Bartok, Strauss, Grieg: Violin Sonatas

One of the leading young soloists to emerge from Scandinavia in recent years, noted particularly for her superb musical expression, as well as her well-developed virtuosity and musicality.

Young Norwegian violinist, Vilde Frang brings together a diverse, yet complimentary selection of sonatas for her second Warner Classics release. The recording is available on CD and digital download from 7 March, 2011.

The youthful, spirited Grieg: Violin Sonata No.1 in F Major, Op. 8 and Richard Strauss: Violin Sonata in E-flat Major, Op. 18 are paired with Bartók’s technically challenging, musically complex Sonata for Solo Violin, BB 124, Sz. 117. Frang frequently performs the later, which Bartók composed as an homage to Bach, with the Strauss in concert. Vilde is joined by pianist Michail Lifits for this recording.

Vilde’s debut recording, Sibelius and Prokofiev: Violin Concertos at 22, received wide-spread critical acclaim. The Financial Times wrote “rarely has this music sounded so tender, so intimate or so lyrical” while Independent Record Review called her “prodigiously gifted”. Vilde has been compared to a young Anne-Sophie Mutter, her mentor, with whom she often performs.

“Frang is clearly a new star in the violin firmament” The Guardian