Gramophone Magazine
Awards Issue 2022
Editor's Choice

Augustin Hadelich (violin), WDR Sinfonieorchester, Cristian Măcelaru

Sarasate: Carmen Fantasy, Op. 25
Prokofiev: Violin Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 63
Britten: Violin Concerto in D minor Op. 15
Tárrega: Recuerdos de la Alhambra

A subtle and profound Spanish theme runs through Recuerdos – ‘Memories’. Violinist Augustin Hadelich has conceived an album that unites three works for violin and orchestra and a piece originally written for solo guitar. For Britten’s Violin Concerto, Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No 2 and Sarasate’s Carmen Fantasy he is joined by the WDR Sinfonieorchester and its Chief Conductor, Cristian Măcelaru; he remains alone for Ruggero Ricci’s arrangement of Tárrega’s shimmering Recuerdos de la Alhambra. “For years, I’ve been thinking about how to tell the story of the Britten violin concerto,” says Hadelich. Written in 1938, the work expresses the pacifist composer’s anguish at the Spanish Civil War, which broke out just months after Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No 2 was premiered in Madrid.

"The artistic personality of the soloist feels a size ‘bigger’ than that of rival fiddlers and, as with previous releases, he supplies his own discerning accompanying notes." - Gramophone Magazine, Awards Issue 2022.