Daniel Sepec - Pandolfi-Mealli: Sonatas for Violin & Continuo - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

The artist's first task is to forget himself. This statement, bold in it's time, has been ascribed to Eugène Ysaÿe, referred to as the InchKing of the ViolinInch, who as a composer and performer considerably contributed to the modernisation of violin playing. In 1923, he was so deeply impressed by J. S. Bach's Violin Sonata No. 1 in G minor, BWV 1001, as performed by Joseph Szigeti, that within a few hours (!) he sketched a set of six sonatas as a counterpart to Bach's Sonatas and Partitas, BWV 1001-1006. Ysaÿe dedicated each of his sonatas to a superb contemporary violinist, tailoring it to his style. Technically reaching the limits of the instrument, the pieces placed enormous requirements on the dedicatees (Szigeti, Thibaud, Enescu, Kreisler, Crickboom, Quiroga), yet they remain challenging for the violinists of today. One hundred years after Ysaÿe created the set of six sonatas, this formidable task has been undertaken by the outstanding young Czech virtuoso Daniel Matejca, the winner of the Eurovision Young Musicians competition (2022), Telemann Violin Competition (Poznan 2020) and Jugend musiziert (Halle 2019). Matejca studied with such distinguished violinists as Boris Belkin and Christian Tetzlaff, and, after collaborating to acclaim with the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, has been invited to perform with other renowned orchestras. Supraphon has shifted the 100-year-old concept to the 21st century and commissioned a composition that would reflect Ysaÿe's sonatas, as well as young violinists' musicality and virtuosity. Jana Vöröšová's Obsession II is both answer and challenge. Ysaÿe's sonatas - a cherished challenge for the young virtuoso Daniel Matejca

Daniel Stepner - Sonatas & Partitas / Chromatic Fantasy & Fugue [COMPACT DISCS] date 06/25/2013

Exciting music by Shostakovich and Prokofiev played by a violinist of the new generationIn 2022, it was with Shostakovich's First Violin Concerto that Daniel Matejca, 17 years old at the time, triumphed at the competition Eurovision Young Musicians. Reviewers at journals including Gramophone, BBC Music Magazine, and Classica enthusiastically compared his Supraphon debut album of the complete sonatas for solo violin by Eugene Ysaye (2023) with recordings made by today's star violinists. It was clear that after that solo album, Matejca would soon return to the studio to record Shostakovich's First Concerto. The composer wrote it in 1947/48 for David Oistrakh. Shostakovich, however, had been labelled a InchformalistInch, and is prominent use of Jewish musical motifs was another obstacle under the antisemitic Soviet regime, so the premiere of this exciting work was postponed until after Stalin's death. Sergei Prokofiev worked on his First Violin Concerto intermittently between 1914 and 1917. Full of contrasting passages, the work differs sharply from Shostakovich's dramatic concerto. Daniel Matejca is in his element in both concertos, playing with stirring energy and technical virtuosity, expressing a wide range of emotions, ranging from rawness to delicacy and captivating depth. The conductor Tomas Netopil is an experienced accompanist in the best sense of the word, shaping the orchestra's sound with a wide range of dynamic and colours, but above all keeping in perfect step with the soloist as he tells his story. The recording also features sound of extraordinary colour, presence, and spatial plasticity.