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Violin Unlimited - Baiba Skride plays Solo Sonatas
Orfeo

Violin Unlimited - Baiba Skride plays Solo Sonatas

$20.99

Details

Composer
Eduard Erdmann, Paul Hindemith, Philipp Jarnach, Erwin Schulhoff
Artist
Baiba Skride
Format
CD
Label
Orfeo
Released
May 06, 2022
Catalog #
ORF-C210051
UPC
4011790210513

About

On her first album for solo violin, internationally acclaimed and renowned Latvian violinist Baiba Skride interprets selected sonatas by Erwin Schulhoff, Paul Hindemith, Philipp Jarnach and Eduard Erdmann. Although Johann Sebastian Bach’s sonatas and partitas for violin solo are regarded as the measure of every violinist’s technical skill and maturity, compositions for unaccompanied violin became increasingly rare in subsequent epochs (the classical and the romantic era). It wasn’t until the turn of the 20th century that Max Reger made a conspicuous contribution in this field with altogether eleven sonatas. His example was an impetus that very plausibly inspired his contemporaries and successors to come up with the four contributions to this genre from the 1920s on this album.

REVIEW:

Skride starts with Schulhoff in the very resonant acoustic of the Jesus-Christus-Kirche, Berlin. Daniel Hope on Nimbus and Antonín Novák on Praga have approached this sonata on their own terms, too, but I like Skride’s way with it, notably the serious and darkly-voiced slow movement at its heart. She plays the Hindemith with considerable purity of expression, enjoying the droll pizzicato episodes of the third movement and the charming Mozart variations that form the finale.

Jarnach’s 1922 sonata makes for a marvelously balanced work. The opening movement, which Skride dispatches with fluidity and expressive freedom, is followed by the urgency of the Prestissimo which she subtly allows to slow before picking up the intensity of the earlier material. The finale has abrasive dialogues but clear lines—a tribute to her refinement. For many years Erdmann’s sonata had the reputation of being a doughty and unapproachable work. It was composed for the Flesch student, Alma Moodie, who never made a recording. It’s a highly abstract work, and freely tonal, but Skride plays it with the kind of appeal she’d bring to much more popular repertoire and so rides over any concerns about its unapproachability. In truth Brunnert dealt with those concerns too, but Skride has a way with its slow, uneasy elements and its quietly, wintry finale that are most impressive too.

All four works were composed between 1921 (the Erdmann) and 1927 (Schulhoff) and offer contrasting and complementary evidence of solo violin works in this period. Each has its own character and imperatives, well drawn on by Baiba Skride in this well-programmed disc.

-- MusicWeb International

Tracklist 15 tracks

  1. 1 I. Allegro con fuoco 01:36
    Track
    1
    Title
    I. Allegro con fuoco
    Duration
    01:36
    Composer
    Erwin Schulhoff
    Performer
    Baiba Skride
  2. 2 II. Andante cantabile 05:00
    Track
    2
    Title
    II. Andante cantabile
    Duration
    05:00
    Composer
    Erwin Schulhoff
    Performer
    Baiba Skride
  3. 3 III. Scherzo: Allegretto grazioso 02:44
    Track
    3
    Title
    III. Scherzo: Allegretto grazioso
    Duration
    02:44
    Composer
    Erwin Schulhoff
    Performer
    Baiba Skride
  4. 4 IV. Finale: Allegro risoluto 02:32
    Track
    4
    Title
    IV. Finale: Allegro risoluto
    Duration
    02:32
    Composer
    Erwin Schulhoff
    Performer
    Baiba Skride
  5. 5 I. Leicht bewegte Viertel 02:04
    Track
    5
    Title
    I. Leicht bewegte Viertel
    Duration
    02:04
    Composer
    Paul Hindemith
    Performer
    Baiba Skride
  6. 6 II. Ruhig bewegte Achtel 03:00
    Track
    6
    Title
    II. Ruhig bewegte Achtel
    Duration
    03:00
    Composer
    Paul Hindemith
    Performer
    Baiba Skride
  7. 7 III. Gemächliche Viertel 01:52
    Track
    7
    Title
    III. Gemächliche Viertel
    Duration
    01:52
    Composer
    Paul Hindemith
    Performer
    Baiba Skride
  8. 8 IV. 5 Variationen über das Lied Komm, lieber Mai von Mozart 05:06
    Track
    8
    Title
    IV. 5 Variationen über das Lied Komm, lieber Mai von Mozart
    Duration
    05:06
    Composer
    Paul Hindemith
    Performer
    Baiba Skride
  9. 9 I. Andante sostenuto 06:37
    Track
    9
    Title
    I. Andante sostenuto
    Duration
    06:37
    Composer
    Philipp Jarnach
    Performer
    Baiba Skride
  10. 10 II. Prestissimo 04:11
    Track
    10
    Title
    II. Prestissimo
    Duration
    04:11
    Composer
    Philipp Jarnach
    Performer
    Baiba Skride
  11. 11 III. Allegro deciso 03:03
    Track
    11
    Title
    III. Allegro deciso
    Duration
    03:03
    Composer
    Philipp Jarnach
    Performer
    Baiba Skride
  12. 12 I. Ruhig 08:24
    Track
    12
    Title
    I. Ruhig
    Duration
    08:24
    Composer
    Eduard Erdmann
    Performer
    Baiba Skride
  13. 13 II. Allegretto scherzando - Trio: Einfach, wie eine Volksweise 04:26
    Track
    13
    Title
    II. Allegretto scherzando - Trio: Einfach, wie eine Volksweise
    Duration
    04:26
    Composer
    Eduard Erdmann
    Performer
    Baiba Skride
  14. 14 III. Langsam 02:43
    Track
    14
    Title
    III. Langsam
    Duration
    02:43
    Composer
    Eduard Erdmann
    Performer
    Baiba Skride
  15. 15 IV. Lebendig 03:57
    Track
    15
    Title
    IV. Lebendig
    Duration
    03:57
    Composer
    Eduard Erdmann
    Performer
    Baiba Skride