MAXIM VENGEROV

Solo Violin Sonatas

 

JS BACH (attrib) Sonata for solo violin BWV 565*

SHCHEDRIN Echo-Sonate, Balalaika

YSAYE Sonatas for Solo Violin Op.27 Nos. 2, 3, 4 and 6

*played on baroque violin

 

Maxim Vengerov, whose musical and personal magnetism continues to inspire critics and fill concert halls worldwide, presents his stunning new solo recital album.  The disc opens with the popular Bach Toccata and Fugue in D minor (BWV 565) which is followed by some lesser-known works by Ysaye and Shchedrin.

 

Some musicologists believe Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D minor for organ began life as a sonata in A minor for solo violin, and it is in this form that Maxim performs it on baroque violin transcribed by Bruce Fox-Lefriche.  The Ysaye sonatas for solo violin, composed in 1924, were inspired by Bach’s solo sonatas and partitas, and the Schedrin Echo sonata was composed in 1985 to commemorate what would have been Bach’s 300^th birthday. 

 

The album rounds off with Maxim at his most virtuosic as he performs one of his favourite show-stopping encores – Balalaika. This is a live recording from a Barbican concert two years ago.

 

EMI 5573842