VC DESERT ISLAND DOWNLOADS | VC Artist Augustin Hadelich - '5 Recordings I Can't Live Without'

VC recently sat VC Artist Augustin Hadelich down to pick his brain on which 5 CD recordings he would take with him to a deserted island

The Violin Channel recently caught up with Italian-German VC Artist Augustin Hadelich - for a fun game of VC Desert Island Downloads. 

We sat the Grammy-winning violinist down to pick his brain on which 5 CD recordings he would take with him to a deserted island - and how the tracks have helped shape him as a musician.

 

1. Leonidas Kavakos & Peter Nagy's Stravinsky and Bach 

"The Stravinsky-Bach 2005 recording by violinist Leonidas Kavakos and pianist Peter Nagy on the ECM label, where Kavakos goes back and forth between playing Stravinsky on modern violin and Bach in a baroque-style, was so awe-inspiring for me when I first heard the CD over 10 years ago.

Kavakos' control over the phrasing and articulation and the elegance of his playing on this album, for me, is perfect.

This disc inspired me to start the exploration of Stravinsky’s music, so I definitely need it to come along with me."

 

2. Tenor Fritz Wunderlich's Schumann Dichterliebe & Schubert Lieder 

"I simply adore this Deutsche Grammophon recording of the great tenor Fritz Wunderlich, who sadly died in 1966 at the age of only 33, before he had a chance to record very much at all.

I love how naturally and unmannered he sings these Schubert Lieder, without feeling the need to exaggerate the diction or expression.

Particularly his rendition of “An die Musik”, I find extremely beautiful.

Schubert songs are actually among my earliest musical memories. Even before I started playing the violin, I would listen as my family gathered around the piano in the evening, playing and singing Schubert Lieder, just for our own enjoyment.

These songs stir up a lot of emotion in me when I hear them now, so they must come to the island." 

 

3. Pianist Jenő Jandó performing Schubert's 'Moments Musicaux' & '3 Piano Pieces'

"It was through this early 1990's recording by Hungarian pianist Jenő Jandó, on the Naxos label, that I got to know these amazing Schubert piano works.

The 3 posthumously-published piano pieces, D.946, are very rarely played but are amongst my favorite of all Schubert's compositions.

I find it a very straightforward recording, without exaggerations or mannerisms, which lets the music come through." 

 

 4. The Zehetmair Quartet performing Schumann String Quartets No. 1 & 3

"The Schumann quartets are wonderful and underrated works, but do lie awkwardly on the instruments. (Was there ever a composer who wrote music less well suited to the violin?)

However I feel with their flexible, imaginative and colorful approach, the Zehetmair Quartet on this 2003 ECM recording, brought Schumann's 1st and 3rd quartets alive in a way that opened my eyes to his music."

 

5. Thomas Ades' 'Living Toys'

"It’s no secret that I’m a fanboy of the British composer Thomas Adès and that I’m crazy about his violin concerto.

On this wonderful CD, recorded in 2002 on the EMI Classics label, I particularly like Thomas' String Quartet “Arcadiana” - as performed by the Endellion String Quartet.

Some parts, like the “O Albion” movement, gripped me immediately ... whilst others via repeated listening keep opening themselves up - which is why this recording must come with me.

For me, every note on this disc is exactly where it needs to be and there is not one too many - it's a real masterpiece."