The versatility of Catalan songs has seen them much in use in arrangements for violin and piano, with Fritz Kreisler and Joseph Szigeti enthusiastic champions of their virtuoso potential and melodic charm. In addition to arrangements, this programme has plenty of original works for violin including Gaspar Cassadó’s substantial Violin Sonata, Enrique Granados’s fulsome Romanza and Federico Mompou’s rhapsodic Altitud, with Jordi Cervelló’s sparkling ‘test piece’ Prova di violino bringing us well into the 21st century.

Violinist Janna Gandelman won numerous competitions in the former Soviet Union, and after immigration to Israel in 1979 she continued her studies and was accepted to be a part of the American-Israel Cultural Foundation, performing in many countries around the world and winning several competitions. Her Naxos recording of Kara Karayev’s Violin Concerto (8573722) was admired in Fanfare: ‘Karayev writes beautifully for the violin, and Janna Gandelman – born the year the concerto was written – plays it with warmth and colour, on a luscious J.B. Guadignini instrument.’

Spanish pianist Laia Martín recently recorded an album of Catalan music with cellist Dmitry Yablonsky on 8579097: ‘Moscow-born cellist Dmitry Yablonsky is utterly convincing in this very Spanish music as is his colleague, the Spanish pianist Laia Martín’ (MusicWeb International).