For the Record, Op. 56: Augusta McKay Lodge rare violin solo works; Roman Simovic Paganini; Trio Karénine

May 24, 2018, 7:58 AM · Welcome to "For the Record," Violinist.com's weekly roundup of new releases of recordings by violinists, violists, cellists and other classical musicians. We hope it helps you keep track of your favorite artists, as well as find some new ones to add to your listening!

Augusta McKay Lodge. Photo by Casey Leigh Photography.

Beyond Bach & Vivaldi - Rare Unaccompanied Works for Baroque Violin
Augusta McKay Lodge, violin

Augusta McKay Lodge, winner of the 2015 Juilliard Historical Performance Concerto Competition, explores rare unaccompanied violin music from the time of Bach on this debut album. "Although today we think of Bach as being a lone figure in composing for the unaccompanied violin, his work actually grew out of a long-standing tradition going as far back (and further!) as 17th century Biber’s iconic Passacaglia from the Mystery Sonatas," Lodge said. "Bach could well have heard many performances of such works, and indeed personally knew some of these composers such as Pisendel (featured on the album). These are hidden gems that deserve to hold a place in the current canon of works." The album features solo violin works by Biber, Locatelli and Pisendel, as well as lesser-known composers Nicola Matteis and Thomas Baltzar. BELOW: Augusta McKay Lodge performs Alia fantasia, by Nicola Matteis:

Paganini: 24 Caprices
Roman Simovic, violin

"For his debut solo album, Roman Simovic, Leader of the London Symphony Orchestra, showcases his virtuosity and innate musicality, navigating the technical and artistic challenges of Paganini's 24 Caprices for solo violin. While intended to improve and strengthen technique, they are more commonly used to separate the wheat from the chaff with demanding high-speed passages that push players to their limits. With its fast scales and arpeggios, double and triple stops, and left-hand pizzicato, the final caprice is widely considered one of the most technically challenging violin pieces ever written. It was Paganini's final published work for solo violin."BELOW: Not from the album, but here is a 2008 performance by Roman Simovic of Paganini Caprice No. 10:

Fauré, Ravel & Tailleferre
Trio Karénine
Fanny Robilliard, violin
Louis Rodde, cello
Paloma Kouider, piano

Winners of the ARD international Competition in 2013, the French Trio Karénine performs trios by Fauré, Ravel and Tailleferre in this album. BELOW: Excerpts from the album:

If you have a new recording you would like us to consider for inclusion in our Thursday "For the Record" feature, please e-mail Editor Laurie Niles. Be sure to include the name of your album, a link to it and a short description of what it includes.

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Replies

Trevor Jennings

May 24, 2018 at 11:28 PM · Unfortunately, the Matteis video clip here does not play. An on-screen message informs us that "this video is not available". The two other videos play as expected.

However, a search on YouTube for "matteis alia fantasia" will come up with performances by other artists.

Trevor Jennings

May 25, 2018 at 04:12 PM · I have now discovered the YouTube URL of the Matteis video by the simple expedient of right-clicking on the video window and cutting and pasting the URL. The URL is: https://youtu.be/0pR_kbXiThI

Mysteriously, that Matteis video URL is still marked as unavailable on my regular Google Chrome and Firefox browsers. I wonder if YouTube has imposed a DRM restriction.

However, the good news is that the entire album by Augusta McKay Lodge is now available for streaming on Naxos, and includes a downloadable booklet. The Naxos catalogue number is 8.573893

Laurie Niles

May 27, 2018 at 03:49 PM · Trevor, not sure what is going on -- it still plays just fine! Could be that Youtube has blocked it in some countries but not others; that sometimes does happen. It is well-worth hearing, though!

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