Gramophone Awards
2025
Winner - Instrumental

María Dueñas (violin), Itamar Golan (piano), Boris Kuschnir (violin), Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Mihhail Gerts

Paganini: Caprices for solo violin, Op. 1 Nos. 1-24
Sarasate: Caprice Basque, Op. 24
Kreisler: Recitative & Scherzo Caprice, Op. 6
Kreisler: Caprice viennois, Op. 2 (Arr. Fougeray for Violin and Guitar)
Cervello: Milstein Caprice
Wieniawski: Études-Caprices for 2 Violins, Op. 18. No. 2 in E-Flat Major
Ortíz, G: De cuerda y madera
Saint-Saëns: Caprice andalou, Op. 122
Berlioz: Rêverie et caprice, H. 88
Saint-Saëns: Introduction & Rondo capriccioso, Op. 28

Following her acclaimed DG debut María Dueñas has chosen Nicolò Paganini’s iconic solo Caprices for her upcoming album. These 24 dazzling gems have accompanied the Spanish rising star since she began playing. Noting that Paganini lived in the age of Italian bel canto, María seeks “to bring out the vocal quality in the Caprices – to reveal the music behind the technique”

"This feels like a very personal album - a real statement of self-identity, loosely disguised as merely a collection of showstopping fireworks. That’s not to disparage Dueñas’s recording of Beethoven’s violin concerto by any means - here, though, I think we encounter something about her not just as an accomplished performer, but as a creative and innovative thinker." - David Smith, Presto Music