Fantasy Alena Baeva & Vadym Kholodenko

• Franz Schubert (1797 - 1828): Fantasie in C Major, D. 934:
• 1 Schubert: Fantasie in C Major, D. 934: I. Andante molto 03:13
• 2 Schubert: Fantasie in C Major, D. 934: II. Allegretto 05:15
• 3 Schubert: Fantasie in C Major, D. 934: III. Andantino 11:10
• 4 Schubert: Fantasie in C Major, D. 934: IV. Allegro vivace 02:50
• 5 Schubert: Fantasie in C Major, D. 934: V. Allegretto 01:11
• 6 Schubert: Fantasie in C Major, D. 934: VI. Presto 00:41
• Igor Stravinsky (1882 - 1971): Le Baiser de la fée, K. 049, Divertimento (Arr. for Violin and Piano by Samuel Duskin):
• 7 Stravinsky: Le Baiser de la fée, K. 049, Divertimento (Arr. for Violin and Piano by Samuel Duskin): I. Sinfonia 06:03
• 8 Stravinsky: Le Baiser de la fée, K. 049, Divertimento (Arr. for Violin and Piano by Samuel Duskin): II. Danses suisses 04:10
• 9 Stravinsky: Le Baiser de la fée, K. 049, Divertimento (Arr. for Violin and Piano by Samuel Duskin): III. Scherzo 02:55
• 10 Stravinsky: Le Baiser de la fée, K. 049, Divertimento (Arr. for Violin and Piano by Samuel Duskin): IV. (a) Pas de deux. Adagio 02:58
• 11 Stravinsky: Le Baiser de la fée, K. 049, Divertimento (Arr. for Violin and Piano by Samuel Duskin): V. (b) Pas de deux. Variation 01:12
• 12 Stravinsky: Le Baiser de la fée, K. 049, Divertimento (Arr. for Violin and Piano): VI. (c) Pas de deux. Coda 02:09
• Robert Schumann (1810 - 1856): Märchenbilder, Op. 113:
• 13 Schumann: Märchenbilder, Op. 113: I. Nicht schnell 03:30
• 14 Schumann: Märchenbilder, Op. 113: II. Lebhaf 04:03
• 15 Schumann: Märchenbilder, Op. 113: III. Rasch 02:35
• 16 Schumann: Märchenbilder, Op. 113: IV. Langsam 05:04
• Olivier Messiaen (1908 - 1992): Fantaisie:
• 17 Messiaen: Fantaisie 07:10
• Total Runtime 01:06:09

Info for Fantasy

Violinist Alena Baeva joins Alpha Classics for several recordings, starting with an album of chamber music with pianist Vadym Kholodenko, her favourite partner. Together they offer an eclectic and unusual programme of Schubert's fearsome and magnificent Fantasy for violin and piano , composed a year before his death... This is followed by Stravinsky's joyous and boisterous miniatures in a collection entitled Divertimento , proposed as an abridgement of the ballet Le Baiser de la fée (The Fairy's Kiss). Olivier Messiaen composed a Fantaisie for his first wife, the violinist Claire Delbos, but the work was not published until 2007. Die Märchenbilder by Schumann complete the programme. Initially a pupil at the Moscow Conservatory, Alena Baeva later left Russia and was taught by Shlomo Mintz, Mstislav Rostropovich, Boris Garlitsky and Seiji Ozawa. At just 16, she won the Grand Prize in the Henryk Wieniawski International Competition, and many other prizes followed. Alena Baeva plays the Guarneri del Gesù "ex-William Kroll" of 1738. Ukrainian pianist Vadym Kholodenko was awarded the Van Cliburn Gold Medal in 2013.

Alena Baeva, violin
Vadym Kholodenko, piano

Alena Baeva
Described as “a magnetic presence” and “a constantly fascinating sound technician” (New York Classical Review), violinist Alena Baeva is considered one of the most exciting, versatile, and alluring soloists active on the world stage today.

Baeva’s career as an international soloist of the highest renown has grown at an extraordinary pace over recent seasons. European highlights include appearances with Die Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, Göteborgs Symfoniker, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre National d’Île de France, Orchestre National du Capitôle de Toulouse, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, and in recital at the Wigmore Hall. In Asia, recent and upcoming performances include those with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, NHK Symphony Orchestra Tokyo, and the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, amongst others. She makes a series of major North American debuts in the 2023/2024 season, including with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra and The Phoenix Symphony.

Baeva enjoys strong musical partnerships with many of the world’s leading conductors, and has the pleasure of working with such renowned maestros as Teodor Currentzis, Charles Dutoit, Gustavo Gimeno, Marek Janowski, Paavo Järvi, Vladimir Jurowski, Tomáš Netopil, and Hugh Wolff. Chamber music holds a particularly special place in her musical life, where she enjoys collaborations with such esteemed artists as Martha Argerich, Yuri Bashmet, Daishin Kashimoto, Misha Maisky, Lawrence Power, Jean-Guihen Queyras, Tabea Zimmermann, and the Belcea Quartet. Her regular sonata partner is the celebrated Ukrainian pianist Vadym Kholodenko (2013 Van Cliburn Gold Medalist), with whom she has established a dedicated musical partnership of more than a decade.

Possessing an extraordinary memory and passionate musical curiosity, Baeva holds an already vast and rapidly expanding active repertoire, including over fifty violin concerti. She is a champion of lesser-known works alongside the more mainstream violin literature, with recent performances promoting such composers as Bacewicz, Karaev, Karłowicz, and Silvestrov. She enjoys a long-standing and rewarding relationship with the Orchestra of the XVIII Century, performing and recording a variety of repertoire on period instruments. Their 2022 recording (Wieniawski Violin Concerto No.2) was crowned ‘Recording of the Month’ by BBC Music Magazine, who declared it to be “essential listening”.

Baeva’s wider discography is extensive, and reflects the impressive breadth of her repertoire. Recordings include Shostakovich Violin Concerto No.2 (part of the Mariinsky Theatre/Valery Gergiev box-set DVD collection, released by Arthaus Musik in 2015); the Karłowicz Violin Concerto (with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, 2018); and the Schumann Violin Concerto and original (1844) version of the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto (for Melodiya Records, 2020).

Since 2023, Baeva records exclusively for leading label Alpha Classics. The first project of her multi-disc deal with the label is released in February 2024.

Alena Baeva took her first violin lessons at the age of five under renowned pedagogue Olga Danilova, before moving to Moscow, Russia, at the age of 10 to study with Professor Eduard Grach at the Central School of Music and the State Tchaikovsky Conservatoire. In addition to her formal education, she took lessons with Mstislav Rostropovich and Boris Garlitsky, in Switzerland with Seiji Ozawa, and in Israel with Shlomo Mintz (at Keshet Eilon Music Center).

At only 16 years of age, Baeva won the Grand Prix at the 12th International Henryk Wieniawski Competition (2001), as well as the Prize for Best Performance of a Contemporary Work. Following this, she went on to take the Grand Prix at the Moscow International Niccolò Paganini Competition (2004), including a Special Prize allowing her to perform on the 1723 Wieniawski Stradivari for one year, and was awarded both the Gold Medal and the Audience Prize at the Sendai International Violin Competition (2007).

Since 2010, Alena Baeva resides in Luxembourg with her husband and three children, and plays on the “ex-William Kroll” Guarneri del Gesù of 1738 – on generous loan from an anonymous patron, with the kind assistance of J&A Beares.

Vadym Kholodenko
Combining fierce pianism, an unrivalled breadth of repertoire, and a level of interpretative refinement that transcends to the realms of poetry, Vadym Kholodenko rises as an artist the likes of which the world has rarely seen since the great pianists of the Golden Age.

Gold Medallist of the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, Kholodenko’s distinguished pianism and profound artistic gifts have led to invitations from many of the world’s finest orchestras and concert halls. Highlights include concerto performances with leading orchestras of North America (Atlanta Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony, and the Philadelphia Orchestra); Europe (Danish National Symphony, London Philharmonic, Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano G. Verdi, and the Orquesta Nacional de España); and Asia & the Far East (National Symphony Orchestra of Taiwan, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, and the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra). He has held the position of Artist-in-Residence with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra (Texas, USA) and the SWR Sinfonieorchester (Stuttgart, Germany).

Kholodenko has forged strong musical partnerships with many of the world’s leading conductors, and has had the pleasure of collaborating with Karina Canellakis, Myung-Whun Chung, Cristian Măcelaru, Gemma New, Dima Slobodeniouk, Thomas Søndergård, Krzyzstof Urbański, and Kazuki Yamada, amongst others.

In recital, Kholodenko appears on the world’s leading stages – from London, Paris, and Vienna, to Boston, Chicago, and New York – where he is praised for his “iron-clad technique, capable of moments of crystalline delicacy” (The Guardian). He is also a thoughtful and committed chamber musician, enjoying rewarding collaborations with an array of such artists as Clara Jumi-Kang, Anastasia Kobekina, Vadim Repin, and the Belcea and Jerusalem string quartets. He has made numerous recordings with violinist Alena Baeva, with whom recent and forthcoming appearances include concerts in the cultural capitals of Florence, London, and Paris.

Possessing an extraordinary facility for the assimilation of music, the sheer scale of of Kholodenko’s knowledge and command of the piano literature is unrivalled, and he holds a vast array of active repertoire. His discography to date encompasses solo piano works by a diverse list of composers (J.S. Bach, Balakirev, Beethoven, Chaplygin, Kurbatov, Liszt, Medtner, Prokofiev, Rachmaninov, Rzewski, Schubert, Scriabin, Siloti, Stravinsky, and Tchaikovsky, amongst others). Recordings for the Harmonia Mundi record label include the Grieg Piano Concerto, Saint-Saëns Piano Concerto No.2, and the complete cycle of Prokofiev’s piano concertos.

Kholodenko’s recordings have been described as “truly outstanding” (Gramophone Magazine), and received such accolades as Editor’s Choice Award (BBC Music Magazine), and the much-coveted Diapason d’Or de l’année. His latest release – a pairing of Beethoven’s Diabelli Variations and Rzewski’s The People United Will Never Be Defeated! for the Quartz Music label (2022) – met with tremendous critical acclaim, described as “carefully contoured and impactful” (BBC Music Magazine), and “playing that pulls no punches: Kholodenko is in the elite of classical pianists” (Norman Lebrecht, for The Critic).

Born in Kyiv, Ukraine, Vadym Kholodenko took his first piano lessons at the age of six, and began touring internationally at thirteen years old. He was educated at the Kyiv Lysenko State Music Lyceum and the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatoire, under the renowned pedagogues Natalia Gridneva, Borys Fedorov, and Vera Gornostaeva. He won First Prize at the Sendai International Piano Competition (2010) and Schubert International Piano Competition (2011), before taking the Gold Medal at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition (2013). He is now resident in Luxembourg.

Booklet for Fantasy