Debut solo album by Dunja Lavrova
Colourful selection of violin encores, featuring the familiar, the forgotten and the rare.
“My Dusty Gramophone” is not an ordinary album.
It was recorded in the style of mid-20th century: in live takes, with minimum reverb, on vintage equipment, mastered on analog tape.
Typical to the style of old studio records, the microphones were set up very close to the instrument which allows the listener to get up-close-and-personal with Dunja.
The album, which includes 19 tracks in variety of styles, takes you on a trip through Dunja's musical heritage and memories whilst bringing the sound of the old records to the modern world.
CURRENTLY NOT AVAILABLE IN STORES.
The album is currently available for streaming in low resolution audio on SoundCloud. Please follow this link to listen to the album: https://soundcloud.com/dunjalavrova/sets/my-dusty-gramophone-full-album
Physical distribution of CD is VIA THIS WEBSITE ONLY.
Purchase the CD directly from Dunja by clicking the button opposite and receive a COMPLIMENTARY digital download (by request).
Please use "contact me" form below if you would like your
CD signed by Dunja.
NEW DIGITAL RELEASE DATE TBC
You can also find selections from the album on YouTube.
Reviews:
"Intentionally recorded close to the microphones without reverb in order to recreate the sound of the "golden age", Lavrova gives her all with winning spontaneity in a series of Heifetz favourites."
- "BBC Music Magazine" (UK)
"She masters these miniatures with such nonchalant, straightforward elegance, with such immaculate tenderness, that one even forgets the great predecessors and falls for her nostalgic charm and seductive magic."
- "JPC" (Germany)
"This disc is a fascinating experiment that works. Lavrova certainly proves that she is an exquisite artist. Her performance of Clair de Lune, for example, is, quite simply, one of the most emotionally moving performances I have ever heard - she practically sings the music in your ear, as a love song. This is also the only time I've ever heard "Bess, you is my woman now" played with so much intensity, and extraordinary sensitivity of phrasing, that it sounds like better music than it is. Her performance of Fritz Kreisler's transcription of Albeniz's Tango has all the schmaltz of the master himself. If your tastes run towards this kind of recital, you'll certainly want Lavrova's disc. She has a sweeter tone that Heifetz himself and her playing is extraordinarily expressive. Lavrova is a communicative artist, and I surely look forward to her future recordings."
- Lynn Rene Bayley, "Fanfare" Magazine (USA)
Dunja Lavrova's commitment is palpable. Her tone is attractively focused and her intonation is excellent. The main component that I appreciate in Lavrova's playing is refinement. She’s a subtle stylist, using elegant position changes and expressive devices to make her points. Lavrova is a very stylish exponent of this repertoire. This album a fine calling card for the young violinist.
- Jonathan Woolf, "Music Web International"
"Long takes and minimal editing were evidently the order of the day on this tasty disc of violinist Dunja Lavrova's personal favourites. As a result we get honesty and authenticity, as well as some delicious playing. Dunja's hero is the legendary Jascha Heifetz, and she has quite a lot of his coolness. She is also a virtuoso, as the last part of Sarasate's Zigeunerweisen demonstrates. It's not merely her delicate rubato but also the silkiness and gentle warmth that I shall remember for a long time. The selection mixes the very familiar and the pretty rare. Most entertaining."
– Ivor Solomons, "Classical Ear" (UK)
"Intimate sounds of the past, but without the crackles… exquisite and heartfelt. Terrific "violinistic" moments, wonderfully virtuosic playing. There is true beauty in this performance… particularly accomplished playing. The nostalgic effect works to perfection."
- Bruce Reader, "The Classical Reviewer" (UK)
Classical Music Magazine 's feature on Dunja Lavrova and "My Dusty Gramophone" in the "Strings" supplement (May 2015 issue). Article by Toby Deller.
Introduction to "My Dusty Gramophone" by Dunja Lavrova:
My love-affair with historic recordings began long before I started to play violin. Recordings by Jascha Heifetz, Ginette Neveau and Ida Haendel, which my family owned on vinyl and which I listened to obsessively as a child, were precisely what made me decide to become a violinist. These old recordings still largely dominate my music collection. For me, there is something that is extra special in the vintage studio recordings, in particular those of Jascha Heifetz's: something so personal in that soft, dry, close-up sound! It is as if you are sitting in the musician's living room and hearing them play JUST for you! Sometimes it is so intimate that you feel that the sound is simply whispered right into your ear- and it may even make you blush!.. I have been using wound-gut strings for many years now, and just by chance, it happens to be a similar set-up to that of the violinists of the early part of 20th century. I love the warm, colourful tone they produce, which really suits my style. I also tend to use portamento more than it is usually done these days because it is one of the things I love the most about the “old-school” style of playing the violin. All of these sound qualities that I possess, together with my fast vibrato, have made many of my colleagues comment that I sounded like "one of those vintage records, in the nicest way possible.” So, one day I decided to make “one of those vintage records” my colleagues compared me to. What I wanted to do is more or less go back in time to the days when the making of the records by the likes of Jascha Heifetz and David Oistrakh was rather different to what it is now. Just like they did back then, I wanted to have the microphones set up very close to my violin, to have almost no reverb at all for that “dry studio” or “someone's lounge” effect, to record as much as possible in full live takes, and use vintage equipment. Solo Musica, the record label that offered me the most exciting contract, had just the perfect sound producer for this project - Holder Siedler, who also remasters vintage records. We agreed pretty much on everything from the word "go". As the result, we created something very special: the violin has not been recorded this way for many decades, but with the benefit of Holger Siedler's deep knowledge of sound engineering, which covers over 100 years up to this date, this record is definitely an improved version of how it would have been produced in the distant past. Having the microphones so close-up felt very unforgiving and recording numerous full live takes of the same pieces was tiring, but I must admit that the thing I particularly indulged in was using a lot of portamento- because the repertoire I chose for the album and the way we recorded it actually encouraged it. And I think it makes for a more authentic experience, which is exactly what I wanted to recreate: a trip back in time.
N.B.: This idea is protected by Copyright. Any attempt to imitate or replicate this idea and the project's name will result in criminal charges.