Béla Bartók - Chamber Works for Violin, Vol. 2 (James Ehnes)

Information

Composer: Béla Bartók

• (01) Sonata for Solo Violin, BB 124
• (05) Sonata in E minor, BB 28
• (08) Hungarian Folksongs, BB 109
• (17) Hungarian Folk Tunes
• (24) Romanian Folk Dances

James Ehnes, violin

Andrew Armstrong, piano

Date: 2013

Label: Chandos

https://www.chandos.net/products/catalogue/CHAN%2010752

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Review

Second disc in Ehnes’s violin-and-piano Bartók survey

Ehnes gives a stunning account of the Solo Sonata. The impression is that he’s simply following all Bartók’s meticulous direction – bowing, dynamics, modifications of tempo – and adding nothing extra. If this seems boring, the effect is anything but: clarity of articulation, beauty of sound, the ease with which he surmounts the technical challenges, and deep understanding of the work’s structure and character; all these combine to make a performance that’s exciting and enthralling. It’s very different from the recent Vilde Frang recording, which is equally brilliant but more overtly passionate and full of individual touches that give it the aspect of a fascinating personal take on the music. Ehnes, presenting unadorned Bartók, as it were, ultimately leaves a stronger impression.

It’s intriguing to search for hints of the mature Bartók in the 1903 Sonata, an ambitious, large-scale work whose first movement is elaborated in a somewhat Straussian manner, followed by a variation movement and finale that draw on a post-Lisztian Hungarian idiom. Played as here, with intense commitment and real virtuosity, it’s a most enjoyable piece. The middle movement is particularly engaging – a sombre, funereal theme and variations that suggest different styles of gypsy music, with cimbalom-like flourishes. Andrew Armstrong catches the spirit of these to perfection. The three suites of folk pieces are performed in authentic style and with irresistible panache. If anyone doubts Ehnes’s status as a wizard of the violin, they should listen to the way he plays the harmonics on tr 19.

-- Duncan Druce, Gramophone

More reviews:

http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2013/Apr13/Bartok_violin_v2_CHAN10752.htm
https://www.classical-music.com/reviews/bartok-works-violin-and-piano-vol-2/

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/jan/20/bartok-violin-piano-2-ehnes-review

https://www.allmusic.com/album/bart%C3%B3k-works-for-violin-and-piano-mw0002462005

https://www.thestrad.com/bartok-solo-violin-sonata-violin-sonata-in-e-minor-hungarian-folksongs-transc-orszagh-hungarian-folk-tunes-transc-szigeti-romanian-folk-dances-transc-szekely/729.article

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Béla Bartók (March 25, 1881 – September 26, 1945) was a Hungarian composer, pianist and an ethnomusicologist. Bartók is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century; he and Liszt are regarded as Hungary's greatest composers. Through his collection and analytical study of folk music, he was one of the founders of comparative musicology, which later became ethnomusicology. Bartók's music reflects two trends that dramatically changed the sound of music in the 20th century: the breakdown of the diatonic system of harmony, and the revival of nationalism as a source for musical inspiration.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%C3%A9la_Bart%C3%B3k

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James Ehnes (born January 27, 1976 in Brandon, Manitoba, Canada) is a Canadian concert violinist. Ehnes began his violin studies at the age of four and at age nine became a protégé of the noted Canadian violinist Francis Chaplin. He studied with Sally Thomas at the Meadowmount School of Music and from 1993 to 1997 at The Juilliard School. Ehnes is Artistic Director of the Seattle Chamber Music Society and founder of the Ehnes Quartet. His recordings have won numerous awards and prizes, including 9 Junos, a Grammy, and a Gramophone Award. Ehnes performs on the 1715 "Marsick" Stradivarius.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Ehnes

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