New CD Release

We take pleasure in announcing the release of

Charlie Siem' s

latest CD

Under the Stars

with the Münchner Rundfunkorchester

conducted by Paul Goodwin

Under the Stars

English violinist Charlie Siem plays virtuoso and dreamy music from Brahms to Kreisler

International release on September 22nd 2014

On his début release for Sony Classical, London-born violinist Charlie Siem presents a programme of sparking character pieces. "Under the Stars" is the title of the 28-year-old's album, featuring both original compositions from the violin repertoire and arrangements from the pen of legendary violinist Fritz Kreisler, among them works by Debussy, Brahms and Tchaikovsky. Siem, who plays a 1735 Guarneri del Gesù previously owned by Yehudi Menuhin, is accompanied by the Munich Radio Orchestra under the baton of Paul Goodwin.

His new CD showcases the full range of his musical skills: the stylistically varied and technically demanding programme shows him to be a master of both sensitivity and brilliance.

Charlie Siem was inspired to write his own composition "Canopy", which appears here on disc for the first time with accompaniment from the English Chamber Orchestra, by a group of tree climbers who daringly clamber to the tops of trees, also known as canopies. Siem says of the work: " 'Canopy' stands for the short-lived beauty of the moment where the climber on the one hand is happy to have conquered an ancient tree, but on the other hand he also knows that the much more dangerous descent lies ahead. I found this image very romantic, and it indirectly provides the roots for my composition".

Among Siem's musical partners are classical artists such as the conductors Yannick Nezet-Seguin and Roger Norrington, the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra and the London Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, but also big names from the world of pop like Bryan Adams or members of The Who. In addition to his career as a musician, Charlie Siem has also appeared in several campaigns for international brands such as Armani and Dior.

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'Under the stars' is an album that harks back to a forgotten era. A golden period of virtuosic violinists epitomised a romantic and sentimental mood that was prevalent in the early years of the twentieth century. It is now one hundred years since the declaration of 'the war to end all wars' - a war that in many ways shattered a softness and unashamedly expressive age giving rise to a reactionary modernist aesthetic that has come to define the 20th century.

I have chosen a selection of charming shorts that were staple encores for the great violinists touring the world at that time. I grew up listening to this repertoire and in many ways this collection is a tribute to those wonderful artists who inspired me from such a long time ago. Perhaps on a deeper level it is also a tribute to a world that ceased to exist after the horrors of the First World War and the millions of lives taken in the process.

I have tried to capture the charm and individuality that is so characteristic of the old recordings I love. These pieces allow a certain freedom to be expressive with sound, shiftings and vibrato that made players like Kreisler, Hubay or Joachim so unique. There is an intimacy and deeply personal aspect to these little pieces that I am so excited to be able to share.

-- Charlie Siem