ARTHUR HARTMANN

 

La Tzigane, La Coquette and other miniatures for Violin & Piano

 

1. L’Amour: Valse bluette

2. A Negro Croon

3. Autumn in Hungary: Romance

4. Nyiregyházi Emlék: Csardas

5. Szomorúság (Tristesse): Rhapsodische Skizze

6. Caprice

7. Valse

8. Danse Grotesque

9. Kossuth Lajos

10. Bogdan…

11. Esprit de Ravioli Polah (Souvenir d’une Soirée inoubliable)

12. Prayer

13. La Tzigane

14. La Coquette: Valse Intermezzo

15. Tauga: A Bulgarian Sketch

16. A Cradle Song

Transcriptions

17. Debussy: Beau Soir

18. Debussy: La fille aux cheveux de lin

19. Debussy: Il pleure dans mon coeur

20. MacDowell: To a Wild Rose

 

Solomia Soroka - violin

Arthur Greene - piano

 

Salon favourites from a former age revived in loving performances

 

Arthur Hartmann, an American of Hungarian descent was a brilliant violinist who attracted rave reviews throughout his life as soloist and leader of the Hartmann Quartet. A child prodigy at age 11 he gave recitals in Europe, meeting and charming Sir Charles Hallé, Saint-Saens, Hans Richter, Paderewski, Benjamin Godard and many others. A pupil of the legendary virtuoso Eugene Ysaÿe, Hartmann was renowned for his interpretation of Bach’s Chaconne for solo violin. His works were performed by artists of the calibre of Heifetz, Menuhin, Kreisler and Thibaud. Hartmann’s sympathetic and subtle transcriptions, particularly of Debussy, won the composer’s approval and are still in circulation today.

 

This is the first recording of any of Hartmann’s Kreisler-like salon miniatures for violin and piano which, like Elgar’s violin miniatures, speak immediately to the listener with their easy tunefulness. Emotionally exuberant and vital, his miniatures are infused with the specific harmonic and rhythmic intonations of Hungarian folklore and skilfully exploit the colours of the different violin strings.

 

Toccata Classics TOCC0089