Coleridge-Taylor, Dvořák, Stewart Gil Shaham, Virginia Symphony Orchestra & Eric Jacobsen

• Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875 - 1912): Violin Concerto in G minor, Op.80:
• 1 Coleridge-Taylor: Violin Concerto in G minor, Op.80: I. Allegro maestoso 11:22
• 2 Coleridge-Taylor: Violin Concerto in G minor, Op.80: II. Andante semplice - Andantino 08:29
• 3 Coleridge-Taylor: Violin Concerto in G minor, Op.80: III. Allegro molto - Moderato 11:05
• Antonín Dvořák (1841 - 1904): Violin Concerto in A Minor, Op. 53, B. 108:
• 4 Dvořák: Violin Concerto in A Minor, Op. 53, B. 108: I. Allegro ma non troppo 10:41
• 5 Dvořák: Violin Concerto in A Minor, Op. 53, B. 108: II. Adagio ma non troppo 10:08
• 6 Dvořák: Violin Concerto in A Minor, Op. 53, B. 108: III. Finale: Allegro giocoso ma non troppo 10:10
• Curtis Stewart (b. 1986): The Famous People:
• 7 Stewart: The Famous People: 46.2 - F. Harper 04:54
• Total Runtime 01:06:49

Info for Coleridge-Taylor, Dvořák, Stewart

This new recording brings together violinist Gil Shaham,conductor Eric Jacobsen and the Virginia Symphony Orchestra in a program exploring the violin concerto as a vehicle for cultural memory and continuity.

Released on Canary Classics, the album pairs Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s Violin Concerto in G minor, Op. 80 and Antonín Dvořák’s Violin Concerto in A minor, Op. 53, with the world premiere recording of F. Harper, from The Famous People by Curtis Stewart.

Coleridge-Taylor’s concerto reveals a Romantic voice shaped by lyricism and rhythmic vitality, while Dvořák’s work reflects folk influence and communal musical expression. Stewart’s F. Harper responds through a contemporary lens, engaging questions of naming, lineageand identity.

Inspired by the layered meanings of ‘Slavonic’, the work draws parallels between European histories of enslavement and the ways Black Americans continue to shape pride and cultural legacy today. Together, these works connect past and present through sound.

Gil Shaham, violin
Virginia Symphony Orchestra
Eric Jacobsen, conductor

Please Note: We offer this album in its native sampling rate of 48kHz, 24-bit. The provided 96kHz version was up-sampled and offers no audible value!

Gil Shaham
Gil Shaham is one of the foremost violinists of our time; his flawless technique combined with his inimitable warmth and generosity of spirit has solidified his renown as an American master. The Grammy Award-winner, also named Musical America’s “Instrumentalist of the Year,” is sought after throughout the world for concerto appearances with leading orchestras and conductors, and regularly gives recitals and appears with ensembles on the world’s great concert stages and at the most prestigious festivals.

Highlights of recent years include the acclaimed recording and performances of J.S. Bach’s complete sonatas and partitas for solo violin. In the coming seasons in addition to championing these solo works he will join his long time duo partner pianist, Akira Eguchi in recitals throughout North America, Europe, and Asia.

Appearances with orchestra regularly include the Berlin Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, Chicago Symphony, Israel Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic, Orchestre de Paris, and San Francisco Symphony as well as multi-year residencies with the Orchestras of Montreal, Stuttgart and Singapore. With orchestra, Mr. Shaham continues his exploration of “Violin Concertos of the 1930s,” including the works of Barber, Bartok, Berg, Korngold, Prokofiev, among many others.

Mr. Shaham has more than two dozen concerto and solo CDs to his name, earning multiple Grammys, a Grand Prix du Disque, Diapason d’Or, and Gramophone Editor’s Choice. Many of these recordings appear on Canary Classics, the label he founded in 2004. His CDs include 1930s Violin Concertos, Virtuoso Violin Works, Elgar’s Violin Concerto, Hebrew Melodies, The Butterfly Lovers and many more. His most recent recording in the series 1930s Violin Concertos Vol. 2, including Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto and Bartok’s Violin Concerto No. 2, was nominated for a Grammy Award. He will release a new recording of Beethoven and Brahms Concertos with The Knights in 2020.

Mr. Shaham was born in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, in 1971. He moved with his parents to Israel, where he began violin studies with Samuel Bernstein of the Rubin Academy of Music at the age of 7, receiving annual scholarships from the America-Israel Cultural Foundation. In 1981, he made debuts with the Jerusalem Symphony and the Israel Philharmonic, and the following year, took the first prize in Israel’s Claremont Competition. He then became a scholarship student at Juilliard, and also studied at Columbia University.

Gil Shaham was awarded an Avery Fisher Career Grant in 1990, and in 2008 he received the coveted Avery Fisher Prize. In 2012, he was named “Instrumentalist of the Year” by Musical America. He plays the 1699 “Countess Polignac” Stradivarius and performs on an Antonio Stradivari violin, Cremona c1719, with the assistance of Rare Violins In Consortium, Artists and Benefactors Collaborative. He lives in New York City with his wife, violinist Adele Anthony, and their three children.

This album contains no booklet.