London Symphony Orchestra's New Album with Violinist Roman Simovic

LSO Live has released a new recording of two concertos by Hungarian composers, Miklós Rózsa and Bartók

The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) recently released a new LSO Live recording, featuring their concertmaster Roman Simovic as soloist in two Hungarian violin concerti. The lesser-known concerto by Miklós Rózsa is paired with the more familiar fare of Bartók's Violin Concerto No. 2.

An émigré composer living in America, Miklós Rózsa was highly active in Hollywood and wrote scores for films such as Ben-Hur and Lust for Life. He wrote the concerto at the urging of Jascha Heifetz, who played it at the premiere in Dallas, Texas in 1956.

Later in his career, Rózsa adapted the work for inclusion in the score of the Billy Wilder film The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes.

On this recording, the concerti are conducted by Sir Simon Rattle and Kevin John Edusei.

Violinist Roman Simovic was appointed Leador of the LSO in 2010. He has a growing discography with LSO Live, including Paganini's 24 Caprices for Solo Violin. He has also appeared with the Mariinsky Theatre Symphony Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Symphony Nova Scotia, São Paulo Symphony Orchestra OSESP, Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra, Camerata Bern, Camerata Salzburg, Prague Philharmonic Orchestra, Radio Television Espana Orchestra, Academy of St Martin in the Fields, and the orchestra of the Teatro Regio Torino.

He is a prizewinner of competitions including the Premio Rodolfo Lipizer (Italy), the Tibor Varga International Violin Competition (Sion, Switzerland), the Yampolsky International Competition (Moscow, Russia), and the International Henryk Wieniawski Violin Competition (Poland).

He also holds a professorship at London's Royal Academy of Music and leads masterclasses around the world.

To purchase the album, click here.

You can listen to an excerpt from the recording below: