And why not pair the Brahms Violin Concerto with Bartók? While the assembly is probably a first in the history of discography, it is true that Brahms and Bartók are of Hungarian descent - well, Brahms comes from Gypsy-Viennese origins rather than purely Hungarian traditions, but the heart is most certainly there - so too is that ever-present tendancy for ample melodic phrasing, so aptly captured by the violin where a piano simply falls short. Moreover, only thirty short years separate the two works: one for 1878, another in 1908... The Bartók Concerto comes with a story: the composer had offered it up as gift of a somewhat unrequited love to a young Stefi Geyer, who kept the score to her death, without ever playing it. Meanwhile, Bartók wrote another concerto thirty years later, at one time thought to be the one and only of its kind and genre. The "first" concerto was created in 1958 under the leadership of Paul Sacher. For this recording with Antonio Pappano, Dutch violinist Janine Jansen is completely at ease in the great concerto repertoire. Jansen plays a 1727 Stradivarius and brings great passion, emotion and skill to the world chamber music. The Brahms Concerto was recorded live in Rome in February 2015, the Bartók in London in August 2014. © SM / Qobuz