Baika

Nemanja Radulovic (violin), Stephanie Fontanarosa (piano), Andreas Ottensammer (clarinet), Laure Favre-Kahn (piano) & After his exciting journey into the musical tradition of Eastern Europe (Journey East), the Baroque Sound-scapes of J.S. Bach (Bach), the Russian melodies of P.I. Tchaikovsky (Tchaikovsky), Nemanja Radulovic now embarks on a musical journey through the Orient – from Armenian reality to Persic daydream.

This Oriental album includes a newly arranged “Scheherezade” as well as Khachaturian‘s highly virtuosic violin concerto.

Nemanja’s a personal approach when creating an album is essential. The Serbian word “Baïka” translates to “tale” or “fairytale” and was chosen by him personally, because everything on this album feels like “Baïka” to him.

Commissioned for Nemanja’s ensemble Double Sens, Serbian composer and arranger Aleksandar Sedlar re-visited the fate of Scheherazade, queen and storyteller of One Thousand and One Nights. His composition is based on the Scheherazade Suite Op. 35 by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov and intriguingly recounts tales and treasures from the centuries-old epos. There will be a music video of the 1st movement.

To record Aram Khachaturian’s violin concerto Nemanja chose Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Sascha Goetzel, a pairing that already follows a successful collaboration on stage. The beautiful concerto is performed and recorded very rarely, which may be blamed on its virtuosity. Nemanja is considered as the current specialist of this work, adding a very personal and individual interpretation.

The Borusan and its conductor brilliantly complement his approach with their own dynamics and give the work that particular oriental flavor Nemanja wanted to reach with his recording.

The album includes another masterpiece by Khachaturian, which is the Trio for clarinet, violin and piano. The link between the violin concerto and the trio is obvious, as the clarinet also holds a prominent place in the concerto. As with the above recordings, Nemanja chose to record the trio with accomplices with whom he likes to perform on stage – the clarinetist Andreas Ottensamer and the pianist Laure Favre-Kahn.

To complete this recording, Nemanja chose to also work with Aleksandar Sedlar not as an arranger only, but as a composer: Savcho III is the transcription of a movement of the concerto for saxophone and orchestra for Nemanja and Double Sens, with traditional and festive melodies.Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra, Sascha Goetzel

Khachaturian:
 Trio for clarinet, violin & piano
 Violin Concerto in D minor

Rimsky Korsakov:
 Scheherazade, Op. 35

Sedlar:
 Savcho 3

"Zoals de Britse violist Nigel Kennedy in de jaren tachtig en negentig een hoopvolle brug naar nieuw en jonger publiek vormde met zijn punkachtige uiterlijk en onconventionele presentatie, zo is de Frans-Servische violist Nemanja Radulovic anno 2019 een troef. Hij ziet eruit als een popster, komt met pakkende cd-programma’s en, het belangrijkste, hij kan verdraaid goed viool spelen. Na Journey East en de schijnbaar conventionelere platen met Tsjaikovski en Bach in de hoofdrol is er nu Baïka (sprookje), een krachtige en aansprekende titel voor een cd vol ‘sprookjesachtige’ muziek. Onderwerp van de cd is de Oriënt en daarmee de sprookjes van 1001 nacht die vooral vertegenwoordigd worden door het veel te weinig gespeelde Vioolconcert van Chatsjatoerjan en het in de bewerking voor Radulovic en het ensemble Double Sens tot verkapt vioolconcert omgetoverde Shéhérazade van Rimski-Korsakov. Het Trio voor klarinet, viool en piano van Chatsjatoerjan en twee korte werken van de Servische componist Aleksandar Sedlar completeren deze ‘reis’. Radulovic speelt alles met verve en laat bij vlagen de mooie ruigheid van een zigeunerviolist toe, terwijl Double Sens en het Borusan Instanbul Philharmonic Orchestra onder leiding van Sascha Goetzel hem even mooi als bescheiden ondersteunen."
Klassieke Zaken Magazine 1-2019