Dmitry Smirnov’s new album begins with an instrument. Stranger Sainton, released by Fuga Libera, is built around the Guarneri del Gesù of 1744 known as the “Sainton Betti”, on loan to him from a private Swiss collection.
The violin once belonged to Prosper Sainton (1813–1890), a French violinist who spent most of his career in London and has since largely disappeared from view. The programme follows his world: his own Rêverie and Thème italien varié, Paganini’s I palpiti, Berlioz’s Rêverie et caprice, Rossini’s Andante con variazioni, and the suite from Richard Strauss’s Der Bürger als Edelmann. Dmitry is joined by the Kammerorchester Basel, where he is concertmaster, under Victor Jacob.
Writing in Online Merker, the reviewer called the record a “dramaturgisch scharf durchdachte Expedition” — a sharply conceived expedition — and noted that the historic instrument never overshadows the music itself.
