Takako Nishizaki
Violinist Takako Nishizaki is perhaps the most frequently recorded concert violinist of the digital era. She was also the first violinist to learn by way of the Suzuki method; her father, Shinji Nishizaki, worked with Shinichi Suzuki in developing the method, and Takako Nishizaki took instruction from both teachers. She made her debut at the age of 9, and further studied with Broadus Erle, starting in Japan and later at Yale University. Nishizaki finished her violin studies at Juilliard under Joseph Fuchs and in 1967 won second prize in the Leventritt International competition behind Pinchas Zukerman.
One would surmise that with her talent and beauty that American record companies would be getting in each other's way to obtain Nishizaki's recording contract. But they weren't, and by 1974 Nishizaki settled in Hong Kong, where she established a career as the pre-eminent violin virtuoso on the Chinese concert circuit. This was no small feat, as in China they take the violin seriously and its literature is central to the entire establishment of Chinese classical music. Along the way Nishizaki met and married German businessman Klaus Heymann, founder of HNH International, the corporate parent to the popular classical label Naxos. Heymann sponsored Nishizaki in an extensive series of recordings of Chinese classical music on his Marco Polo label. Some of these recordings sold into the millions of copies in China, providing the nest egg that launched the Naxos label in the late 1980s.
With Naxos, Nishizaki has recorded much of the standard Western violin literature, as well, but has made a special mission of recording key violin literature that is known in concert and in the classroom, but seldom represented on records. The most celebrated example of this tendency is her recordings of the concertos of Chevalier de St-Georges, but it also includes her interpretations of Charles August de Bériot, Louis Spohr, and Joseph Joachim. All of Nishizaki's recordings are notable for her generous, singing tone; flexible rhythmic sensibility; her sense of architectural symmetry in regard to whole movements; her ability to excite; and the sheer beauty of Nishizaki's sound.
© TiVo
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Beriot: Violin Concertos Nos. 1, 8 and 9
Takako Nishizaki, RTBF Symphony Orchestra, Alfred Walter
Concertos - Released by Naxos on Dec 31, 1987
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Concertos pour violon
Takako Nishizaki, Kölner Kammerorchester, Helmut Müller-Brühl
Concertos - Released by Naxos on Apr 16, 2001
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bach, J.S.: Violin Concertos, Bwv 1041-1043
Takako Nishizaki, Capella Istropolitana, Alexander Jablokov, Oliver von Dohnanyi
Concertos - Released by Naxos on Apr 12, 1990
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Love & Passion in Music
Classical - Released by Naxos on Nov 4, 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
VIVALDI, A.: 4 Seasons (The) / Concerto alla Rustica (Nishizaki, Gunzenhauser)
Takako Nishizaki, Capella Istropolitana, Stephen Gunzenhauser
Concertos - Released by Naxos on Feb 5, 1988
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Great Violin Concertos
Classical - Released by Naxos on May 1, 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto in E Minor - Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto in D Major
Takako Nishizaki, Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra, Kenneth Jean
Classical - Released by Naxos on Dec 15, 1988
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beriot: Violin Concertos Nos. 1, 8 and 9
Takako Nishizaki, RTBF Symphony Orchestra, Alfred Walter
Classical - Released by Marco-Polo on Dec 31, 1987
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Cafe Classics (Australia Only)
Classical - Released by Naxos on Aug 1, 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
VIVALDI: 4 Seasons (The) / Concerto alla Rustica
Classical - Released by Naxos on Feb 5, 1988
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Best of Chinese Pop Evergreens
Takako Nishizaki, Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra, Henry Shek
Asia - Released by Marco-Polo on Dec 31, 1996
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
CHEN / HE: Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto (The) / BREINER: Songs and Dances from the Silk Road
Takako Nishizaki, New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, James Judd
Classical - Released by Naxos on May 31, 2004
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Chen Gang & He Zhanhao: The Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto
Takako Nishizaki, Gumma Symphony Orchestra, Henry Shek
Classical - Released by Marco-Polo on May 12, 1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
CHEN / HE: Butterfly Lovers Concerto / ZHANG / ZHU: Parting of the Newly Wedded (Gang Chen - Zhanhao He - Anonymous)
Classical - Released by Yellow River on Jan 1, 1992
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Popular Chinese Violin Pieces
Takako Nishizaki, Nagoya Philharmonic Orchestra, Seow Yit Kin, Kek-tjiang Lim
Miscellaneous - Released by Marco-Polo on Mar 4, 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Best of Chinese Evergreens
Takako Nishizaki, Shanghai Broadcasting Symphony Orchestra, Yong-yan Hu
Asia - Released by Marco-Polo on Jan 1, 1993
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Vivaldi: The Four Seasons
Classical - Released by Naxos Special Projects on May 5, 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Violin Concertos Nos. 3 and 5
Takako Nishizaki, Capella Istropolitana, Stephen Gunzenhauser
Classical - Released by Naxos on Dec 29, 1990
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Violin Miniatures
Chamber Music - Released by Naxos on Jan 1, 1989
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Vivaldi: The Four Seasons
Takako Nishizaki, Capella Istropolitana, Stephen Gunzenhauser
Classical - Released by Unclassified on Mar 3, 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
MOZART: Violin Concertos Nos. 1 and 2
Takako Nishizaki, Capella Istropolitana, Johannes Wildner
Violin Concertos - Released by Naxos on Nov 6, 1990
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo