VC DESERT ISLAND DOWNLOADS | Violinist Augustin Dumay - ‘5 Recordings I Can’t Live Without’

VC recently caught up with violinist Augustin Dumay – for a fun game of VC Desert Island Downloads

The Violin Channel recently caught up with acclaimed French violinist Augustin Dumay – for a fun game of VC Desert Island Downloads.

We sat him 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.

The 5 recordings I have chosen here have been amongst what I would think have been the most instrumental in my musical development ... for me these interpretations represent the highest level of expressive intensity, imagination and conviction.

When I do listen to them though, it often highlights how many lukewarm and pseudo-politically correct performances we hear today on the concert stage .... often almost like 'sound photocopies' of Bärenreiter editions - with some superb exceptions of course.

With anything I play or listen to, and hopefully you'll hear here, I try to remember what Pablo Casals famously said  "... Don't focus on the trees but make us dream of the forest."

1. 1. Brahms Works for Solo Piano Integral  - Julius Katchen

Brahms works for solo piano

Julius Katchen, Piano

Release Date: November 11, 1997

Label: Decca

2. Strauss : Four Last Songs  & 12 Orchestral Songs - Elisabeth Schwarzkopf

Strauss Four Last songs

Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Soprano

George Szell, Conductor

Radio Symphony Orchestra Berlin

Release Date: January 12, 1999

Label: EMI Classics

3. Schubert and Brahms Lieder - Fritz Wunderlich

Fritz Wunderlich Lieder

Beethoven, Brahms, Schubert, Schumann, Wolf, Strauss

Release Date: September 14, 2018

Label: SWR Classic

4. Beethoven Symphonies No. 4 & 7 - Carlos Kleiber & Concertgebouw Orchestra

Carlos Kleiber

Beethoven Symphonies No. 4 & 7

Concertgebouw Orchestra

Release Date: January 11, 2005

Studio: Philips

5. Bartok Violin Concerto No. 2 - Isaac Stern & Leonard Bernstein

Bartók Violin Concertos No. 1 & 2

Isaac Stern, Violin

Leonard Bernstein, Conductor

Release Date: June 10, 1995

Label: Sony Classical