An Introduction to the United Strings of Europe

Valentin Silvestrov was forced to leave his native Ukraine after the Russian invasion of 2022. His music has a prescient quality that unerringly seems to express the fate of his homeland. Raymond Bisha introduces the world premiere recordings of his intimate Violin Concerto and the heartfelt, single-span Eighth Symphony. Notable for their economy of expression and emphasis on beauty, depth and harmony, these are works that hover on the edge of silence in an uplifting homage to love and humanity, hope and renewal.

This album with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra features music by Australian composer Liza Lim, with whom the orchestra has an ongoing relationship.  Over the past decade the orchestra has been involved in commissioning all three works on this album:  The Compass for orchestra with solo flute and digeridoo, A Sutured World for Cello and Orchestra, and Mary / Transcendence after Trauma.  

The music of Alan Hovhaness, one of America’s most prolific composers, enchants with his signature synthesis of East and West. Influenced by his Armenian heritage and a fascination with nature and spirituality, Hovhaness sought to create music “for all people, music which is beautiful and healing.” Raymond Bisha introduces the latest Naxos album of his works which features violinist Zina Schiff, a Heifetz protégée whose international career spans five decades on five continents.

There is a span of nearly six decades between the first and last of the compositions on this album of piano music by Czech composer Alois Hába, with works written during various creative periods and with differing intentions. As a whole, they document both the development of the composer’s musical thinking and goals and the diversity of approach to composing for the piano in the 20th century.

Vasari Singers, one of the UK's pre-eminent choirs, have titled their new album The Music Never Ends, referencing Michel Legrand and his celebrated song How do you Keep the Music Playing? And by the end of the album's twenty-one tracks, you'll wish it could be so. Raymond Bisha dips into the programme's multi-faceted offerings, while didgeridoo players should be on immediate standby to make a contribution. Listen up, and listen on.

Composer/poet Oscar Lorenzo Fernandez was born in Rio de Janeiro in 1897. He went on to become a leading figure in the development of Brazil's classical music scene, as a composer, conductor, musicologist, and a professor of harmony in the National Music Institute in Rio de Janeiro, as well as other institutions. Along with Francisco Mignone and other prominent musicians, he was a founding member of the new Conservatório Brasileiro de Música, and together with Villa-Lobos he helped innovate music teaching in Brazil. His considerable musical legacy includes 48 songs, two symphonies, the orchestral suite Reisado do Pastoreio, the opera Malazarte, numerous chamber works, and around 80 piano pieces. A selection of the latter forms the basis of this podcast discussion between pianist Clélia Iruzun and Raymond Bisha.

In this podcast Raymond Bisha talks with Julian Azkoul, Director of United Strings of Europe, about how the group started, about their album, and about how they started recording for BIS label at the invitation of their legendary founder and producer Robert von Bahr.  It is hard to overstate how important Robert's unequivocal support was for the ensemble.  All that, plus music by Osvaldo Golijov, Olli Mustonen, Dobrinka Tabakova and Igor Stravinsky.

In Biber’s time, harmony was something cosmic, vibrating in a God-given resonance between human, instrumental, and celestial bodies. After all, the string instrument in early modern Europe was configured as a human body – with a neck, belly, and ribs to match. The Sonatas were therefore not only designed to delight, but also potentially to balm and heal; Biber described the sonatas as a kind of prayer for his patron's longevity and good health.

“I feel that you will achieve your greatest triumphs in [the symphonic] genre for I consider you to have precisely the properties that make a great symphonic composer. This is my firm belief.” Thus wrote Jan Sibelius in 1914 to his former student Leevi Madetoja. Raymond Bisha presents supporting evidence for that foresight in extracts from Madetoja's First and Third Symphonies and the Okon Fuoko Suite performed by the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra under John Storgårds.

The musical partnership of pianists Anna Geniushene and Lukas Geniušas, both esteemed prize-winners of major international competitions, is not just a testament to their flourishing solo careers and a shared musical heritage and philosophy. It is a profound expression of their deep emotional connection, a bond that resonates in their performances and captivates audiences world-wide. With their unique synergy, this husband-and-wife duo brings a fresh and thrilling perspective to the world of piano duos, setting them apart from their peers.