Eugene Ysaye:
Six sonatas for solo violin, op. 27
Henning Kraggerud, violin
Giuseppe Guarneri 'del Gesu' 1744
SACD Hybrid
CD STEREO/ SACD STEREO/ SACD SURROUND (4.0 ch)
Dextra Musica Series
Henning Kraggerud's first solo recording
The Ysaye sonatas are regarded as the composer’s musical testament, with compositional mastery that demands the utmost technical superiority from the performer. On his first solo recording Henning Kraggerud, today one of Scandinavia’s most sought after violinists, delivers a sensational reading of this masterwork.
The links between J.S. Bach’s sonatas and partitas and Eugene Ysaye’s op. 27 are of course many and strong, with both direct quotations and more subtle connections and comments alternating throughout the work. Ysaye was an outstanding violinist ? Fritz Kreisler called him the “best of the best” ? but he had decided that the violin alone was not a suited medium for composition anymore. This changed after a momentous experience of hearing Joseph Szigeti performing the Bach works. That same year Ysaye started writing what has been described as his musical testament, a cycle standing next to that of Bach as the most significant works for solo violin.
Hidden messages
Each of Ysaye’s solo sonatas is dedicated to a younger outstanding violinist. Not only do they bear the dedications of Joseph Szigeti, Jacques Thibaud, Georges Enescu, Fritz Kreisler, Mathieu Crickboom and Manuel Quiroga ? they also contain numerous more or less hidden messages for these interpreters. In the essay accompanying this release Henning Kraggerud investigates some of these instances.
Henning Kraggerud
Henning Kraggerud (b 1973) is one of Scandinavia’s most sought after artists. He performs as a soloist with many of the leading orchestras, both in Europe and in North America, and is increasingly in demand in a play/direct capacity. Henning’s playing is described as fearless, bold and technically brilliant. Through his music he reveals a refreshing passionate outlook on life and the arts. Henning plays on a 1744 Guarneri del Gesu, owned by Dextra Musica. This is by all accounts the first recording ever of this violin.
Dextra Musica Series
Dextra Musica is a unique collection of string instruments that have been placed at the disposal of a selected group of musicians, with the aim of contributing to their musical achievements. Simax’ Dextra Musica Series will present these outstanding musicians and instruments in state-of-the-art recordings. Dextra Musica is a subsidiary of a major Norwegian foundation, Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR. ( simax )
