Track list:

Rhapsodie hongroise Op.5 • Réverie Op.3 •
Tarantelle de concert Op.2 • Réverie No.2 • No.1
Hola modrooká

With this recording the Gran Duo Italiano showcases one of the pillars of modern
violin performance that receives little if any attention today: the great composer–
teacher–violinists active at the turn of the 20th century and the violin ‘schools’ that
emanated from their exemplary violin techniques and interpretive practice. Such
musicians, even before establishing themselves as master teachers, were both
talented solo performers and members of leading chamber ensembles. Two violinists
from this period who stand above the rest are Leopold Auer (1845–1930) and Otakar
Ševčík (1852–1934). This project investigates and rediscovers concert
compositions written by these virtuosos.
The common thread in their writing is a vibrant romanticism, dominated, of course,
by their own instrument, the violin. The form and harmony pursued in these
compositions sought to highlight the violin’s bel canto attributes and draw on the
performer’s full range of technical skills. Auer’s limited oeuvre reveals an impressive
talent for composition. His Rhapsodie hongroise Op.5 was dedicated to Pablo de
Sarasate, and its relatively free structure affords soloists the opportunity to display
their full technical prowess with both the left hand and the bow in writing clearly
inspired by Paganini featuring flying picchettati, rapid demisemiquaver
flourishes, G string passages, chromatic scales in thirds, and harmonics. His Rêverie
Op.3 in G is couched in intense lyricism, as is the extremely refined Rêverie No.2 in E flat.
His Tarantelle de concert Op.2, in which double-stopped thirds play a starring role, is
bright and virtuosic in both the first and final sections, with a contrasting romantic,
expressive central part.
Ševčík’s České tance e písně Op.10, published in 1898, was the final work in his
first creative phase, known as his ‘Russian period’ (1875–1892). A native of Bohemia,
he was feeling homesick in Russia and wrote these Dances to cheer himself up.
The cycle initially comprised six pieces, each displaying virtuosity on a par with Paganini.
Later (in 1928) a seventh dance was added and given the opus number 10a.