This album brings the glowing, cinematic Violin and Cello Concertos of Ukrainian composer Thomas de Hartmann, an important compositional voice in his own time, back into the limelight. Using an international all-star cast, the recording not only aims to re-establish de Hartmann's oeuvre, but also to bring musicians together in times of war.
The Violin Concerto was recorded in Warsaw with Joshua Bell as soloist and Dalia Stasevska conducting the INSO-Lviv Symphony Orchestra, managing to temporarily leave their besieged country. The Cello Concerto is presented by Matt Haimovitz and the MDR Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Dennis Russell Davies.
This album is made possible by the dedication and generous support of the Thomas de Hartmann Project, aimed to reintroduce his colourful and compelling music.
"Hartmann’s fundamentally tonal language in the Violin Concerto] contrasts, and sometimes intertwines, passages of lush romanticism with more dancing, folklike material – think Barber’s Concerto, and you won’t be far off…Bell and the the orchestra give a totally engaged performance." - BBC Music Magazine, October 2024
