• Tracks

This is the second volume in a series devoted to the works for strings by Béla Bartók, with James Ehnes the featured soloist. Earlier this year, Ehnes recorded the Violin and Viola Concertos, which was made Disc of the Month in Gramophone magazine. On this new recording, he turns to the Violin Sonatas and Rhapsodies, complemented by the earliest surviving work by Bartók for violin and piano, an Andante. Of the two sonatas, the Sonata in C sharp minor is the more traditional in terms of it's structure, and characterized by a mood that is sometimes exhilarated, sometimes turbulent - but always virtuosic. In the Sonata in C major, Bartók removes himself from classical form and traditional tonal practice, calling on the violinist to distance himself from the romantic manner of playing. Exuberant and infectious, Bartók's two rhapsodies for piano and violin are steeped in the tradition of Hungarian folk music.