The omplete music for violin and orchestra Volume 1:
Concerto for flute, violin and orchestra H252
Duo concertante for two violins and orchestra H264
Concerto in D major for two violins and orchestra H329

This recording is the first volume of a four-disc survey of Martinu’s complete output for solo violin and orchestra, including compositions with other solo instruments. This important series will include some first recordings, and works which are currently widely performed only in the Czech Republic; they are still waiting to be rediscovered abroad. They are performed here by the orchestra in which Martinu played the violin, the distinguished Czech violinist Bohuslav Matoušek who is one of the foremost living exponents of this music, and conductor Christopher Hogwood.

'[Duo concertante] Written in Martinu's best 1930s concerto grosso style, its three movements are limpidly scored, allowing the flowing, interweaving lines of the soloists to sound to best advantage; as the excellent booklet-notes say, "an extraordinary musical experience" … This disc is an utter delight from start to finish' (Gramophone)

'Attractive but unfamiliar pieces which few but the most seasoned Martinu fans will already know, in performances that are not only enjoyable in themselves but which whet the appetite for their successors … Christopher Hogwood keeps the music unfolding naturally throughout … Everything here shows Martinu's typically festive imagination in full flight' (International Record Review)

'A splendid voyage of discovery for music lovers. Some of these pieces have been recorded previously, but the playing here is so much better in all respects that we might as well consider these performances to be recording premieres. And if you don't know this music, you are in for a big treat... these performances offer the last word in brilliance and idiomatic style … Gorgeously engineered, this fabulous disc only whets the appetite for the remainder of the series' (ClassicsToday.com)

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CDA 67672 vol 2; CDA 67673 vol 3; CDA 67674 vol 4 / Recording details: Various dates; Dvorák Hall, Rudolfinum, Prague, Czechoslovakia; Produced by Zdenek Zahradník; Engineered by Tomáš Zikmund; Release date: October 2007;