ProStudioMasters.com

Decca Classics is thrilled to release the new album from Australian-Chinese violinist Christian Li. Having topped the UK Classical Charts with his debut album in 2021 (with which he became the youngest artist ever to record Vivaldi’s Four Seasons) the award-winning musician has released his second album, entitled Discovering Mendelssohn. Here, Christian Li follows the journeys of Felix Mendelssohn – whose music was influenced by travel throughout his life – by recording pieces the composer wrote in Leipzig, Düsseldorf, Munich, London and Venice, including some brand new arrangements written especially for the violinist. At the heart of the album is Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in E minor, recorded with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (MSO) under Sir Andrew Davis, to stunning effect. Talking about the unique cadenza in the first movement Li explains, “I wanted to try and follow what is in the score … I also tried to create mysterious atmospheres, experimenting with dynamic and contour and pacing, to make it sound interesting and more like an improvisation.” Whether it is the intense drama heard in the racing close of the first movement or thoughtfulness in the final Allegretto, there is sensitivity between soloist and ensemble. The album also features music from Mendelssohn’s own inspirations and contemporaries, including J. S. Bach, Mozart and Schubert. Mendelssohn’s early admiration of Mozart is reflected in the inclusion of the joyful and contemplative Violin Sonata No 21 in E Minor, featured alongside Schubert’s Serenade and Erbarme dich by JS Bach.