Isabelle Faust
Violinist Isabelle Faust emerged in the 1990s and has become one of the most versatile players on the scene, playing both modern and historical instruments, with a large repertory stretching from the Baroque to new works. In the 2010s, she was especially noted for fresh interpretations of violin-and-piano repertory with her duet partner, Alexander Melnikov.
Faust was born in Esslingen, near Stuttgart, then in West Germany, on March 19, 1972. She accompanied her father to his violin lessons when she was five, and while the father's talents were ordinary, teachers noticed that the daughter quickly mastered whatever challenges she was given. A family string quartet (her brother Boris Faust is a noted violist), as well as lessons with Denes Zsigmondy and Christoph Poppen, honed her skills. After winning first prize at the International Leopold Mozart Competition in Augsburg in 1987, Faust moved to Paris for nine years to gain experience in new contexts rather than enrolling in a conservatory. Musing that her French first name might have led people to believe she was French, she began to find major engagements, making her U.S. debut in 1995 with the Utah Symphony and appearing with many of Germany's top orchestras, including the Hamburg Philharmonic under the baton of Yehudi Menuhin. In the later part of her career, she has performed with top orchestras internationally. In 1997, Faust released her first album, a set of Bartók violin sonatas recorded with pianist Ewa Kupiec; the album earned a Gramophone magazine award for Young Artist of the Year, and further recordings earned other major prizes, including the prestigious Diapason d'Or de l'Année for a cycle of Bach's Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin in 2010. Most of her albums have been released on the Harmonia Mundi label. In 2004, Faust joined the faculty of Berlin's University of the Arts.
In the early 2000s, Faust began performing and recording violin sonata repertory with pianist Alexander Melnikov; their historically informed recording of Mozart violin sonatas, released on Harmonia Mundi in 2018, earned wide critical acclaim. She has also issued a set of Mozart violin concertos with the historical performance group Il Giardino Armonico; these won Gramophone Awards for Recording of the Year and Best Concerto Recording. Faust is unusually prolific as a recording artist, having issued more than 50 albums in all, including four in 2021 alone, all on Harmonia Mundi, featuring music by composers ranging from Mozart to Peter Eötvös.
© James Manheim /TiVo
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Martinu: Violin Concerto No. 2 & Toccata e due canzoni
Isabelle Faust, Cédric Tiberghien, The Prague Philharmonia, Jiří Bělohlávek
Concertos - Released by harmonia mundi on 29 May 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schumann : Violin Concerto & Piano Trio No.3
Isabelle Faust, Freiburger Barockorchester, Pablo Heras-Casado
Concertos - Released by harmonia mundi on 22 Mar 2015
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Triple Concerto, Op. 56 & Trio, Op. 36
Freiburger Barockorchester, Jean-Guihen Queyras, Alexander Melnikov, Pablo Heras-Casado, Isabelle Faust
Classical - Released by harmonia mundi on 19 Feb 2021
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Schumann : Cello Concerto - Piano Trio No 1
Jean-Guihen Queyras, Isabelle Faust, Alexander Melnikov, Freiburger Barockorchester, Pablo Heras-Casado
Classical - Released by harmonia mundi on 1 Apr 2016
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Carl Maria von Weber : Sonates pour pianoforte & violon - Quatuor avec piano
Isabelle Faust and Alexander Melnikov
Chamber Music - Released by harmonia mundi on 29 Jan 2013
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Stravinsky: The Soldier's Tale (English version), Élégie. Duo concertant
Classical - Released by harmonia mundi on 27 Aug 2021
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Bach: Violin Partita No. 2, BWV 1004
Classical - Released by harmonia mundi on 4 Dec 2020
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Stravinsky: Histoire du soldat (version française), Élégie, Duo concertant
Classical - Released by harmonia mundi on 27 Aug 2021
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Fauré: Sonatas for Violin and Piano
Isabelle Faust, Florent Boffard
Classical - Released by harmonia mundi on 26 Apr 2002
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Franck : Piano & Violin Sonata - Chausson : Concert
Isabelle Faust, Alexander Melnikov, Salagon Quartet
Chamber Music - Released by harmonia mundi on 26 May 2017
Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Béla Bartók : Violin Concertos No. 1 & 2
Isabelle Faust, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and Daniel Harding
Concertos - Released by harmonia mundi on 26 Aug 2013
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Janacek, Lutoslawski & Szymanowski: Violin Sonata, Partita & Mythes
Classical - Released by harmonia mundi on 28 Aug 2003
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Haydn : Violin Concerto Nos. 1, 3 & 4
Isabelle Faust, Münchener Kammerorchester, Christoph Poppen
Violin Concertos - Released by Pan Classics on 1 Nov 1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Johannes Brahms : Concerto pour violon - Sextuor n° 2 (Isabelle Faust)
Violin Concertos - Released by harmonia mundi on 1 Mar 2011
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Dvořák: Violin Concerto, Op. 53
Isabelle Faust, Jiří Bělohlávek , The Prague Philharmonia, Jean-Guihen Queyras, Alexander Melnikov
Concertos - Released by harmonia mundi on 31 Mar 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: Horn Trio, Op. 40 & Violin Sonata, Op. 78
Isabelle Faust, Teunis van der Zwart and Alexander Melnikov
Classical - Released by harmonia mundi on 23 Sep 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Violin Concertos Nos. 1-5; 2 Rondos
Isabelle Faust, Il Giardino Armonico, Giovanni Antonini
Concertos - Released by harmonia mundi on 28 Oct 2016
Gramophone AwardGramophone Record of the Year24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Bartók: Violin Sonatas
Isabelle Faust, Ewa Kupiec, Florent Boffard
Classical - Released by harmonia mundi on 31 Jan 1997
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Jolivet: Concerto for Violin and Orchestra
Isabelle Faust, Marko Letonja, Berlin Deutsches Symphony Orchestra
Classical - Released by harmonia mundi on 23 Nov 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Martinů: Violin Concerto No.2
Isabelle Faust, Cédric Tiberghien, Jiří Bělohlávek , The Prague Philharmonia
Classical - Released by harmonia mundi on 29 May 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
György Kurtág: Kafka-Fragmente
Classical - Released by harmonia mundi on 19 Aug 2022
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo