Violin Sonatas

 
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FRANCK / STRAUSS
Violin Sonatas
James Ehnes (violin) & Andrew Armstrong (piano)

[ Onyx Classics / CD ]

Release Date: Friday 27 March 2015

This item is currently out of stock. It may take 6 or more weeks to obtain from when you place your order as this is a specialist product.

James Ehnes and long term musical partner Andrew Armstrong have performed both the Franck and Strauss violin sonatas many times and bring special insight to these works that only many years of performing them together can convey.
The Franck is one of the very greatest of all violin sonatas, and finds the composer at the height of his powers. The Strauss sonata is the work of a young man on the cusp of finding his unique musical voice, with echoes of Brahms mingling with flashes of the Strauss of Don Juan. The Allegretto in E dates from the very end of Strauss's long career, and is a tender and beautifully poised miniature that displays no flagging of his creativity and inspiration. The disc ends with three of the composer's most popular songs.

"James Ehnes and Andrew Armstrong make a kaleidoscope of both sonatas that reflects their almost indistinguishable elements and which, in turn, honours the profoundly romantic nature of both works…there is rarely adequate justification for a new recording of either sonata in such an overstuffed catalogue but the unqualified musicianship and transcendent phrasing certainly offer one here" (Gramophone)

"conjures up this utterly serene state of bliss" (CD Review)

"I had never thought of this early violin sonata as major Strauss - the composer was 23 when he wrote it - but listening to this performance, I had a change of mind, appreciating for the first time the rewarding complexity of the piece. The first movement is romantic passion as only a virile young man could express it. Ehnes and his violin, a 1715 "Marsick" Stradivarius, soar gloriously in phrase after phrase here, achieving tremendous power, even in the top notes." (MusicalToronto)

Tracks:

CÉSAR FRANCK Violin Sonata in A
RICHARD STRAUSS Violin Sonata in E flat op18
Allegretto in E for violin & piano (1948)
3 Songs : Wiegenlied, Waldseligkeit, Morgen