Search - Leonidas Kavakos :: Six Sonatas for Solo Violin op. 27

Leonidas Kavakos
Six Sonatas for Solo Violin op. 27
Genre: Classical

Track Listings (15) - Disc #1
1. Sonatas (6) for violin solo, Op 27: Sonata No. 1 in G minor: I. Grave
2. Sonatas (6) for violin solo, Op 27: Sonata No. 1 in G minor: II. Fugato
3. Sonatas (6) for violin solo, Op 27: Sonata No. 1 in G minor: III. Allegretto poco scherzoso
4. Sonatas (6) for violin solo, Op 27: Sonata No. 1 in G minor: IV. Finale con brio
5. Sonatas (6) for violin solo, Op 27: Sonata No. 2 in A major: I. Obsession: Prelude
6. Sonatas (6) for violin solo, Op 27: Sonata No. 2 in A major: II. Malinconia
7. Sonatas (6) for violin solo, Op 27: Sonata No. 2 in A major: III. Danse des ombres: Sarabande
8. Sonatas (6) for violin solo, Op 27: Sonata No. 2 in A major: IV. Les furies
9. Sonatas (6) for violin solo, Op 27: Sonata No. 3 in D minor, 'Ballade'
10. Sonatas (6) for violin solo, Op 27: Sonata No. 4 in E minor: I. Allemanda
11. Sonatas (6) for violin solo, Op 27: Sonata No. 4 in E minor: II. Sarabande
12. Sonatas (6) for violin solo, Op 27: Sonata No. 4 in E minor: III. Finale
13. Sonatas (6) for violin solo, Op 27: Sonata No. 5 in G major: I. L'aurore
14. Sonatas (6) for violin solo, Op 27: Sonata No. 5 in G major: II. Danse rustique
15. Sonatas (6) for violin solo, Op 27: Sonata No. 6 in E major

CD Details

All Artists: Leonidas Kavakos
Title: Six Sonatas for Solo Violin op. 27
Members Wishing: 1
Total Copies: 0
Label: Bis
Release Date: 2/14/2000
Album Type: Import
Genre: Classical
Styles: Chamber Music, Historical Periods, Classical (c.1770-1830), Instruments, Strings
Number of Discs: 1
SwapaCD Credits: 1
UPCs: 675754121525, 7318590010464

Synopsis

Amazon.com

In 1924, inspired by Josef Szigeti's performing one of Bach's Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin, Eugène Ysaÿe wrote his Six Sonatas for Solo Violin. In echo of Elgar's Enigma Variations, the composer dedicated each sonata to a violinist and friend. Elgar's Violin Concerto was a favorite showpiece for Ysaÿe, who was considered the greatest violinist of his age. Among his inventive and often virtuosic original material, Ysaÿe makes reference to Bach's E-major Partita for Solo Violin, such that the music must be considered part of the neoclassical, back-to-Bach movement of the 1920s and 1930s. While much is traceable to the German Baroque, the final E-major Sonata offers a surprise: an Iberian rhapsody replete with habanera rhythms dedicated to the Spanish violinist Manuel Quiroga. Given Ravel's affection for the habanera in pieces such as Rhapsodie Espagnole, this release makes an interesting companion to the Kennedy-Harrell Duos for Violin and Cello, which sets Ravel's Sonata for Violin and Piano beside Bach and Handel. Ysaÿe 's music is thrilling, dazzling, witty, moving, and immensely attractive, and offers challenges that the modern virtuoso Leonidas Kavakos meets with beguiling musicianship on a Stradivarius made when Bach was just 13. --Gary S. Dalkin

CD Reviews

Kavakos' Ysaye Solo Sonatas - Simply Incredible

Garabed | Ann Arbor, Michigan | 06/10/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Truly a magnificent and heroic performance of the Six Solo Sonatas by Ysaye- From the first sonata, dedicated to Szigeti through those dedicated to Thibaud,Enesco,Kreisler,Crickboom and Quiroga, this artist presents a thoughtful and highly powerful reading . The technical issues are invisible to the listener as Kavakos tells the story so artfully written by Ysaye. Especially memorable are the Fugato movement of the first,the Sarabandes of the Second and Fourth. The popular Ballade is a tribute to the performer's expertise and taste-truly superb. The last two are fiendishly difficult, and Kavakos throws them off in true prize-winning fashion. This is a MUST for anyone that enjoys violin performance at the highest level of power playing,passion,and enthusiasm. The love and interpretive respect for Ysaye is clear throughout the entire program.Kavakos is not yet a household word....and he should be!"

The Best Recording

Scott68 | Columbus, Ohio United States | 11/09/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Of course Kavakos was the winner of the Paganini competition so it is no suprise to me that he played so well on this disk.This is the best set of the Ysaye sonatas ever recorded but listen to Shumsky's CD also."