Challenge Classics is proud to present the debut recording of a young rising star, violinist Solveig Steinthorsdottir, with a live recording of Ysaye's six solo sonatas.
The first of these Op. 27 sonatas is dedicated to Szigeti. Ysaye's Sonata No. 2 was written for Jacques Thibaud. The Sonata No. 4 was written for Fritz Kreisler.The other three sonatas move away from Bach in their style and substance, focusing more exclusively on the violinist dedicatees. No. 3 was for the Romanian violinist and composer George Enescu. The Fifth Sonata, written for Ysaye's favorite student Matthieu Crickboom, is in a completely different mood than the others. Ysaye's final entry in the set, written for the Spanish violinist Manuel Quiroga, is a sequence of dances and arias linked by improvisatory cadenzas.
Her tone is admirably full and she paces the music knowingly, the opening of the First Sonata especially [...]. For the Second Sonata Steinth�rsd�ttir integrates the Bachian and Dies irae motifs well and her muscular approach has plenty of impact. � Gramophone
Ysaye's challenging solo sonatas a performed by Icelandic fiddler Steinthorsdottir with robust tone and admirable sense of control � BBC Music Magazine
