Album Notes

Brahms Violin Sonatas
Simon Fischer and Raymond Fischer
July 2009

catalogue number 80229-2

Scherzo from ‘F.A.E’ Sonata (Sonatensatz)
Sonata No. 1 in G, op. 78
Sonata No. 2 in A, op. 100
Sonata No. 3 in D minor, op. 108
Vladimir Ashkenazy wrote: ‘Simon Fischer is a thoroughly accomplished violinist, a wonderful musician’. He has played as guest concertmaster or soloist with many of the British orchestras including the Philharmonia, RPO, BBC Scottish, Scottish Chamber, Ulster, Bournemouth and many others, given numerous solo performances at the Wigmore Hall and the Purcell Room, and broadcasts for BBC Radio 3 and BBC Scotland.

What makes the release of this, his first commercial CD, so important is that it introduces his captivating playing to people who have known him purely as one of the leading violin teachers in the world. His two major violin technique books Basics and Practice, both translated into several languages, have gained him a world-wide following, as has his famous column on string technique in The Strad magazine, which continues today having run without a break since 1991. He has singlehandedly opened up the study of violin technique in a way that has brought to thousands of players, and the following generations, a level of help and training which had previously been the privilege of only a few.
The pianist is Raymond Fischer, who has performed widely as solo recitalist, vocal accompanist and chamber musician throughout the UK, in Australia and in Europe. He taught at the Royal College of Music in London, and is Tutor in Performance at Pembroke College, Oxford.
This duo has played a large repertoire in recitals over the last 25 years. They have performed the complete Brahms sonatas in countless concerts including at the Wigmore Hall, and the last time they performed them was in a live radio broadcast from the Verbrugghen Hall, in Sydney, Australia.This recording, made in the Henry Wood Hall in London, was produced by the internationally-acclaimed Andrew Keener.