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Special offer. Crossroads
American Violin Sonatas by Previn, Schemmer and Gay
Alexei Semenenko (violin), Artem Beroglov (piano)
Awards:
-
Presto Editor's Choice, November 2021
Semenenko and his duo partner present premiere recordings of jazz-influenced sonatas written in the 1980s. The Schemmer is a particularly joyful discovery.
Special offer. Crossroads
American Violin Sonatas by Previn, Schemmer and Gay
Alexei Semenenko (violin), Artem Beroglov (piano)
Purchase product
Awards:
-
Presto Editor's Choice, November 2021
Semenenko and his duo partner present premiere recordings of jazz-influenced sonatas written in the 1980s. The Schemmer is a particularly joyful discovery.
About
"On this transatlantic disc, three American composers born during the first half of the last century rub shoulders with two young musicians from Eastern Europe. A member of the BBC New Generation Artists scheme, the violinist Aleksey Semenenko first met the pianist Artem Belogurov at the Stolyarsky Special Music School in Odessa at an early age. Even if their individual careers have taken to different parts of the world, the two still perform together whenever possible, and here they present three sonatas.
Of the composers, the best-known is André Previn who composed his Violin Sonata No. 2 in 2011 for Anne-Sophie Mutter. An improvisatory spirit permeates the work which is in three movements with the markings Joyous, Desolate and Brilliant. Tony Schemmer and Paul Gay are both based in the Boston area and share a background in which jazz and classical genres merge. This is reflected in their sonatas, composed in the 1980s and here appearing on disc for the first time."
Contents and tracklist
- Aleksey Semenenko (violin), Artem Belogurov (piano)
- Version for Violin & Piano
- Aleksey Semenenko (violin), Artem Belogurov (piano)
- Aleksey Semenenko (violin), Artem Belogurov (piano)
Awards and reviews
-
Presto Editor's ChoiceNovember 2021
January 2022
Semenenko and his duo partner present premiere recordings of jazz-influenced sonatas written in the 1980s. The Schemmer is a particularly joyful discovery.
JulyAugust 2022
The sonata of Maine-born Paul Gay is the loveliest on the disc. Gay’s muse is gentle, mellow, poetic, and endearing. There is a pristine formal clarity, a concern for craft, and a respect for tradition here that would have pleased Gay’s fellow Maine composer Walter Piston. The performances of the Ukrainian musicians are faultless and idiomatic, as is the recorded sound.
January 2022
Semenenko’s championing of three jazz-influenced American violin sonatas from the 20th and 21st centuries is a welcome sight. Also, indeed, a welcome sound.
November 2021
These two young musicians have played together since their student days in Odessa, and there's a real sense of music-making between friends on this triptych of sonatas by American composers; I love their exuberant, open-hearted sound in the first movement of André Previn's Violin Sonata No. 2 from 2011, and the darker hues they both summon for the Idyll of the Paul Gay sonata from 1984.
