Solveig Steinthorsdottir - Solo Violin Sonatas 1-6 Op. 27 (2023) [Official Digital Download 24/96]

In summer of 1923, Eugene Ysaÿe heard his friend Joseph Szigeti perform one of J.S. Bach’s Solo Violin Sonatas. Afterwards, on his way to a sojourn at the beach in Le Zoute, Ysaÿe couldn’t stop thinking about the performance: “When one hears an artist like Szigeti, who is able to accommodate his playing to the rectangular lines of the great classics as easily as he can to the expressive melodies of the romantics, one feels how absorbing it would be to compose a work for the violin whilst keeping ever before one the style of one particular violinist.” On arrival at the resort, Ysaÿe disappeared into his room for a couple of days and emerged with sketches of Six Violin Sonatas (Op. 27), each imagined with the sound and style of a specific artist ringing in his ears.

The first of these Op. 27 sonatas is dedicated to Szigeti. Ysaÿe’s Sonata No. 2 was written for Jacques Thibaud. The Sonata No. 4 was written for Fritz Kreisler.

The other three sonatas move away from Bach in their style and substance, focusing more exclusively on the violinist dedicatees. No. 3 was for the Romanian violinist and composer George Enescu. The Fifth Sonata, written for Ysaÿe’s favorite student Matthieu Crickboom, is in a completely different mood than the others. Ysaÿe’s final entry in the set, written for the Spanish violinist Manuel Quiroga, is a sequence of dances and arias linked by improvisatory cadenzas.

TRACKLIST

1. Solveig Steinthorsdottir - Sonata No. 1 in G Minor: I. Grave: Lento assai
2. Solveig Steinthorsdottir - Sonata No. 1 in G Minor: II. Fugato: Molto moderato
3. Solveig Steinthorsdottir - Sonata No. 1 in G Minor: III. Allegretto poco scherzoso: Amabile
4. Solveig Steinthorsdottir - Sonata No. 1 in G Minor: IV. Finale con brio: Allegro fermo
5. Solveig Steinthorsdottir - Sonata No. 2 in A Minor: I. Obsession: Prélude - Poco vivace
6. Solveig Steinthorsdottir - Sonata No. 2 in A Minor: II. Malinconia: Poco lento
7. Solveig Steinthorsdottir - Sonata No. 2 in A Minor: III. Danse des ombres: Sarabande
8. Solveig Steinthorsdottir - Sonata No. 2 in A Minor: IV. Les furies: Allegro furioso
9. Solveig Steinthorsdottir - Sonata No. 3 in D Minor: „Ballade“: Lento molto sostenuto - Allegro in tempo giusto e con bravura
10. Solveig Steinthorsdottir - Sonata No. 4 in E Minor: I. Allemanda: Lento maestoso
11. Solveig Steinthorsdottir - Sonata No. 4 in E Minor: II. Sarabande: Quasi lento
12. Solveig Steinthorsdottir - Sonata No. 4 in E Minor: III. Finale: Presto ma non troppo
13. Solveig Steinthorsdottir - Sonata No. 5 in G Major: I. L’Aurore: Lento assai
14. Solveig Steinthorsdottir - Sonata No. 5 in G Major: II. Danse rustique: Allegro giocoso molto moderato
15. Solveig Steinthorsdottir - Sonata No. 6 in E Major: Allegro giusto non troppo vivo



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