VC Young Artist Daniel Lozakovich's New Album, "Spirits"

Released on Deutsche Grammophon, the disc features repertoire inspired by the great violinists of the past

VC Young Artist and violinist Daniel Lozakovich's newest album on Deutsche Grammophon provides listeners with a glimpse into the tone of nineteenth- and twentieth-century violinists.

Lozakovich has selected a range of short miniatures, each of which he associates with a different historical player. In doing so, he hopes to incorporate some of the most iconic aspects of their sound into his own. He is joined on the album by the Russian pianist Stanislav Soloviev.

The most recent violinist represented is Ivry Gitlis, who died in 2020. For him, Lozakovich has chosen Elgar's Salut d'Amour. This is paired with another Elgar work, La Capricieuse, selected to reflect one of the eight pieces recorded by Josef Hassid — whose life was tragically cut short before his career could develop.

Other violinists featured include David Oistrakh, Christian Ferras, Jascha Heifetz, Leonid Kogan, and Fritz Kreisler, and they are represented with works by Debussy, de Falla, Gluck, Brahms, and Kreisler, himself.

"All these musicians had such strong, soulful spirits that it’s impossible to forget their sound," said Lozakovich of his choice of repertoire.

"[Fritz Kreisler] was the godfather of all violinists," he continued. "His contribution to this instrument is something all violinists have to explore during their career. He played with such elegance and charm, and had the most seductive sound, one you could listen to for ever."

You can hear Lozakovich and Stanislav Soloviev playing Kreisler's violin-piano arrangement of the "Melodie" from Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice below.