Complete Suites for Violin & Piano : H.Shaham(Vn)Erez(P)(2CD)

Joseph Achron: Complete Suites for Violin & Piano

Hebrew Melody, Op. 33
Two Hebrew Pieces, Op. 35
Eli Zion
Prelude, Op. 13
Souvenir de Varsovie, Op. 14
Coquetterie, Op. 15
Serenade, Op. 17
Les sylphides, Op. 18
Berceuse, Op. 20
Dance Improvisation, Op. 37
Scher, Op. 42
Marchen, Op. 46
Liebeswidmung, Op. 51
Canzonetta , Op. 52 No. 2
Two Stimmungen, Op. 32
Two Stimmungen, Op. 36
Two Pastels, Op. 44
Stempenyu Suite
Suite No. 1 'en style ancien', Op. 21
Suite No. 2, Op. 22
Four Tableaux fantastiques 'Suite No. 3', Op. 23
Suite bizarre 'Cycles des rythmes, Suite No. 4', Op. 41
Children's Suite, Op. 57, arr. Jascha Heifetz
Pensee de Leopold Auer
La romanesca

Hagai Shaham, violin
Arnon Erez, piano

Recording details: 02/1996, 03/2009, Jerusalem Music Centre, Israel

Admired by Schoenberg (who described him as ‘one of the most underestimated of modern composers’), Joseph Achron was a boundary defying violinist-composer of extraordinary gifts. He drew on his Jewish faith to profound effect, from the early influence of his cantor father to his enthusiastic championing of the Society for Jewish Folk Music (which did for Jewish music what Bartok did for Eastern European folk culture). It’s hardly surprising that much of Achron’s music is for violin?he was a consummate player himself and a prolific recitalist. But what’s striking is how varied and exploratory his output is, delighting in experimentation, as the wonderfully named Suite bizarre demonstrates, just as much as the direct emotionalism of his transcriptions of Hebraic melodies. Who better to present this music than two artists steeped in similar traditions to Achron: Hagai Shaham and Arnon Erez. ( Hyperion )