On ’Belle Époque’, his latest album, British violinist Daniel Hope explores music from the turn of the twentieth century. It was an era musically defined by the last melancholy flourishes of late romanticism and the emergence of the avant-garde.

What fascinates Daniel Hope about the Belle Epoque? The violinist wants to highlight the age between the end of the 19th century and First World War. It was a time of great tensions and developments that one could all too easily see ending badly. The doomsday mood imbued art with great significance. On this album Daniel Hope performs works by Ernest Chausson, Maurice Ravel, Richard Strauss, Claude Debussy, Alban Berg, Anton Webern, Arnold Schönberg and many others. Daniel Hope is convinced that this music is just as relevant today as it was then.

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