Arabella Steinbacher was Artist of the Season at PENTATONE before Nareh Arghamanyan took over the role in the period we are in now . She has six previous releases with PENTATONE, and one of these, together with Robert Kulek. The latter was released in 2011, with the complete works for piano and violin by Brahms.

This time it alstså Romantic sonatas by César Franck and Richard Strauss they have recorded. Publishing is always from PENTATONE a hybrid stereo and multi-channel SACD.

Read more in the press release from Penta Tone:

Press Release : Romantic Sonatas by César Franck and Richard Strauss

Baarn, The Netherlands, 3 September 2014- Violinist Arabella Steinbacher and pianist Robert Kulek continue their great collaboration with a new PENTATONE release, the recording of César Franck’s Sonata for Piano and Violin in A, which joins Richard Strauss’ Sonata for Violin and Piano in E-flat, Op. 18. While Franck’s violin sonata is epic in character, Strauss’ work is full of jovial energy, hope and anticipation. This fusion of elements brilliantly demonstrates the synergy between Steinbacher and Kulek, something we have witnessed during their recital performances over the past few years.

Needless to say, both artists possess superb technique. Steinbacher demonstrates her delicate yet fiery touch, most notably in the robust Franck score, while Kulek plays with resolute intonation, steadfast tempo, and broad dynamics.

As exquisite as the performance is, one surely cannot overlook the role of PENTATONE’s recording partner Polyhymnia, whose first-rate recording and engineering techniques have allowed this release to stay true to the rich and wide sound that are PENTATONE’s trademarks.

This release would undeniably make a solid addition to your collection and mark Strauss’ 150th birthday anniversary this year.

The CD is available worldwide from 1 September 2014.

ABOUT Arabella Steinbacher

Violinist Arabella Steinbacher has firmly established herself as one of today’s leading violinists on the international concert scene, performing with the world’s major orchestras. 

Playing with ‘balanced lyricism and fire’ as quoted by the New York Times, Arabella Steinbacher has appeared with the leading international orchestras including the Boston Symphony, the London Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, The Philharmonia Orchestra, the Dresdner Philharmonie, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, NDR Sinfonieorchester Hamburg, WDR Symphony Orchestra, NHK Symphony Orchestra, Munich Philharmonic, and Cleveland Orchestra. She has worked with many conductors, including Riccardo Chailly, Sir Colin Davis, Christoph von Dohnányi, Charles Dutoit, Herbert Blomstedt, Vladimir Jurowski, Zubin Mehta, Marek Janowski, Lorin Maazel, Sir Neville Marriner, Vasily Petrenko, and Yannick Nezet-Seguin.

Born in Munich in 1981, Arabella Steinbacher began studying the violin at the age of three. At nine, she became Ana Chumachenko’s youngest violin student at the Munich Academy of Music. In 2001 Ms. Steinbacher won a sponsorship prize from the Free State of Bavaria and was awarded a scholarship from the Anne-Sophie Mutter Foundation. Her recording honours include the Choc du Mois from Le Monde de la Musique, two ECHO Klassik Awards, two German Record Critics’ Awards, and the Editor’s Choice Award from Gramophone magazine. Ms. Steinbacher currently plays the "Booth" Stradivari (1716) generously provided by the Nippon Music Foundation.

For more information visit: www.arabella-steinbacher.com

ABOUT Robert Kulek

Thanks to his versatility as a collaborative pianist, with a repertoire ranging from Bach to Ligeti, Robert Kulek regularly performs with some of the foremost instrumentalists of today, including Nikolaj Znaider, Arabella Steinbacher, Kyung-Wha Chung, Daniel Mueller- Schott, Augustin Hadelich and Simone Lamsma. He has also worked with such distinguished musicians as Gil Shaham, Julia Fischer, Julian Rachlin, Viviane Hagner, Shmuel Ashkenazi and Alisa Weilerstein, as well as the Jerusalem, Vogler and Aviv Quartets.

Recognition for his recordings includes the Edison nomination for a French sonata recorded with cellist Daniel Mueller-Schott, 5-star reviews in BBC Music Magazine and Diapason for a recording of the 3 Brahms sonatas with  violinist Arabella Steinbacher, and a high critical acclaim for a recital disc released in Asia in May 2013 with violinist Ye-Eun Choi.

Robert Kulek began his musical education at Mannes College of Music in New York with Elena Leonova, continuing to the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London with Joan Havill. He subsequently went on to Yale University in New Haven to study with Boris Berman and Claude Frank, and earned a degree in Performance. Robert Kulek is a faculty member of the Conservatory of Music in Cologne, Germany where he teaches chamber music.

For more information visit: www.robertkulek.com

ABOUT PENTATONE

PENTATONE is a Dutch classical music label specialising in high-end, multi-channel surround sound recordings. It was founded in 2001 by three former Philips Classics executives. PENTATONE’s catalogue includes performances by conductors Kent Nagano, Marek Janowski, Sir Neville Marriner, Mikhail Pletnev, Sir Colin Davis, Yakov Kreizberg, Simon Murphy and Lawrence Foster; instrumentalists Julia Fischer, Mari Kodama, Arabella Steinbacher, Nikolai Lugansky, Nareh Arghamanyan, Martin Helmchen, Sa Chen; and orchestras such as the Russian National Orchestra, the Wiener Symphoniker, the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, the New Dutch Academy and the Bolshoi Opera.