Buriedtreasure

Violinist Alexander Sitkovetsky shares three rarities from his own collection

Achron Hebrew Melody

Josef Hassid (violin), Gerald Moore (piano) Opus Kura OPK2110

This is beautiful and gets a little bit left behind compared to Bloch’s Jewish lament. It’s not technically difficult, but it has a gorgeous melody. Fritz Kreisler said a violinist like Heifetz is born every 100 years and a violinist like Josef Hassad is born every 200. Hassad was supposed to become the greatest of them all. To think that he was about 15 when he did this, and it is his only recording…

Dobrinka Tabakova Insight

ASCH Trio ECM 4764826

This is one of Dobrinka’s earliest pieces and one of my favourites. I’ve played it a couple of times – it’s incredibly difficult to play and technically very challenging. I guess she thought that the ASCH Trio were such good players that she could write anything for them. She starts the piece by trying to make the strings sound like a single instrument, in this case the accordion.

It’s fantastic and the recording features such high-quality playing.

Korngold Suite for Piano Left Hand

Daniel Rowland (violin), Priya Mitchell (violin), Julian Arp (cello), Luis Magalhães (piano)

Two Pianists TP1039282

This was one of the last pieces Korngold wrote before he went to the US; he wrote it for Paul Wittgenstein, the famous onearmed pianist. It’s a long work and has the interesting combination of left-hand piano, two violins and cello. He uses the second violin as a sort of bridge between the cello and the first violin. It’s a fivemovement suite which used to be a little under the radar. Daniel Rowland is such a romantic and his tone suits the magical Viennese world that Korngold paints.

The Sitkovetsky Trio’s first Beethoven recording is out now on BIS Records