Felix Mendelssohn - Concerto Op. 64 in E minor; Robert Schumann - Concerto in D minor

Premiere album, released on December 5th, 2025.

This album was recorded in January 2025 at Stradkulturhaus Borna in Leipzig. It contains masterpieces of romantic violin repertoire such as Felix Mendelssohn's Concerto Op. 64 in E minor, and the only violin concerto by Robert Schumann, performed by a 34-year-old virtuoso German soloist named Albrecht Menzel, and the Leipzig Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Robbert van Steijn. The recordings were launched on disc on December 5 with Naxos Records.

Albrecht Menzel-praised violinist for ''his technical precision, emotional depth and authentic interpretations,''-had studied with Boris Kuschnir, and won the Grand Prize of the International Karol Lipiński Violin Competition from Poland in 2026. He has performed as a soloist with important orchestras such as the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Munich Radio Orchestra, and Lviv National Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra, presenting diverse types of repertoires, from classical to modern creation.

For his new album, the violinist chose Mendelssohn's Concerto Op. 64 which he is emotionally connected to, as it links beginnings of his collaborations, at the age of 19, with The Leipzig Symphony Orchestra and maestro Kurt Masur. The second work on the album is Robert Schumann's Concerto in D minor, about which Albrecht Menzel says: ''This concert pierces through one's soul. It reveals the internal world of Schumann's music, and it is one of the most remarkable concertos from the violin repertoire. It was written during a hard time for the composer, and it underlines his loneliness, his distance from friends, desperation and-at the same time-hope and happiness.'' Albrecht Menzel highlights these emotional contrasts in his expressive interpretation of Robert Schumann's Concerto in D minor, with the valuable support of the Leipzig Symphony Orchestra conducted by Robbert van Steijn. The soloist plays a valuable Stradivarius instrument built in Cremona in 1709.