Product Description Despite the relatively short time since the dawn of her international career, which began in 2004, violinist Arabella Steinbacher is already leaving a significant mark on the concert stages and recording studios of the world as of this 2009 recording. She is rapidly proving herself to be an extremely mature, well-developed artist capable of handling the most musically sophisticated compositions in her repertoire. Such is certainly the case with the present performance of Karol Szymanowski's intense, gripping First Concerto. Few violinists tackle this marvelous concerto, but Steinbacher approaches it with every bit as much reverence as is typically given to concertos of Shostakovich or Bartok. What's more, her clear understanding of and unity with the score captures the attention of listeners from the first bar to the last. Her phenomenal technique allows her to focus on maintaining lines, coloring each note, and making sense of Szymanowski's melodic language. The PentaTone album continues with an equally engaging performance of the Dvorák Violin Concerto. Although this concerto is performed with great frequency, Steinbacher's interpretation is energetic and driven, robust without being overly sentimental, and powerful without being forced. Marek Janowski leads the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin in masterful, restrained accompaniments and rich, enthusiastic tuttis. PentaTone's sound, particularly for those listening in 5.1-channel surround sound, is warm, present, and clear. - AllMusic Review Arabella Steinbacher's debut recording for the PentaTone label is a most auspicious one.Although only twenty-eight years old she has already proved herself to be a fully mature artist with wide ranging musical sensibilities, as witnessed by the programmes of her concerts around the world and her recordings of composers as disparate as Beethoven, Berg, Milhaud, Shostakovich and Sibelius. The coupling of the two very different concertos on this SACD further illustrates her versatility and eclectic tastes. Her performance of the Szymanowski's 1st Violin Concerto is exquisitely refined with a rapt inward quality that often gives the impression that she is playing just for her own pleasure rather than for any audience. The formidable challenges of the piece present no difficulty for her either technically or artistically. Steinbacher's luminous playing is matched by the keenly focused accompaniment from the Berlin RSO under their director Marek Janowski and by a recording that captures every detail of Szymanowski's iridescent orchestration and also accommodates the huge orchestral climaxes without a trace of congestion. The engineers have also managed to achieve a well nigh perfect balance between soloist and orchestra. Comparisons with the only other SACD of this work currently available The Pearls of Polish Music - Szymanowski are largely irrelevant as the couplings are so completely different, but if a choice, based purely on the violin concerto, is to be made, then this PentaTone version is the one to go for.After the intoxicating perfume of the Szymanowski, we are calmed by a lovely unaffected performance of Dvorak's Romance in F minor. Arabella Steinbacher's pure cantabile playing and rich tone is complemented by Janowski's reading of Dvorak's 'Andante con moto' marking that presents the music at a flowing speed yet still retains its simple charm.Arabella Steinbacher seems to be just as at home with the soaring melodies and dancing rhythms of Dvorak's substantial violin concerto. She pours out an unending stream of golden tone in the lyrical sections of the first two movements, (which are linked without a break) and throughout one is aware of an engaging rapport between her and the excellent wind soloists of the orchestra. The rondo finale, based on a 'furiant', a Czech folk-dance familiar from those Dvorak used in his Slavonic Dances, allows Arabella Steinbacher to display her virtuosity to the full. Once again the support of Janowski and the Berlin RSO is exemplary.This is undoubtedly one of the finest SACDs to be released from a label that consistently produces outstanding recordings and I have no hesitation in giving it a top recommendation. --SA-CD.net, Graham Williams, November 2009