Description
The forty-year friendship between Brahms and Joseph Joachim, violinist and composer, was one of the most significant and fruitful relationships in nineteenth-century music. Their admiration of each otherâs artistry was profound and unwavering, and bore sustained creative fruit on Brahmsâs side of which his Violin Concerto and Double Concerto are only the most famous examples.
Joachimâs transcriptions of Brahmsâs famous Hungarian Dancesâoriginally written for piano duet or solo pianoâare technically challenging for any violinist, and superbly idiomatic, constituting a kind of gypsy âArt of the Violinâ. They represent the summit of Brahmsâs âHungarianâ art, and Joachimâs powers of transcription match them with violin writing of the greatest fastidiousness and authentic feeling. The brilliant Hagai Shaham, acclaimed for his recordings of Hubay, is the ideal performer.