This CD features two violin concertos; both works have been recorded in an intimate chamber music atmosphere with a direct dialogue between the soloist and the orchestra. Neither of these compositions is a standard work within their genre and both were created by composers for whom the concerto played a peripheral role in their creative activities. Leonard Bernstein would never have utilized the title Concerto for any of his surviving works and concertos make up a negligible proportion of the compositional output of Joseph Haydn. Nevertheless, the Serenade by the former composer and the C major Concerto by the latter reveal a great deal about their creators and their relative historical position as is frequently the case with musical treasures off the beaten track of the musical world.

“An imaginative pairing brings together Bernstein’s animated philosophical debate between soloist and orchestra with Haydn’s more genial discussion. Blacher sparkles.”
(BBC Music Magazine, 2/2018)

“Without eliminating the more sensual and atmospheric aspects, Kolja Blacher gives a very colourful and vigorous account of Bernstein’s Serenade. He add a very inspired Haydn Concerto, vividly played by Württembergisches Kammerorchester.“
(Rémy Franck in: Pizzicato.lu, 10.2.2018 )