Firma Melodiya presents Paganini & Koshkin album by guitarist Artyom Dervoed.
The album features Megaron Concerto live performance recording: the concerto was performed in Kazan in November 2017 with La Primavera Kazan chamber orchestra under the baton of Rustem Abyazov and recorded live.
Niccolo Paganini's Grand Sonata was originally written for the guitar accompanied by the violin. Nikita Koshkin decided to choose the Paganini-style quartet for the transcription: guitar, violin, viola, and cello. Moscow Virtuosi chamber orchestra artists Alexey Lundin (violin), Kirill Semenovykh (viola), and Daniil Shavyrin (cello) participated in the recording.
Niccolo Paganini genius distinguished him from the other great musicians of the nineteenth century and was believed to the witchcraft and the "devilish" tricks. He is worldwide known as "the devil's violinist," but a guitar accompanied him throughout his life as well. Although he never performed as a guitarist in public. Yet Paganini's legacy includes dozens of hours of guitar music.
Nikita Koshkin won international fame as a composer in the 1980s, once his "avant-garde" works broke the generally accepted notion of the classical guitar as an instrument locked into Spanish-Gypsy traditions. His works for the guitar contain techniques and tools which provide the audience with a full set of emotions and moods, usually associated with the classical music of the highest caliber. Nikita Koshkin resides in Russia and remains one of the most sought-after world guitar composers.

Niccolo Paganini – Nikita Koshkin
Grand Quartetto (based on Grand Sonata in A major, MS3 by Niccolo Paganini)
1. I. Allegro risoluto ............................................. 9.22
2. II. Romanze. Piu tosto largo. Amorosamente . 2.12
3. III. Andantino variato. Scherzando .................. 4.35
Nikita Koshkin
Megaron, Concerto for guitar and string orchestra (2005) (LIVE)
4. I. Allegro sostenuto – Allegretto marziale ...... 5.07
5. II. Allegro assa ................................................. 7.58
6. III. Adagio ........................................................ 7.06
7. IV. Vivo – Andante .......................................... 3.16
Total time: 67.30
Artyom Dervoed, guitar
Guitars: Gabriele Lodi (Italy) (1–3), Masaki Sakurai (Japan) (4–7)
Strings: D’Addario
Alexey Lundin, violin (1–3)
Kirill Semenovykh, viola (1–3)
Daniil Shavyrin, cello (1–3)
La Primavera Kazan Chamber Orchestra, conductor – Rustem Abyazov (4–7)
Tracks 1–3: recorded at Mosfilm Music Studios, Studio One on August 21 and 22, 2019.
Tracks 4–7: live recording at Saydashev State Great Concert Hall, Kazan on November 9, 2017.
Sound engineer – Evgenia Zhazhelo
Recording engineer – Igor Sidenko (4–7)
Project supervisor – Andrey Krichevskiy
Label manager – Karina Abramyan
Release editors: Tatiana Kazarnovskaya, Natalia Storchak
Design – Grigory Zhukov
Translation – Nikolai Kuznetsov