Béla Bartók; Edvard Grieg; Richard Strauss - Violin Sonatas (Vilde Frang)

Information

Composer: Béla Bartók; Edvard Grieg; Richard Strauss

• Grieg - Violin Sonata No. 1 in F major, Op. 8
• Bartók - Sonata for solo violin
• Strauss - Violin Sonata in E flat major, Op. 18

Vilde Frang, violin

Michail Lifits, piano

Date: 2011

Label: EMI

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Review

Those who’ve heard Vilde Frang’s EMI recording of Sibelius and Prokofiev concertos (4/10) will be keen to sample this. For the duo sonatas she’s teamed with a pianist who shares her perceptive musicianship – an ability to find the right shape for every phrase – as well as her polished technique. I always associate the Strauss Sonata with Heifetz’s ardent, sensuous interpretation. Frang, however, is in her own way just as persuasive; if there are a few moments where we feel she is too restrained, it’s soon clear that it’s in order to bring into relief a subsequent, more passionate section. Though Frang’s tone generally appears quite light and silvery, she has ample reserves, and none of the climactic moments disappoint. Lifits, too, finds a wonderful, brooding sonority for the finale’s introduction, before bursting forth, Don Juan-like, at the Allegro. They perform the Grieg quite freely, not always observing the expression marks, and Frang (very effectively) adds chords in the second movement. This is a remarkably fresh, imaginative account, with Lifits relishing Grieg’s unconventional harmony.

In the Bartók I was immediately struck by Frang’s fine rhythmic sense and varied tonal palette. Her playing has the necessary physicality for Bartók, without ever appearing forced. She characterises the different motifs in the Fuga sharply and, in the third movement, moves compellingly through the long melody. I’m not convinced by the sul ponticello start to the finale (my score just has con sord), but overall it’s a top-class performance and, indeed, the whole programme is clearly a winner.

— Duncan Druce

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Béla Bartók (25 March 1881 – 26 September 1945) was a Hungarian composer, pianist and ethnomusicologist who is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century. As an ethnomusicologist, his fieldwork with the composer Zoltán Kodály formed the basis for all later research in the field. Bartók employed folk themes and rhythms into his own music, achieving a style that was nationalistic and deeply personal. His notable works include the opera Bluebeard's Castle (1911), 6 string quartets (1908–39), the Mikrokosmos piano set, Concerto for Orchestra (1943), and 3 piano concertos (1926, 1931 & 1945).

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Edvard Grieg (15 June 1843 – 4 September 1907) was a Norwegian composer. He is widely considered one of the leading Romantic era composers, and his music is part of the standard classical repertoire. His use of Norwegian folk music in his own compositions brought the music of Norway to fame, as well as helping to develop a national identity. Grieg's music is noted for a refined lyrical sense. His best known works include ten collections of Lyric Pieces for solo piano, the Piano Concerto in A minor (Op. 16), the incidental music to Peer Gynt (Op. 23), the suite Holberg (Op. 40), and arrangements of Norwegian dances and songs.

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Richard Strauss (11 June 1864 – 8 September 1949) was a German composer and conductor best known for his tone poems (Don Juan, Death and Transfiguration, Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks, Also sprach Zarathustra, Don Quixote, Ein Heldenleben) and operas (Salomé, Elektra, Der Rosenkavalier). Considered a leading composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras, he has been described as a successor of Richard Wagner and Franz Liszt. Along with Gustav Mahler, he represents the late flowering of German Romanticism, in which pioneering subtleties of orchestration are combined with an advanced harmonic style.

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Vilde Frang (born 19 August 1986) is a Norwegian classical violinist. Born in Oslo, she studied at Barratt Due Musikkinstitutt, with Kolja Blacher at Musikhochschule Hamburg, and with Ana Chumachenco at the Kronberg Academy. In 2012 she was awarded the Credit Suisse Young Artists Award which led to her acclaimed debut with the Vienna Philharmonic under Bernard Haitink at the Lucerne Festival. Frang is an exclusive Warner Classics artist and her recordings have received numerous awards, such as the Grand Prix du Disque, Diapason d'Or and Gramophone Award. She plays the 1734 "Rode" Guarnerius.

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