Credits:

Dmitry Smirnov

Description:

[A Forgotten Master, Santon, and the Sounds of Romanticism, Brought to Life by a Guarnieri Masterpiece]A conceptual album centered on the legendary Guarneri del Ges violin Santon-Betti, crafted around 1744, and the 19th-century forgotten master Prosper Santon, whose name is enshrined in the instrument. Dmitry Smirnov, a native of Russia, is a prodigious talent with a wide-ranging repertoire spanning from contemporary works to Baroque music performed on period instruments; he also serves as a soloist in Giovanni Antoninis Haydn Project 2032. Playing a Guarneri specially provided by a private Swiss collector and strung with gut strings, he dynamically expresses a fragility and depth reminiscent of the human voice, ranging from a whisper to a thunderous roar. The program features a carefully selected mix of Santons own rare works alongside masterpieces by Paganini and Rossini. It vividly portray