Critically acclaimed violinist Tianwa Yang has twice been the winner of the prestigious Opus Klassik Instrumentalist of the Year Award (Violin) – in 2022 for Prokofiev’s Violin Concertos Nos. 1 and 2 (Naxos 8.574107), and in 2015 for Ysaÿe’s Six Sonatas for Solo Violin, Op. 27 (Naxos 8.572995). In 2014 she received the Best Up-and-Coming Artist Award and the annual prize of the German Record Critics’ Award Association for her recording of Mendelssohn’s Violin Concertos (Naxos 8.572662) and her multiple volumes of Sarasate’s complete works for violin.

She has performed worldwide with major orchestras including the Seattle, Detroit, Baltimore, Malmö, Singapore, New Zealand, WDR Cologne, MDR Leipzig and Frankfurt Radio symphonies, in addition to the Gürzenich Orchester Köln and Bayerisches Staatsorchester, and the London, Helsinki and Hong Kong philharmonics.

Her constantly expanding discography for Naxos includes Brahms’ Violin Concerto / Double Concerto (8.573772), Wolfgang Rihm’s Music for Violin and Orchestra (Vol. 1: 8.573812, Vol. 2: 8.573667) and Complete Works for Violin and Piano (8.572730), Lalo’s Symphonie espagnole alongside Manén’s Concierto español (8.573067), Piazzolla’s Las cuatro estaciones porteñas (8.572271) and Vivaldi/Piazzolla’s Acht Jahreszeiten (‘Eight Seasons’) (8.551228), performed with her own ensemble.

She performs on a Guarneri del Gesù violin (1730) on kind loan from the Rin Collection in Singapore.

www.tianwayang.com

Gabriel Schwabe is a laureate of three of the world’s most prestigious cello competitions: the Grand Prix Emanuel Feuermann in Berlin, the Concours Rostropovich in Paris and the Pierre Fournier Award in London.

As a soloist he has worked with orchestras such as the Philharmonia, ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, Ulster Orchestra, NDR Radiophilharmonie, Royal Northern Sinfonia, Danish Chamber Orchestra, the Malmö and Norrköping Symphony Orchestras and the China NCPA Orchestra, Beijing with conductors such as Marek Janowski, Eivind Gullberg-Jensen, Dennis Russell-Davies, Adam Fischer, Joana Mallwitz, Cornelius Meister, Giancarlo Guerrero, Michael Sanderling and Marc Soustrot.

In 2010 he gave his recital debut at London’s Wigmore Hall. He is a regular guest at festivals such as the Jerusalem International Chamber Music Festival, Kronberg Academy Festival, Amsterdam Biennale and Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, and has performed with artists including Isabelle Faust, Christian Tetzlaff, Lars Vogt, Kirill Gerstein, Roland Pöntinen and Enrico Pace.

He was born in Berlin to German-Spanish parents, studied with Catalin Ilea at the Universität der Künste Berlin and with Frans Helmerson at the Kronberg Academy, and received further stimulus from János Starker, Gary Hoffman, Gidon Kremer and András Schiff. He is a cello professor at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln and the Conservatorium Maastricht. He is married to violinist Hellen Weiß, and plays a cello by Giuseppe Guarneri (Cremona, 1695).

www.gabrielschwabe.com

Malmö Symphony Orchestra (MSO) is one of Sweden’s leading symphony orchestras. Performing on a high international level with a broad classical and contemporary repertoire, MSO also collaborates with prominent composers on new commissions. In recent years, MSO has expanded its repertoire and renown under former chief conductors Vassily Sinaisky, Marc Soustrot and Robert Trevino.

MSO’s recordings have won international recognition, being awarded First Prize at the Cannes Classical Awards, as well as accolades from Diapason d’Or and Gramophone magazine. Many of MSO’s recordings have garnered much critical acclaim from BBC Music Magazine and The New York Times.

Over the years, many successful international tours have been carried out, with the orchestra performing at the Semperoper Dresden, Royal Concertgebouw Amsterdam and Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, among others. Malmö Live concert hall, with its world class acoustics, has put Malmö on the musical map of Europe, and attracted leading orchestras such as the Berliner Philharmoniker, London Symphony Orchestra and Gewandhausorchester Leipzig.

www.malmolive.se

Photo: Rickard Johnsson, Studio E

Marc Soustrot is considered a specialist of French orchestral repertoire. Formerly the principal conductor and artistic director of the Orchestre Philharmonique des Pays de la Loire, the Beethoven Orchester, Bonn, and Het Brabants Orkest, Eindhoven, he is currently chief conductor of the Malmö Symphony Orchestra and the Aarhus Symphony Orchestra.

As a guest conductor, Soustrot has worked with the Staatskapelle Dresden, the Munich Philharmonic, the Bamberg Symphony, the English Chamber Orchestra, the Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Real Orquesta Sinfónica de Sevilla, the Filharmonie Antwerpen, the Residentie Orkest Den Haag and the philharmonic orchestras of Copenhagen, Stockholm, Oslo, Helsinki, Luxembourg, Barcelona and Tokyo.

He has worked at the Opéra de Monte-Carlo, the Semperoper in Dresden, the Teatro Real in Madrid, the Grand Théâtre de Genève, La Monnaie de Munt in Brussels, the Royal Danish Opera and the Norwegian National Opera. Marc Soustrot was honoured with the title Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur in 2008.

Once described as the French Mendelssohn, Camille Saint-Saëns was talented and precocious as a child, with interests by no means confined to music. He made an early impression as a pianist. Following established French tradition, he was for nearly 20 years organist at the Madeleine in Paris and taught briefly at the École Niedermeyer, where he befriended his pupil Gabriel Fauré. He was a co-founder of the important Société Nationale de Musique with the patriotic aim of promoting contemporary French music in the aftermath of the Franco-Prussian war of 1870/1, in which he had served in the Garde Nationale de la Seine. Prolific and versatile as a composer, he contributed to most genres of music, but by the time of his death in 1921 his popularity in France had diminished considerably, as fashions in music had changed.

Operas
The best known of the 13 operas completed by Saint-Saëns is Samson et Dalila, a romantic treatment of the biblical story. His pastiche dances from the unhistorical opera Henry VIII may also be heard in concert performance.

Vocal and Choral Music
Saint-Saëns wrote a number of sacred and secular choral works and made a considerable contribution to the body of French solo song.

Orchestral Music
The ‘Organ’ Symphony – the third of the three numbered symphonies by Saint-Saëns, so named from the use of the instrument in the work – is the best known. Other popular orchestral works include Le Rouet d’Omphale (‘Omphale’s Wheel’) and Danse macabre.

Saint-Saëns, a fine pianist himself, wrote five piano concertos, three violin concertos and two cello concertos. Both the Introduction and Rondo capriccioso and Havanaise are familiar in the repertoire for violin and orchestra.

Chamber Music
Saint-Saëns was equally prolific in his provision of chamber music, with a series of duo sonatas, including two violin sonatas, two cello sonatas and a variety of other pieces. The Carnival of the Animals, often heard in more expanded form, was originally a private joke for the enjoyment of his friends.

Organ and Piano Music
Saint-Saëns, distinguished as a pianist and organist, wrote for both instruments, as well as for the harmonium. His organ music includes the Fantaisie in E flat, his first such composition and among the most popular with recitalists.