3 Violinconcertos from Austria, by Friedrich Gulda, Herbert Berger and Sabina Hank. Great composing, lots of improvisation. review by Nick Barnard/ Musicweb-international.com “Recommended”: Now I have another favourite player, the wonderful Benjamin Schmid turning his hand to three “Jazz Violin Concertos” This Schmid disc is a triumph from first to last. My response is no doubt in part due to a greater personal affinity for the jazz idiom, but I also feel that the actual compositions offered here ‘work’ better. Schmid not only plays but also directs the Swedish group Musica Vitae Chamber Orchestra of which he has been Artistic Director since the 2020/21 season. A group photograph on the liner booklet shows fourteen players plus Schmid of whom I assume one is kit drummer Christian Lettner. The playing of this ensemble – which I had not heard before – is simply phenomenal; easily virtuosic for sure but also wholly idiomatic and Schmid in his liner note rightly praises the superb artistic collaboration between him and the ensemble. None of the works offered here are newly composed and Schmid reveals in the same liner that he has been playing some of them for over twenty years. So this is music completely embedded in his performing DNA which is exactly how it sounds. He not only makes light of the many technical hurdles but the idiom is understood and absorbed. This is no Yehudi Menuhin diddling his way through the odd Sweet Georgia Brown beside Grappelli, this is the real thing that I can imagine appealing as much to jazz aficionados as virtuoso violin fans. Alongside the high quality of music and music-making, Gramola have provided a vibrant recording that places Schmid within the ensemble but realistically ‘present’. on Berger: The jazz bass – presumably Musica Vitae’s regular player – drives the music ideally allowing Schmid to riff and improvise above it. This is a genuine discovery – the whole work runs to around twenty-five minutes and it is a delight to listen to – and it must be tremendous, if demanding, fun to play. on Gulda: Of course Schmid plays the Cadenza quite magnificently, but over the Lento Schmid’s playing is genuinely thrilling. This in turn leads to a second shorter Liberamente section with pizzicato ensemble strings giving it more of an extended recitative feel than cadenza although the sheer bravura of Schmid’s playing keeps him very much front and centre. The closing Allegro assai with an electric bass line has an unmistakably 1970’s jazz-funk groove. In lesser hands than Schmid and the Musica Vitae this might well sound slightly arch but here the complete immersion in the style makes for a genuinely exciting conclusion. I would suggest that even the most zealous jazz purist would be hard put not to be impressed by what they hear here. Overall a genuinely excellent programme of three quite different and individual works that combine to make an wholly engaging disc. Especially so when played with the skill, panache and empathy that is shown here. I was hoping this disc would be good but I am delighted at just how good it has turned out to be. Nick Barnard

new CD out! Benjamin traces Jascha Heifetz

Violin & tuba – unique! Benjamin Schmid / violin Andreas Martin Hofmeir / tuba

Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik 2013 an Benjamin Schmid

Summer Night Concert, Schönbrunn 2011, Virtuosu Pictures. Kreisler / Paganini: Benjamin Schmid, Valery Gergiev, Wiener Philharmoniker, CD+DVD, Deutsche Grammophon

MOZART: Sonatas KV 9, 301, 378, 526 Ariane Haering, Piano (Oehmsclassics OC 335)

Pièces de Concert: Das sind Stücke, die am Ende eines Konzerts oder als Zugabe gespielt werden. Kompositionen, die quasi als Dessert oder Digestiv ein musikalisches Menü abrunden. OehmsClassics OC 309

Bach Sonatas & Partitas for Solo Violin

Eugène Ysaÿe: Sonatas for Solo Violin op.27

Js Bach 6 Sonatas for Violin Solo, with Piano Accompaniment by Robert Schumann recorded 1995, published 1995 and 2009 MDG 333 0614-2

BEETHOVEN: Sonatas for Piano and Violin OP. 30/1-3 Alfredo Perl, Piano (Oehmsclassics OC 341)

Music by Django Reinhardt, Stéphane Grappelli, Cole Porter, George Gershwin and others

24 Caprices for Solo Violin by Netherlands Contempory Composers, Benjamin Schmid, Janine Jansen and Joris Van Rijn play each 8 Caprices on 2 CDs. NM Classics, Duration 115:26, 2003

Mendelssohn, Schumann, Bruch: Works for Violin & Orchestra

Ravel Tzigane etc.

Benjamin Britten - Max Bruch - Arthur Benjamin, Double Concertos for Violin and Viola Benjamin Schmid-Violin, Daniel Raiskin-Viola, Lior Shambadal-Conductor, Berliner Symphoniker Arte Nova 74321 89826 2, 2001

Benjamin Schmid plays Mozart Violinconcertos 1+2 with the Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg and Hans Graf, Conductor + Rondo in C, Rondo in Bflat, Adagio in E

Christian Muthspiel: "Pas de deux concertant", Konzert für Violine, Percussion und Orchester Benjamin Schmid, Violine, Emiko Uchiyama, Percussion, Tonkünstler Orchester Niederösterreich, Andres Orosco- Estrada, Dirigent SACD Surround

Vivaldi Four Seasons with Camerata Salzburg plus Kreisler-Paganini Concerto in one movement with Mozarteum Orchester Salzburg, Hubert Soudant

2 beautiful Finnish Violinconcertos of the late 20th Century

Hot Club Jazz! Benjamin Schmid und Diknu Schneeberger, Gitarre, auf den Spuren von Stephane Grappelli und Django Reinhardt, Lulu Reinhardt, Cole Porter, Fletcher Allen und Arrangements französischer Chansons.

All Benjamin Schmid OehmsCLassics Recordings including 2 previously unreleased CDs: "My Favorite Paganini" and " Bach:Reflected"

Dünser: Violinkonzert - Radek-Sinfonie Benjamin Schmid, Gerard Korsten, Symphonieorchester Vorarlberg

First version for Violin of the miraculous Gulda Cello Concerto. (Arr. S. Giray). Live Recording of the Paganini/Kreilser Concerto with the great Bläserphilharmonie Salzburg under Hansjörg Angerer. Plus a Solo Track from Benjamin : "for Fritz"