Antonio Bazzini: Works For Violin & Piano (Naxos Audio CD)

Chloë Hanslip (violin)
Caspar Frantz (piano)

Antonio Bazzini, born in Brescia in 1818, was one of the great violinist-composers of the 19th century. After encouragement from Paganini following an encounter in 1836, he lived the life of a touring virtuoso for many years. Eventually returning to Italy, he was appointed first professor and then director of the Milan Conservatory and was a teacher of Mascagni and Puccini.

Though he composed in larger forms, he is best remembered as the composer of numerous salon pieces for violin and piano, the most famous being La Ronde des lutins (The Dance of the Goblins), but also including many character pieces of various descriptions.

“It's to Hanslip's credit that… she is unafraid to risk the unfamiliar. She makes a triumphant success of this concerto, not least because her playing is as forceful and muscular as it is assured, and one hears in every entry how well thought-through are her approach and her grasp of the work's subtle musical nuance.”
The Strad

“Hanslip…makes a good advocate of these pieces… Just what the music needs. And all her solo sprints are exhilarating. Glissando dashes, double, triple and quadruple stopping – nothing gives her pause.”