Violinist Augustin Hadelich turned a lot of heads and ears with his recording of the Brahms Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 77, and he does it again with this collection of Czech pieces, featuring and flowing from Dvorák. The Bohemian Tales title is not just a marketing concept but describes his approach: the Dvorák Violin Concerto in A minor, Op. 53, is not a clean essay in Brahmsian style, but one of Dvorák's most Czech pieces, with a very folkish (and folk-fiddle) finale and a discursive, narrative touch throughout. ...
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Violinist Augustin Hadelich turned a lot of heads and ears with his recording of the Brahms Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 77, and he does it again with this collection of Czech pieces, featuring and flowing from Dvorák. The Bohemian Tales title is not just a marketing concept but describes his approach: the Dvorák Violin Concerto in A minor, Op. 53, is not a clean essay in Brahmsian style, but one of Dvorák's most Czech pieces, with a very folkish (and folk-fiddle) finale and a discursive, narrative touch throughout. Hadelich's shorter pieces for violin and piano (he is ably backed by Charles Owen) are designed to continue with the contrasts set up in the concerto. In the Janácek Violin Sonata, he expertly catches the tension between Dvorák's lyricism and the edgier material in which Janácek decisively departs from that. The other pieces showcase Hadelich's ability to touch the heartstrings: shorter Dvorák works, the highly melodic Four Pieces, Op. 17, of Josef Suk, and the ending, with his own...
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