Poème

"The intelligently constructed programme is the most intriguing the pair have produced...Aside from the occasional woolly texture, support from Kreizberg's Monte Carlo Philharmonic is superlative...This beautiful disc is one of Fischer's best, and also stands as a fitting testament to Kreizberg's art."
(BBC Music)

"The Suk dazzles, the Chausson is restrained yet passionate, the Respighi beautiful in the extreme. Kreizberg's conducting, meanwhile, is notable for the emotional subtleties and fastidious sense of colour and line that characterised his best work. Touching and very fine."
(The Guardian)

"Four nationalities, four moods, but linked by a common late-Romantic, poetic sensibility. All are warmly performed by Fischer and the Monte-Carlo orchestra. The CD makes a fine memorial for conductor Yakov Kreizberg, who died at an early age last month."
(Daily Telegraph)

"The programme...needs close rapport between soloist and orchestra. Here Fischer was lucky, for her conducting partner - for the last time alas - is Yakov Kreizberg...[who] cradles Fischer very tenderly, particularly in the Respighi...Fischer's golden moments? Her singing line in the Respighi. Twinkling and darting in the Suk. And definitely her lark: nature enthroned in simple glory. May she long continue to enchant us."
(The Times)

Julia Fischer follows her extraordinary Grammy-nominated recording of the fiendish Paganini Caprices with a contrasting album − a lyrical and poetic set of impressionistic works for violin and orchestra.

Comprising four substantial pieces, this unique program is headed by Suk's virtuosic Fantasy, a mini-concerto that is now justifiably finding its way into the concert repertoire. It is accompanied by two well-known tone poems - the elegant Poème by Chausson and the English pastoral The Lark Ascending by Vaughan Williams. The album is completed by Respighi's Poema autunnale (of which there is only one other recording in the catalogue), making the program truly multinational.

For this recording, Julia Fischer is joined by her long-term colleague on the podium, Yakov Kreizberg, directing his own orchestra, the Monte-Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra − with whom Julia Fischer has a very close artistic relationship as artist in residence for the 2010/11 season.

Critical acclaim for the Paganini album: She plays "with lyricism, digital brilliance and incredible finesse" (The Observer).