. Hvartchlikov and for violin and guitar) 03:08
• 11 Variations on The Carnival of Venice (arr. S. Hvartchlikov and N. Rashidova for violin and guitar) 09:02
• 12 Salut damour, Op. 12 (arr. S. Hvartchlikov for violin and guitar) 03:11
• Total Runtime 48:59

Info for Carnival

The combination of violin and guitar is not so uncommon today, partly due to the appeal of the instruments' complementary timbres. However, it is still quite challenging to find works for the duo where the roles are equally demanding and virtuosic, not only musically and technically, but most importantly, tonally and dynamically. With the present recording, we wanted to demonstrate music which displays this equal balance, through brand new arrangements of finely crafted selections of popular classical works.

Our collaboration began over a decade ago, when we met during our studies at the Royal Academy of Music, London. During this time, and since, we have arranged and transcribed a considerable amount of diverse repertoire from different periods and genres. With a few exceptions, the majority of the material on ʻCarnivalʼ, our second album, is entirely arranged/ composed by ourselves.

Nazrin Rashidova, violin
Stanislav Hvartchilkov, classical guitar

Nazrin Rashidova
The Azerbaijani-born Bri sh violin virtuoso, soloist, recitalist, chamber musician and orchestral director, Nazrin Rashidova, made her solo début at the age of three in Baku and was awarded a Gold Medal by the Cairo Opera House for an exceptional violin recital three years later. Establishing FeMusa in 2008, Britain’s first female chamber orchestra in sixty years, is merely the latest in a series of achievements.

She entered the Royal Academy of Music in London at the age of fifteen, where she had the privilege to play on a rare collec on of violins by Antonio Stradivari. She studied with Erich Gruenberg, Felix Andrievsky and Lydia Mordkovitch. A prizewinner in several international competitions, she has appeared on international television and radio, played for royalty and other dignitaries, and has also performed in the United States, Japan, Europe and the Middle East. She has recorded two acclaimed albums for Naxos, Godowsky’s music for violin and piano [8.573038], released in 2013 and a selection of works for violin and piano by Moritz Moszkowski [8.573410], released in 2015.

On this recording, Rashidova plays a violin a er G. B. Guadagnini, Milan, 1753, ‘Nazrin’ made by David Ra ray.

Stanislav Hvartchilkov
was born in 1984 in So a, Bulgaria and started playing the guitar at the age of five, and later went on to graduate from the National Music School in So a. He moved to London to study classical guitar with Michael Lewin on a full scholarship at the Royal Academy of Music, graduating with a Bachelor of Music at the age of 23. He has taken part in masterclasses with John Williams, David Russell, Gerhard Reichenbach, Jonathan Leathwood, Fábio Zanon and John Mills.

Stanislav is a prize winner of more than twenty national and international guitar competitions, including the prestigious Julian Bream Prize (RAM, 2004); Ivor Mairants Guitar Award (London, 2004); Na onal Radio of Bulgaria ‘Musician of the Year’ Prize in the ‘Debut’ category (2003); Andrés Segovia International Guitar Competition for Young Players (Germany 2002). He has also won scholarships and awards from The Hattori Foundation, Musicians Benevolent Fund and The Royal Philharmonic Society. Hvartchilkov has performed recitals in England, Germany, Greece, Denmark, Bulgaria and Switzerland.

He is also a composer who, in 2009, performed and produced the album First Fruits with his compositions. Furthermore, in 2012 he recorded an album called Phosphorous containing his own arrangements of Bach, Paganini, Schubert et al.

Booklet for Carnival