These five contrasting yet complementary suites and fantasies form a special selection that explores different shades of human emotions, and that goes through a variety of styles which range from Schnittke’s pseudo-baroque Suite in Old Style to Frolov’s jazzy Porgy and Bess. Considering Schnittke’s usual dissonant style, it is quite interesting to encounter his Suite in Old Style, light and somewhat innocent in tone, even though his signature dissonances, make a comeback for a brief moment in the last movement. De Falla’s Suite popular española is a version for violin and piano of his Siete canciones populares españolas, transcribed by the composer himself who, in the process, trimmed down the number of pieces from seven to six. Whereas Schnittke and De Falla take motifs from the past in their suites, Britten embraces the modern age, where both the violinist and the pianist are in equal partnership. His deep understanding of both instruments, however, meant that each part still had its distinctive voice. This selection ends with two expansive fantasies that are inspired by music from ballet and opera. Darius Milhaud and Igor Frolov (1937-2013) explore the genres of Brazilian tango and jazz respectively depicting the more popular side of 20th-century musical culture. Milhaud masterfully juxtaposes many layers of keys which are played at the same time, but produce a palette of distinct tonalities. On the other hand, Frolov simply takes the popular tunes from Gershwin’s opera Porgy and Bess. Let us remind the reader that Milhaud’s Bœuf sur le toit was initially the very piece recorded here, for violin and piano, conceived as an accompaniment for a Chaplin silent movie, under the title Cinéma-Fantaisie ; the Bœuf sur le toit title being that of a later rewriting and orchestration of the piece as a dadaistic ballet. Korean-born British violinist Joo Yeon Sir, who is here accompanied by Russian pianist Irina Andrievsky, has been described by the Strad Magazine as “exuberant... seductive... with bravura and oodles of personality”. © SM/Qobuz