New release: Shostakovich with Vladimir Jurowski & State Academic Symphony Orchestra of Russia
On her latest album, Alina Ibragimova reunites with conductor Vladimir Jurowski to play Shostakovich’s First and Second Violin Concertos alongside the State Academic Symphony Orchestra of Russia ‘Evgeny Svetlanov.’ The recording is available now on Hyperion.
"When you live with a piece for many years, you have your own interpretation of it, and that changes with everything that you live through yourself,” says Alina on recording the Shostakovich Concertos. “So works like this are, in a way, our best friends."
You can read about Alina's take on the recording, and more, in her interview with Presto Classical.
Alina and Vladimir Jurowski have collaborated previously on recording, releasing Mendelssohn's Violin Concertos in E minor and D minor with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. Gramophone commented: "there's a truth and honesty about this interpretation that you simply can't argue with . . . beyond all the perfect balancing and the ear-pricking little details being drawn out of the score, it's played with bucketloads of heart. A true stand out."
The two have been frequent musical partners in the past years, appearing with the Philadelphia Orchestra for Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 4, the Boston Symphony for Hartmann's Concerto Funèbre and Haydn's Violin Concerto No. 1, the London Philharmonic Orchestra for Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 1, plus the OAE and Berlin Radio Symphony for Strauss’s Violin Concerto.
"Alina Ibragimova successfully channels the spirit of David Oistrakh in these gripping performances of the two violin concertos that Shostakovich wrote for the Ukrainian virtuoso. She shares his interpretive humility in playing that conveys the music's emotional depths as much as its acerbic wit."
The Strad | Album review | August 2020
"The Russian-British violinist Alina Ibragimova, versatile, virtuosic and astute in every kind of repertoire (listen to her play Bach), has established an ideal partnership with the State Academic Symphony Orchestra of Russia “Evgeny Svetlanov” and the conductor Vladimir Jurowski. In musical perception and integrity to the score, you couldn’t find a better match. Their Shostakovich Violin Concertos (Hyperion) capture every twist and subtlety, as well as letting rip in the angry outbursts."
The Guardian | Home listening | 13th June 2020
"Alina Ibragimova is the latest to make you think you've never heard the work better played, and her intense relationship with Vladimir Jurowski and the current incarnation of Yevgeny Svetlanov's 'orchestra with a voice,' making just as compelling a case for the sequel concerto, is supernaturally fine-tuned."
BBC Music Magazine | Recording of the month | July 2020
"In the Violin Concerto No.1, written in 1947/8 at the height of Soviet oppression of the arts, the soloist speaks as an inner voice of suffering and compassion. Ibragimova is especially convincing in the fragility of these intimate moments, though her playing also has sarcastic kick and flair elsewhere."
Financial Times | Album review | 29th May 2020
"Alina Ibragimova sehr inspirierende Deutungen zeigen nicht nur die exzellente Technikerin, sondern vor allem, dass diese Solistin die Musik zu ihrem Innersten Wesen macht und damit eine Intensität im Ausdruck erreicht, die in ihren Bann zieht."
Pizzicato Online-Magazin Luxembourg | CD recommendation | 29th May 2020
"Jeder Ton trifft den Hörer in die verwundbarste Stelle des Unbewussten."
Süddeutsche Zeitung | CD recommendation | 26th May 2020