Ravel, Prokofiev & Strauss: Polychrome Tobias Feldmann & Boris Kusnezow

• Maurice Ravel (1875 - 1937):
• 1 Violin Sonata No. 1 in A Minor, M. 12 "Sonate posthume" 14:34
• Sergey Prokofiev (1891 - 1953): Violin Sonata No. 2 in D Major, Op. 94a:
• 2 I. Moderato 08:00
• 3 II. Scherzo 04:49
• 4 III. Andante 03:52
• 5 IV. Allegro con brio - Poco meno mosso - Tempo primo 07:19
• Richard Strauss (1864 - 1949): Violin Sonata in E-Flat Major, Op. 18:
• 6 I. Allegro, ma non troppo 11:23
• 7 II. Improvisation (Andante cantabile) 07:40
• 8 III. Finale (Andante - Allegro) 09:13
• Total Runtime 01:06:50

Info for Ravel, Prokofiev & Strauss: Polychrome

Polychrome. A simple concept that defines the very essence of this recording, in which colour is omnipresent and takes on diverse and nuanced forms. The choice of works in itself forms at once a harmony and a contrast of shades and sonorities: this album offers the virtuosic and lyrical Violin Sonata no.2 in D major op.94a of Sergei Prokofiev, the Sonate posthume of Maurice Ravel, and the Violin Sonata in E flat major op.18 of Richard Strauss, the pièce de résistance of the programme. Tobias Feldmann, a prizewinner at the 2015 Queen Elisabeth International Competition, invites us on this musical journey with his vividly coloured and expressive violinistic language, supported with finesse by his partner Boris Kusnezow. Skilfully combining virtuosity and elegance, their expert fingers create an alchemy whose extreme precision enables these works to yield up all their poetry and refinement, revealing the specific colour of each of them.

Tobias Feldmann, violin
Boris Kusnezow, piano

Tobias Feldmann
(born in 1991) was accepted into the advanced placement class at the Hochschule für Musik Würzburg when only eight years old. After many years of instruction from Dan Talpan and Prof. Herwig Zack, he has been studying with Prof. Antje Weithaas at the Hochschule für Musik “Hanns Eisler” in Berlin since 2010.

For his outstanding performance in the 2012 German Music Competition Tobias Feldmann was awarded the coveted Grand Prize as well as Special Prize of the Marie-Luise Imbusch Foundation.

He has won prizes at other national and international competitions such as the Ion Voicu Competition in Romania, the Louis Spohr Competition in Weimar, the Balys Dvarionas Competition in Lithuania, the Andrea Postacchini Competition in Italy and the Kocian Competition in the Czech Republic. In the 2011 International Henri Marteau Competition he won First Prize, the Audience Prize and prizes for the best Bach and Reger performances.

In 2012 he won Third Prize at the 8th International Joseph Joachim Competition in Hannover, as well as winning the Audience Prize and Critics’ Prize.

He has performed as a soloist with the Utah Symphony Orchestra, the Beethoven Orches- ter Bonn, the Nürnberger Symphoniker, the Münchener Kammerorchester, the Göttinger Symphonie Orchester, the Iași Moldau Philharmonic, the Hofer Symphoniker and the NDR Radiophilharmonie Hannover. Concert tours have taken him to numerous countries and major festivals such as the Ludwigsburg Schlossfestspiele, the Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival.

Tobias Feldmann was invited by the Goethe-Institut to perform concerts in Thailand and Vietnam in October 2013.

He has gained important insights from master classes and through collaboration with re- nowned artists such as Igor Ozim, Sergej Fatkoulin, Thomas Brandis, Dmitry Sitkovetsky and Eberhard Feltz.

As a prize winner at the 21st Deutscher Musikinstrumentenfonds Music Competition of the Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben, since February 2013 Tobias Feldmann has performed on a 1703 Antonio Stradivari violin (Cremona) owned by the Federal Republic of Germany. In addition he has been the holder of a scholarship from the Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes since 2010.

Boris Kusnezow
Concert pianist Boris Kusnezow’s breakthrough occurred in 2009 when he won the Deutscher Musikwettbewerb. His debut at Carnegie Hall in 2011 was lauded by the New York Times as the “most impressive interpretation.” Kusnezow has been a prizewinner at many competitions, among others the Steinway Competition, the Concours Grieg in Oslo, the Kissinger Klavier Olymp, and the Paula-Salomon-Lindberg Competition in Berlin. In 2012 he received a fellowship from the well-known British Borletti-Buitoni Trust. He is the recipient of a scholarship from the Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben and is a scholar of the Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes. Boris Kusnezow has studied solo piano with Prof. Bernd Goetzke at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater since 2004. He has complemented his education through study of song accompaniment and chamber music with Prof. Jan Philip Schulze and Prof. Markus Becker. His concert engagements have taken Boris Kusnezow to several European countries as well as Asia, the US, and South Africa. In Germany he has appeared, among others, at the main concert hall of Laeiszhalle in Hamburg, at the Konzerthaus am Gendarmenmarkt, and the Berlin Philharmonie. In July 2010 his debut CD with the violinist Byol Kang was released on the GENUIN label.

Booklet for Ravel, Prokofiev & Strauss: Polychrome