Eugene Ysaye (1858-1931) was not only a great violinist, but also an influential teacher and prolific composer. His six solo sonatas, written in 1923, are played regularly in concert halls, sometimes in the course of the programme, more often as the perfect dazzling encore.
So it was in 2011, whenthe young Chinese violinist Tianwa Yang appeared with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra.
A performance of Lalo's Symphonie Espagnole that balanced athleticism and artistry was followed by predictably brilliant Ysaye -- the opening Allemande of his fourth sonata, written for the celebrated Fritz Kreisler.
Yang, who has consistently impressed with her many Sarasate recordings on Naxos, now offers a splendid set of all six Ysaye sonatas. Virtuosity of the highest order is a sine qua non here -- there is no room for a player not equipped for the Belgian composer's often fiendish technical challenges -- but that is a merely a beginning. Yang goes well beyond the notes on the page and instils an extraordinary poetry into this music. There is a thrilling intensity to the opening Grave, dedicated to Joseph Szigeti, and a real sense of wit when those quotations from Bach sprout up in the Obsession that launches the second sonata.
One is also struck by the way Naxos has caught the resonating potential and tonal gradation of pizzicato in the Danse des ombres from this same sonata.
Her romp through the Danse rustique that closes the fifth sonata would have a Womad audience on their feet, clamouring for an encore.
There is no denying the attractive packaging of The Silver Album, a double CD celebrating a quarter-century partnership between violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter and pianist Lambert Orkis. Although enthusiasts will have many of the performances being sampled, choices are spot-on with the selection of authoritative Brahms and Faure.
Most of the new recordings are lushly wrapped lollipops, such as Jascha Heifetz's transcription of Debussy's Beau Soir. The most substantial new offering, Penderecki's La Follia that premiered just last December, is a disappointing choice -- beautifully played but alarmingly conservative in idiom.
Eugene Ysaye: Sonatas for Solo Violin (Naxos)
Anne-Sophie Mutter: The Silver Album (Deutsche Grammophon)
Verdict: Two recent recordings celebrate and underestimate the potential eloquence of solo violin.
